A most creative prison break!
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Bruno Redondo, Sergio Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona
Colors: Rex Lokus
What They Say:
In his efforts to maintain world peace and wipe out crime, Superman has locked up all of Earth’s villains, as well as his enemies (including the Green Lantern Corps), in an undisclosed, impenetrable facility. Now, a surprising new prisoner may have discovered how to free himself and everyone else from this previously inescapable location.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Injustice series itself looks to be drawing to a close with the fifth year that kicked off last week, which leads into the game that came out a few years ago. The series has been a fun one to read and I’ve enjoyed its progress overall. With the fifth year, it started off with a story that takes place here in this annual, which in the world of print comes out before the first print comic of the fifth year but after two of the digital installments. Isn’t the future fun? It’s all worthwhile, however, because we get a book that’s filled with the smooth words of Tom Taylor that’s taken to the next level with some fantastic artwork from Redondo, Sandoval and Tarragona that just takes it to the next level in a great way. While I enjoy the ongoing series, this just feels even more well put together.
The story is straightforward here in that Luke McDunnagh has found himself aligned with a group of ordinary people in opposition to what Superman is doing. They all get caught and he gets sent off to a special prison because he’s not ordinary. He is, in fact, known as Offspring, the son of Plastic Man. This is a difficult situation for Superman and the others on some level because they have to be consistent and can’t bend the rules for friends and family of friends, even though some of them would like to. So Luke gets sent off to the massive underwater prison called the Trench. This is your standard high-end prison for metahumans and while it doesn’t dig deep in style, it sets a pretty engaging layout and a really fun cast of characters since a good number of heroes are villains in the League’s these days.
The catch with this book is that it’s not about Luke but rather his father. Plas has been around for an age and is certainly an acquired taste, but he fits effortlessly into this world that has been fashioned here for a few years. Taylor digs into some of his absentee father issues and why he’s done what he’s done through the narration and it works to humanize him for new and old readers alike. Plas also gets to do the stuff that we don’t really get to see in the ongoing where he shows just how creative yet simple things can be when it comes to thwarting Superman and the League. The breakout aspect is well played, but I loved the sauntering into the Hall of Justice early on, his interactions with the group as a whole, calling out their working with Sinestro and his moustache, but especially how he took on Barry’s role for a while after creatively taking him out. There’s just such an ease and smoothness about the script and the fantastic artwork and layouts that the whole thing becomes an incredible treat to savor panel after panel.
In Summary:
I’ll admit a wariness about this particular series having an annual because the weekly digital side has its own vibe and rhythm that I wasn’t sure could handle doing something like this with a single story. Serving as the lead-in to the fifth year and setting up some of the events that are ongoing, this annual just knocks it out of the park. It’s a solid story with some great character material; there’s a perfect blend of humor, action, seriousness and overall threat to it. Taylor’s script keeps it moving and engaging while the illustration team just hits it out of the park consistently as they work a range of characters and situations all while letting Plas take the lead – not always an easy thing! I rarely recommend annuals since more often than not they’re fairly pointless, but this one is a great standalone piece that should be read even if you’re not reading the Injustice series.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 30th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
