Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Tragedy strikes again as the tide of battle against Starro and the Red Lanterns turns. But an even deadlier menace is about to appear.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Injustice 2 certainly delighted in all kinds of weird ways the last time around with Lobo taking on the mantle of a Green Lantern. There are things you think you’ll never see but damn if the comics can’t make it happen. Tom Taylor’s continuing to work his magic with the series as we get some really solid bits of action, emotion, and a little humor along the way to blend it all together just right. The result, especially under such capable hands as Bruno Redondo and Juan Albarran with some fantastic color work by Gabe Eltaeb, is just visually striking and reminds me why I enjoy the digital-first books and just the digital experience when it comes to the colors that print can’t always capture.
This issue sticks to just one storyline as we don’t get anything with Booster or Jaime, which works well because there’s a lot of things going on here. The fight against the Red Lanterns usually coalesces around Atrocitus and his plans but the reality here is that Sayd is the bigger threat with what she has for abilities under Starro’s control. The problem is that there’s no strong leader on the Corps side to push back and that has Guy prodding Hal into action, to take control and have everyone form up under him. It’s not a bad thing when you get down to it even if there are a lot of Green Lantern’s that aren’t keen on it, but the reality is that Hal has the knowledge, skill, and the ability to rally enough of them – including Sinestro – to go up against Sayd and do what needs doing. Hell, even Lobo falls into line quickly.
The fight itself is solid and there’s some nice creativity to how it plays out, though it at least avoids the weirdness of what Lobo brings to it. What I do like is that while we don’t get anything with Booster or Jaime we get some subplot material that takes some stronger focus toward the end here. Sinestro being taken out by a Red Lantern kind of pushes believability a whole lot but it’s a well-executed sequence in how it unfolds and ties into Soranik, bringing some kind of closure to her story in regards to her father and gives him a strong end when all is said and done. I also liked that we got a bit with Cassie and Conner as they’re chasing one of the Red Lantern’s to deal with and end up discovering a new and bigger threat that’s rolling into town, and will surely find its way to Earth sooner or later.
In Summary:
I continue to enjoy the hell out of Injustice 2 with what it does even if I don’t always agree with how some of the lives end in the series. I do like that there are some stakes as it can make for real challenges in writing when you don’t have familiar characters to work with and I continue to really like that we got Earth for a while with this storyline. Tom Taylor keeps things moving well with a serious tone and just enough levity to ease some of the pressure while Redondo and Albarran once again put together a fantastic book. I’m really digging what Gabe Eltaeb brings to the project with his color work as it just has a great depth and vibrancy that gives it a lot of life.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 26th, 2018
MSRP: $0.99
