Keep hitting yourself!
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Xermanico
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Metron tells Blue Beetle it’s up to him to save the universe, Oa is under siege, and Hal Jordan makes a big sacrifice.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The back and forth aspect of the Injustice 2 series is a familiar one as we shift between what’s happening on Earth with the re-formation of the Titans and what Hal is dealing with alongside the Red Lanterns. Tom Taylor largely handles this well and when these issues are combined into print form, and read in trade form, the shifts are less noticeable. The main differences we see are in the artwork with the strong rotation of artists involved. This issue has Xermanico handling the duties once again and he delivers in panel after panel of great looking material, including a fantastic splash page at the end that’s fantastic. This series has really been elevated over the years since it started in how it approaches the art and Xermanico is one that has really grown along the way as well.
This issue doesn’t run on a two-track approach like most others do and instead covers about three different parts of the storyline that are slowly converging. It’s fun to watch Metron dealing with Lobo and Blue Beetle as he makes clear that Jaime must be protected at all costs in order to defeat Starro. The how remains to be seen but it’s amusing seeing how Lobo just wants to get paid and Metron largely handling dealing with the Main Main. The other interesting piece is watching Sinestro, no imprisoned on Oa, clueing Soranik into a bit more of what’s gone down with Atrocitus over the years and how she has a big target painted on her back now because of him. She’s a little more confident than she should be, especially after the limited experience she had on the planet with them previously and the losses there, so I suspect she’s going to get a lot of exposure to reality soon.
For my money, however, the real fun is with Hal and the rest of the Red Lanterns. Atrocitus is intent on dealing with Oa as there are legitimate reasons to do so considering the past. The visuals for all of this are just beautiful, especially with Nanjan’s color work with the red and green, as we see the Starro aspects and the rest of the Lanterns – which culminates in a fantastic closing page. But it’s the time with Guy, a hallucination on Hal’s part, that delivers as it represents his subconscious trying to get him to do the right thing and fight past the power of the ring. It’s comical with how parts of it unfold, especially when the smaller Starro element gets involved, and even the Guy aspects is delighted in watching it play out as Hal punches himself repeatedly. But it’s a great representation of his struggle, which has some beautiful moments when he does reach Oa and tries to make clear his true intent.
In Summary:
Injustice 2 has been a lot of fun for the bulk of its run but I’m just enjoying this new energy that the book is running with since it dipped into the distant space storyline. Taylor seems to be enjoying playing with different characters than usual as well and coming up with some creative ways to work it all together. The big win for me is just seeing once again how Xermanico’s work on this property has grown over the years and loving every panel that he puts together here, especially while paired with J. Nanjan for the color work. It’s a fantastic looking book which makes the fun and enjoyable story all the more so.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 22nd, 2018
MSRP: $0.99
