Superman and Lois: Season 2, Episode 1 - What Lies Beneath

  For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

It has been three months since Natalie Irons came to Earth-Prime, but Lois still can't bring herself to speak to her daughter from another world. As she throws herself into her work and building a newsroom staff for the Smallville Gazette, Clark finds himself having harsh words with General Lane's replacement at the Department of Defense, Lt. Mitch Anderson. Meanwhile, Jordan and Jonathan face drastically different problems with their respective girlfriends, with Jon moving too fast and Jordan growing apart from Sarah Cushing.


Influences

The Death of Superman (appearance of Doomsday) and the Supermen of America series.


Goofs

Despite being addressed as a Lieutenant, Mitch Anderson's military uniform has three stars, marking him as a Lieutenant General. 


Performances

Elizabeth Tulloch has a particularly strong performance playing Lois' torment regarding Natalie.


Artistry

The special effects during the submarine sequences and the earthquake near the end of the episode are of cinematic quality. It's clear the show's FX team will not be slacking off in Season 2.


Super Trivia

Lt. Mitch Anderson shares a name with a DC Comics character who first appeared during the Death of Superman storyline. Mitch Anderson was one of many civilians who was endangered by Doomsday's rampage. Mitch came to blame himself for Superman's death, as Superman came to his house to save him and his parents from Doomsday. Years later, Mitch developed magnetic powers, adopted the codename Outburst, and formed a team called the Supermen of America to honor Superman.

Apart from the name and forming a team of young people who make use of Superman's symbol, there is no apparent connection between Lt. Mitch Anderson and his comic book counterpart.

The fist that emerges from the ground in the final scene of the episode resembles the first of the Superman villain Doomsday, clad in the same containment suit that Doomsday wore in his first appearance. The showrunner later confirmed that Doomsday would be one of the season's villains.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John Henry is running through his and Natalie's cover story.)
John Henry: Your name is...
Natalie: Natalie Johnson.
John Henry: And I'm... 
Natalie: Henry Johnson.
John Henry: And we just moved here from...
Natalie: (bitterly) A planet that was totally destroyed by psychopathic Kryptonians.
John Henry: Nat, are you sure you wanna do this? Going to your old school, things could get confusing.
Natalie: Dad, I'll be fine.
John Henry: What if you run into the doppelganger of Regan or Annika?
Natalie: Then I'll pretend like I don't know that they're my best friends. Because they are not. They're not the same people. I know. The only person on this whole earth that I know is you.
John Henry: I just wanna make sure we don't attract any unwanted attention.
Natalie: (sarcastically) You mean like the same kind you get from flying around the world in steel war suit with Superman?

(Lois is telling Clark about walking in on Jonathan and his girlfriend.)
Lois: What happened is that I came home to find our not-even-old-enough to drive son in bed half-naked with Candice.
Clark: (shocked) Jonathan, come on, man. What are you thinking?
Lois: He's 15 years old and home alone with his new girlfriend. It's pretty obvious what he was thinking.
Clark: What? You mean... no, th... I never would've done that when I was his age!
Lois: Well, then he clearly takes after his mother.

Lois: Things haven't been okay for months. And I've been blaming you. And I'm sorry. Ever since you told me to say something to Natalie and I just stood there frozen.
Clark: You were in shock. All of us were.
Lois: It's more than that. She was my daughter in that other world and... seeing her standing there and calling me "Mom..." I felt nothing. And in that moment, I finally realized how my mom must have felt the day she left us.
Clark: Lois...
Lois: I've wondered how she could do that my entire life, how a mother could just...  abandon her children. And now I know. She didn't feel. She didn't feel anything. Not for me. Not for Lucy.
Clark: Lois, you can't know that for sure.
Lois: Yes, I can, Clark. And every time you ask me about Natalie or tell me to call her, it's just bringing up all of those feelings in me and all of this guilt.
Clark: You have nothing to feel guilty about.
Lois: She called me "Mom", Clark!
Clark: But she's not your daughter.
Lois: I know, but...
Clark: Lois, her mom died. And there's absolutely nothing you could've said or... or done to change that.
Lois: But I know how she felt. And she must have been so crushed seeing me look at her that way.
Clark: You are not your mother. What happened with Natalie, that's... that's a completely different thing.
Lois: I just hate this feeling.
Clark: (pulling her close) Here, come here.

Lt. Anderson: I asked you repeatedly, "Be part of my team".
Superman: What you asked for was my allegiance to America.
Lt. Anderson: And you refused.
Superman: Because I gave it to the world a long time ago.
Lt. Anderson: America needs to come first. And to them, it does. And the rest of my new team. When it does to you, come on back. I'd love to have you. Bring your friend.
Superman: I told you, he's done.
Lt. Anderson: Then they're who I'm calling.
(Lt. Anderson starts to walk off.)
Superman: Anderson. That crest you put on their suit, it's not yours to give.
Lt. Anderson: That's the most recognizable symbol on the planet. I want everyone to know that we are the good guys. Besides, America can have more than one Superman.

Continuity

The opening scene of this episode picks up where the last scene of 115 ended.

Three months pass between the opening scene and the where Season 2 officially begins with the first day of school.

Sancerre is Lana Cushing's favorite brand of wine.

As the episode opens, Lois still hasn't spoken to Natalie Irons and is trying to build a new team of writers for the Smallville Gazette.

Natalie is said to be having her first day of school in Metropolis as well.

Sarah Cushing has been away for a month, working as a counselor at her old summer camp.

Lois says that Natalie is refusing to talk to her.

Mike & John's Barber Shop is one of the businesses in downtown Smallville.

A new business in Smallville specializes in selling Superman merchandise. Kyle worries about the city becoming a tourist trap, but Lana points out it's helping save the down in the wake of Morgan Edge's actions.

Chrissy Beppo interviews a young writer named Michael who works for "The Messenger" doing copy proofing and layouts, but he mostly worked on monetizing the site. He also runs his own blog and claims to have 40,000 Twitter followers. He describes himself as the "WOAT or GOAT" guy.

Lois is not impressed by Michael and dismisses him.

Chrissy accuses Lois of having standards that are too high.

Lana has thrown herself into the campaign for Daniel Hart, who is running against George Dean for the post of Mayor of Smallville. 

Jordan asks Sarah to meet him at Atlas Pond, where they were arrested in 113. However, this time he asks for permission to be there first.

Jonathan has started dating a girl named Candice Pergande.

Jonathan is still the back-up quarterback for the Smallville High football team. He's playing at practice again, but is annoyed the coach won't let him do any pass play drills.

Clark hears a submarine in distress that causes him to leave Jonathan and Candice alone at the Kent farm. He says that he need to go to the Hubbard's farm, as Ben Hubbard asked him to check the headers on his combine.

As Superman is saving the submarine, he has some kind of fit and clutches his ears as if he were hearing something painfully loud.

The submarine that Superman saves is North Korean.

Natalie starts school at what was her high school in her original Earth. She is using the alias Natalie Johnson.

Lois finds Jonathan making out with Candice, with his shirt off, on his bed.

General Lane has been replaced at the Department of Defense by Lt. Mitch Anderson.

Anderson complaints that Superman shouldn't have saved the North Korean submarine 

Superman affirms that he protects the whole world - not just the United States.

Jonathan and Jordan are confirmed to be 15 years old.

Jordan uses his heat vision to light many floating candles at Atlas Pond to surprise Sarah.

Sarah says she's feeing crampy and asks to leave her meeting with Jordan.

Daniel Hart plans to use the settlement money Smallville was recently awarded to renovate the parks., enhance local community services and local infrastructure.

It has been five years since the teachers of Smallville got a pay raise. Hart stumbles over this point when questioned by a teacher, but Lana helps him out.

Clark talks with Kyle about his fight with Lois and how he feels like there's something she isn't telling him. Kyle advises him to let it lie.

The Metropolis Museum (aka The Met) still being repaired following the battle with Morgan Edge's army three months ago.

John Henry looks for Natalie at the museum and discovers it is closed.

Natalie left school after first period, having been unable to keep going after one of her best friends looked at her like she didn't exist.

Jordan comes home and Lois grills him about what he was doing with Sarah.

Jonathan warns Jordan that their dad is probably going to lecture them both about what Jonathan did.

Clark asks Lana if Kyle is jealous of all her work for Daniel Hart's campaign.

Lana figures out that Clark is really needing to talk about Lois not talking to him about her feelings.

Clark hears something close by, kind of like an earthquake, but different.

Kyle bought an old car and is fixing it up with Sarah.

Kyle advises Sarah to take the lead in her relationship with Jordan and be honest with him.

Lois' finally reveals to Clark that she feels guilty about not feeling anything regarding Natalie Irons and is afraid that makes her like her mother, who abandoned her family when Lois was younger.

Clark hears glass breaking and sense an earthquake is about to hit Smallville.

A water tower is crushed by the vibrations.

Clark has another fit and visions of destruction. During this, he sees two young heroes in uniforms with the S-Shield of the House of El on their chests.

Lois calls John Henry after the earthquake.

Superman confronts Lt. Anderson regarding the other heroes. He confirms they are students from the DoD school for metahumans who have graduated and are ready to serve their country.

Lt. Anderson hands his ELT over to Superman and ignores his objections about using the House of El symbol, saying that there can be more than one Superman.

Lois meets Natalie and says she would like to be friends and thinks it would be good for them to be part of each others' lives.

Sarah is also confirmed to be 15. 

Clark talks to Jonathan and Jordan about "being intimate" and coming to him if they have questions. He also tells them that they should be responsible and respect whoever they are with.

Clark confirms he was older than both of them when he lost his virginity, before warning them that Lois is going to be giving them a much stricter talk.

John Henry and Natalie agree to stay on the farm until they find a place of their own.

Clark hears a distant rumble.

The episode ends with something big trying to punch up through the earth under Smallville.

Location

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Metropolis


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see the past three months of activity in Smallville.


The Bottom Line

A solid start for Season 2.

Batman: The Devastator #1 - A Review

The Dark Knights continue to carve their way across Earth Zero. The Knight known as The Devastator - a Batman who turned himself into a monster born of Kryptonian science to stop the corrupted Superman of his world - is about to pay a visit to Lois Lane and make his mark on Metropolis.


If nothing else was accomplished by Batman: The Devastator #1, it gave me a new level of respect for Frank Tieri and James Tynion IV. I shan't spoil the hows or details but the flashback sequence detailing the creation of The Devastator puts a nail in the coffin of the idea that Batman would easily beat Superman in a fight given enough time and resources. Emphasis on the word "easily". The artwork by Tony Daniel and Danny Miki proves equally impressive, being vividly detailed yet smoothly presented.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10. A Must-Read for all fans of Superman and Batman. 

Detective Comics #966 - A Review

Trapped in the other-dimensional prison of Mr. Oz, Tim Drake has found a most unlikely ally in his escape attempt - himself. A future version of Tim Drake who became Batman, to be precise. This worries Tim for multiple reasons, the primary one being his own determination to do something with his life beyond being a vigilante. So how did Tim Drake turn from a college-bound prodigy into the last, best hope of Gotham City? The tale shall be told...



The second chapter of A Lonely Place Of Living is even more intense than the first. Freed from the burden of tying into the events of the Superman series, this issue is free to focus on Tim Drake and who he truly is as he is confronted with what he might become. James Tynion IV's script is equaled in excellence by the art of Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Adriano Lucas. If you only read one Batman book, this is the one to be reading!

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

Injustice: Ground Zero #23 - A Review

The battle to save the Earth of Injustice continues!  The tide turns when the still-noble Superman of another world arrives to aid the Insurgency. Yet when this Superman is ambushed by a mind-controlled Doomsday, who will save the savior?

Who do you think? She's only been narrating the whole story so far! Yeesh!



Much like in last week's review, I have to question Tom Derenick being tapped for the art duties on this issue. Derenick is a fine artist but his talents are best spent on close-combat and conversations. As a result, the epic, large-scale battles depicted in most of this issue look sloppy and off-model.

Christopher Sebela's story remains on point, however, and thank goodness for it! Harley's journey from hench-wench to hero in this reality has been an engaging one and it's a real treat to see her step-up to be what the world needs, as it is needed. I just wish we saw more of this smart, heart-felt Harley in the real DCU.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Five #20 - A Review

Bizarro's quest for answers regarding his creation has led him to The Fortress of Solitude, where a brainwashed Doomsday is waiting for a target. As Superman races to discover the mystery of his strange doppelganger, Lex Luthor is left with a moral quandary - should he take advantage of this situation to deal with an increasingly despotic Superman?


This issue is good for what it is - an old-fashioned, beat-em-up brawl. There's none of the humor Brian Buccellato is famous for, though the action is well written. Mike S. Miller's artwork is serviceable, though oddly stiff in some panels. J. Nanjan's colors remain bright and thematic throughout.

Second Thoughts On Batman V Superman [SPOILERS]

I saw Batman V. Superman for a second time as part of the bachelor party for my friend Roy Buckingham, who, incidentally, does a podcast you might enjoy if you like my work. I scribbled down these random thoughts as the movie progressed. Naturally, they are full of snark and SPOILERS, so don't read this if you haven't seen the movie or can't bare to have me pick apart some of the problems.



1. While I regret the necessity of needing to yet again show the death of Batman's parents, I must say the opening credits sequence does accomplish that task in an efficient manner. Like it or not, a filmmaker cannot assume that EVERYONE knows how Bruce Wayne became Batman. But the bats lifting Bruce up to the light is a major "what the hell?" moment that had me laughing the first time I saw it before I realized it was a dream sequence.

2. In many ways, the dream sequences/hallucinations are the biggest problem with the movie structurally. None of these scenes serve any purpose other than setting up things for the sequels that make no sense now or being artsy for the sake of being artsy. And Zack Snyder is at his most insufferable as a director when he's being artsy for the sake of being artsy.

3. Didn't the US Military establish a no-fly zone around Metropolis when they were sending in the plane with the pod to destroy the Kryptonian mothership back in Man of Steel?  If so, then how is Bruce Wayne able to get a civilian helicopter to fly into the middle of a war zone? Apart from being rich and the rules not applying to him?

4. I had thought it was a little weird that Metropolis and Gotham City are on opposite sides of a body of water. But according to the latest DC Comics Atlas, that's the case. They're twin cities on opposite sides of Delaware Bay, with Gotham City in the location of Cape May Point, New Jersey and Metropolis in the location of Lewes, Delaware.

5. I do love the moment of Bruce saving and then hugging the lost girl. That is everything you need to know about Bruce Wayne in a nutshell in one scene. He'll risk his life to save another and he's got a soft spot for kids and orphans, despite his personal darkness. And Ben Affleck NAILS that.

6. As powerful as this moment is, however, I have to wonder how the heck that girl got to the ground floor and out of the building, unattended, in the first place.

7. This is another major problem with the movie - there are some great sequences, but the steps taken to set up those sequences don't make a lot of logical sense.

8. Let's give some praise to the costume designers. Bruce Wayne is clad in dark blues, grays and black throughout. Clark is dressed in lighter shades of blue. It's a nice, subtle touch.


9. Even though some parts of Africa have a Christian population as high as 75%, it still seems weird for the woman being interviewed by Congress about her village being destroyed to say that Superman doesn't answer to God.

10. The scene of the bathtub overflowing as Lois and Clark "get friendly" is probably the most subtle metaphor in the whole movie. I thought it was the female equivalent of a rocket going off. Which means it was probably an accident.

11. RE: The Bat-Symbol Brand (TM) on the criminals. This is another nonsensical element that exists only to give Superman a reason to distrust the more extreme Batman. It's also a blatant rip-off of The Phantom's Skull Ring.

12. So, we're told that the public is split on whether or not Superman is a hero or a menace. Yet Metropolis saw fit to make a statue of him the centerpiece of a memorial for those killed in the Kryptonian invasion. I'm willing to bet more than a few city councilors got voted out of office over that, since many people would equate that with building a statue of Adolph Hitler in the middle of a Holocaust memorial.


13. For all the complaints about things this movie got wrong in adapting the comics, I haven't heard anyone complain about Perry White. Laurence Fishburne does a good job with the character as written but there's no hint of the idealistic old-school newsman from the comics in his portrayal. His seeming annoyed about Lois and Clark wanting to go after big news stories is confusing on every level.

14. That being said, his later anger at Clark neglecting two assignments so he can write about a vigilante in another city is justified. Which makes it all the weirder later when he gives Lois a helicopter, no questions asked.

15. The dream sequence with Bruce visiting his parents grave is Snyder's direction at his most self-indulgent.

16. Did everyone see that stained-glass angel in a blue tunic with a red toga in the Wayne crypt?



17. Lex Luthor's speech to the Friends of the Metropolis Library comes off as the worst TED Talk ever.

18. Is it just me or is Jesse Eisenberg channeling Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka for his portrayal of Lex Luthor?  When he invites Bruce Wayne to his lab to see what he's cooking up, I half expected for him to say he's finally perfected the Everlasting Gobstopper.

19. Ironically, in the sequence in which the reporters and experts discuss Superman, the scriptwriters nail the biggest problem with Man of Steel and this movie. It happens with the line regarding how everyone wants to see Superman as Jesus or The Devil but nobody wants to see him as just some guy who wants to help people. He needs to be Clark first and Superman second, but the script frequently switches that metric around

20. On that note, I think Henry Cavill does great work with what he is given but he isn't given much to work with. His best moments come early on where we see him and Lois interacting as a couple. Where Clark is the guy who tries to surprise his girlfriend with flowers and a home-cooked dinner. Where he's the guy who doesn't much care what the world says about him because he's content with his life and the love of a woman who makes him feel like the greatest man in the world. THAT is the character we want to root for and one we should have seen more of.

21. Another great visual that makes no sense if you think about it - the people trapped by rising floodwaters on the roof of their home who paint a giant Superman symbol on the roof of their home.  So they didn't have time to flee their homes but DID have time go grab the paint before climbing on the roof?

22. One of the reporters asks "Must There Be A Superman?" Nice shout out to a classic Elliot S! Maggin storyline though I wonder why he wasn't listed among the writers and artists who were given a shout-out in the closing credits?


23. While I personally don't have a problem with Diana sneaking around and acting as a spy (she worked with Military Intelligence in the classic comics as Diana Prince and was a DEO spy in the modern era), I'm amazed there wasn't more outrage from Wonder Woman fans about the avatar of Truth behaving in a deceitful manner.

24. Did anyone else see the start of the post-apocalyptic (or should that be post-Apokolyptic?) dream sequence and wonder for a minute what George Miller's JLA movie might have looked like? Or wonder what mods you have to install on Fallout 4 to get this to happen?

 
25. The whole sequence with Batman chasing after the Kryptonite shipment reminds me of the driving sequences in Arkham Knight. For all the wrong reasons.

26. Superman's cape looks HUGE as he's flying over Washington DC.

27. Granting that he can hear and see if anyone might be injured instead of vaporized by the bomb, Superman standing in the middle of a burning building looks strange.

28. So we have this Kryptonian archival computer, totally unlocked, accessible by a hand-touch, containing information on over 100,000 worlds... and there isn't a team of scientists pouring over this 24-7?!

29. On that note, Lex Luthor is the dumbest genius ever. Faced with this treasure trove of knowledge, the likes of which man has ever known, what is the first thing he does? Start playing around with a device that modifies DNA with the same skill and finesse as The Cat from Red Dwarf.


30. Also, did anyone else notice that Zod's corpse is smooth as a Ken doll "down there"?

31. RE: The Pa Kent dream sequence. It's totally random, but I can forgive it since we get to hear the speech Pa Kent SHOULD have given Clark in Man of Steel about how unintended consequences shouldn't stop you from trying to do good.

32. The Pa Kent scene is also a nice, subtle segue into the next scene, where Bruce is pondering his own father's teachings in the ruins of Wayne Manor. Another subtle reminder of how Clark and Bruce aren't that different.

33. I take it back. Jesse Eisenberg isn't channeling Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka - he's becoming Heath Ledger's Joker. Just look at the hair and the purple trenchcoat!

33. This may possibly be the most obscure reference in the whole movie. In the video of Cyborg's creation, his father mentions a number - 61982. Cyborg's first appearance in the comics was in Tales Of The Teen Titans #1, which was released on June 19th, 1982. Or 6/19/82.

34. The fight between Superman and Batman DOES look awesome. But Superman shoving Batman when he shouts "I UNDERSTAND!" serves no purpose other than to provoke a fight that doesn't need to happen.. except for the sake of giving us the titular fight of this movie. Clark should have just tried talking to him then, calmly and rationally and explained that his mom was in danger. Of course then we wouldn't have gotten the fight scene, so forget it.


35. Batman swinging Superman around on that bat-rope just looks goofy as hell.

36. Why on Krypton does Clark use his mother's first name when he's begging Batman to help him instead of "Mom"?  Yes, both of their mothers are named Martha. It's a fascinating bit of trivia and it makes the characters bond but it makes no freaking sense for Clark to not say "Mom".

37. With Martha Kent a hostage and Lex doing God only knows in the Kryptonian ship, time is of the essence and the situation is urgent. But not so urgent that Bruce can't change out of his power armor and into a second Bat-Suit he just happened to have with him.

38. Bruce forgetting about his Kryptonite spear and leaving it behind is just dumb.

39. Leaving Lois behind? Slightly less dumb, but still pretty dumb given that Clark knows Luthor was watching the fight remotely.

40. So Lex decides to taunt Superman while standing between him AND the nightmarish abomination he created to kill Superman? I say it again - Dumbest Genius EVER.  I fully expect to see Doomsday doing to Lex what Hulk did to Loki in the inevitable How It Should Have Ended parody.


41. Who else expected Aquaman to show up after Lois dropped the Kryptonite spear in the flooded pit in the basement of the port building and start lecturing her about surface-dwellers dropping their junk the ocean?

42. Yes, it would have been coincidental as hell, but Aquaman totally should have shown up to save Lois when she got trapped underwater and joined the fight then.  Of course HE could have used the spear on Doomsday and then Superman wouldn't have to die. So forget it.

43. I full expect to see THAT happen on How It Should Have Ended as well.

44. Another little thing I liked - Clark mailing his engagement ring for Lois to his mother's house. Because he knew there was no way he could hide anything from Lois at work or at home.

45. Amy Adams is a marvel as Lois Lane. The bits of Lois being an investigator are great and I'd love to see her star in a solo movie. We'll never get it, but I'd like to see that.



46. Gal Godot nails the part of Wonder Woman and I can't wait for her solo film.

47. The fight between the Trinity and Doomsday... okay, let's be honest.... the fight between Wonder Woman and Doomsday with Batman lining up his shot and Clark providing air support does look amazing... except for the cheap CGI for Doomsday.

48. The series of false endings as the movie closes are almost as ridiculous as the end of The Return of The King.

49. It should have ended with Bruce's line - "Man is still good. We break things, tear them down, but we can rebuild. We can be better, we have to be."

50. Take that last line as a mission statement for Justice League, Zack Snyder!

*******

Final thoughts on a second viewing?  I like the movie a little more. I still don't love it but I can appreciate the craft of it all.

Yes, it is flawed. Yes, a lot of stupid things happen to justify the action sequences. There's way too much going on. And we could have cut the dream sequences without losing anything. But the performances are great across the board, with one glaring exception and I can't even blame Jesse Eisneberg for that because so much of it is down to the direction and script.

The production values are great, with some wonderful designs in regards to the sets and costumes. The musical score is amazing and well-mixed. And the movie makes some good points regarding the nature of heroism and how we view it in modern society.

In the end, that's just one critics opinion. I encourage you all to go see the movie and decide for yourself.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice - A Spoiler-Free Review

Opinions were hot and heavy going into the release of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Many dismissed the film out of hand, claiming that the worldview as a whole was too dark, that Lex Luthor was too comical a figure, that Ben Affleck was totally unsuitable to play Bruce Wayne, that Gail Godot was too skinny to play Wonder Woman and a host of other petty complaints. Even on the day of release, there was a gleeful - almost cannibalistic attitude - as anti-fans gloated about Tommy Wiseau's The Room having a higher approval rating with critics on RottenTomatoes.com.

Admittedly this critic was concerned going into this film, being an avowed DC Fanboy. Still, hopes were high given that my spirited defense of Man of Steel and my guesses as to what was coming in the sequel seemed to have been born out by news that the focus of this sequel would be the public's reaction to the severe destruction caused by the Kryptonian invasion. And while Zack Snyder's track-record on comic book adaptations is uneven at best, there was still reason to believe that this movie would be serviceable, if not a classic, based on the talent of the actors and artists involved.

So how was it?


It's not great but neither is it a total affront to basic human decency.

It is a flawed movie but it gets more right than it does wrong.

With one glaring exception, the acting is wonderful and even then I wonder how much of the fault might lie with the direction and the script.

Ultimately, I'd say the biggest problem with the film is that it tries to do too much and would have done better to have focused in a little more.

The CGI is rather bad at some points. But most of the problems people had based on the trailers were explained in a satisfactory way. And the movie did learn from the mistakes of Man of Steel in most respects.

Overall. I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Five #3 - A Review

Superman receives some unexpected help in his fight against Doomsday from the criminal mastermind known as Bane. It seems The Man Who Broke The Bat wishes to prove his worth to The Man of Steel and proposes an alliance to deal with their mutual enemy. It is an offer Superman has little time to consider, however, because The Parasite is also on the loose and about to destroy Hal Jordan and Cyborg!


This issue will probably be the one that marks the turning point for Injustice. Both as the moment when Superman passed the point of no redemption and the point where the series itself became more focused on serious drama with little comedic contrast. In any case, while there's little of the humor that has made this series a fan favorite in this chapter, Brian Buccellato's writing remains as strong as ever.


The artwork this time around proves serviceable but not quite outstanding. Tom Derenick's inks are a little too heavy at times, though his character designs as well as his command of visual storytelling and panel placement remain excellent. And Rex Lokus' colors are as well-chosen and as skillfully applied as ever.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Five #2 - A Review

The sudden escape of every captive super-villain on Earth has led to wide-spread chaos and new opportunities for Batman's Resistance. So as Catwoman and Batman discuss the organization of their new army in a Parisian cafe, Superman faces Doomsday. At the same time, a desperate Hal Jordan calls for back-up in fighting an out-of-control Parasite and only Cyborg is free to help him.


As I noted in my review of the first issue of this series on Kabooooom.com, it seemed certain that this issue would make up for the lack of action in Part One. My prediction proved accurate. Apart from the opening scene with Batman and Catwoman, this issue is all action. And it is great, well-paced action with an honestly surprising final page. Well done, Brian Buccellato!

This is Iban Coello's first issue on Injustice and it's a promising start. Coello's character designs are wonderful, with clear pencils and think inks that enhance the artwork perfectly. The colors by J. Nanjan are up to the usual high level of quality, with the final artwork looking amazing.