Injustice: Ground Zero #19 - A Review

Still a captive of The Joker from another Earth, Harley Quinn is still struggling to find a way to break free. Will a chance encounter with Lex Luthor - now revealed as part of The Resistance - give her the chance she needs?


One of the few flaws the Injustice: Gods Among Us game was how poorly it represented most of its female characters. Wonder Woman in particular was horribly out of character, portrayed as having no reason for backing Superman's efforts at world domination other than her unrequited love for him. Harley Quinn suffered similarly, with her efforts at breaking free of The Joker coming about almost entirely because of Lex Luthor causing The Joker to admit that he had just been using her.

Injustice: Ground Zero #19 recreates this scene, but with a greater focus on Harley Quinn's emotional state and a more proactive role for Harley. The ultimate end is the same, but Christopher Sebela's script gives Harley more agency in how she breaks free of The Joker's control, showing that she was already looking for a way out when Lex Luthor showed up.

Jheremy Rappack's artwork is somewhat sloppy, loosing detail in the long range, However, his close-ups are to die for! I particularly like Raapack's designs for The Joker and Harley and the physiognomy of the characters from the fluidity of The Joker's movements to the stiff methodology of Lex Luthor. J. Nanjan's vivid colors finish the artwork nicely.

Injustice: Ground Zero #10 - A Review

As Batman leads a group of Justice League members from another world to recover a weapon they can use against they tyrant Superman from the ruins of Wayne Manor, Harley Quinn leads her own team to break into The Bat-Cave. Their mission? Steal the Batmobile back for Batman. Unfortunately, Damian Wayne is standing in their way.


Jheremy Rappack - who had previously worked on the original Injustice comic - returns to handle the pencils and inks on this issue. Rappack proves a good choice, his gritty style and thick inks suiting the setting of a dark, underground complex. My only complaint - and it is a small one - is that Harley with a white-eye mask just looks strange to me.  Mark Roberts joins J. Nanjan on the color-art duties but you'd never know that two colorists were at work on this title, so seamless is the transition between their respective pages.


Again I must praise Chris Sebela's writing of Harley Quinn. She is silly, yes, but there is a brilliance behind the comedy, such as how she psychoanalyzes Damian Wayne as they are fighting and works that into her taunts to put him off-guard. It's a nice, subtle touch and part of why I enjoy this series so much. (Hey! That rhymed!)

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two Annual #1 - A Review

The Year Two Annual for Injustice: Gods Among Us differs from the Year One annual in three important respects. First, this annual tells two separate stories compared to last year's single story annual. Next, the tone of these stories is decidedly more serious than last year's annual, which saw Lobo hunting Harley Quinn. Finally - instead of being solely the work of Tom Taylor - the scripts for this issue were written by Marguerite Bennett, who co-plotted the stories with Taylor.


The first story focuses upon Jim and Barbara Gordon and their efforts to find peace in their relationship as Jim's inevitable death from lung cancer grows closer and their investigation of the seeming reappearance of Jim's wife/Barbara's mom, who has been missing for years. Bennet's script perfectly captures both characters and plays out the mystery quite well.  Sadly, the visual tone is all over the place due to this story having been rendered by four different artists with decidedly different styles.


The second story fares better in this regard, having been drawn entirely by Injustice regular Jheremy Raapack.  It too focuses on a troubled relationship - that of Hal Jordan and his former mentor Sinestro as they seek out a Qwardian artifact.  The story here is engaging but Bennett's take on Sinestro - which is reminiscent of Geoff Johns' anti-heroic take on the character - doesn't quite gel with the more openly villainous Sinestro that we've seen in Injustice so far. This is a minor point, however, and it is to Bennett's credit that the reader still won't be sure how sincere Sinestro is about regretting how things ended between him and Hal by the story's conclusion.

Despite not being essential to the overall story, fans of the Injustice will still want to pick this one up.  Fans of Marguerite Bennet's writing on other recent titles will also enjoy this one and shouldn't have any trouble with these stories despite them being set in the complex mythology of the Injustice universe.  The stories more than make up for the somewhat scattered artwork.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #32 - A Review

Tom Taylor has accomplished many impressive things with Injustice: Gods Among Us yet I think he may have topped himself with Issue #32.  Why?  Because he's made Captain Atom into a likeable character without changing the character at all.  I normally find the jingoistic heroes who place duty before idealism annoying in the extreme but this issue presents a side of the Captain I don't think any writer has ever captured before.


The battle between Superman and Captain Atom outside the Fortress of Solitude takes up the main portion of the issue.  The rest involves a subplot that sees the Fortress of Solitude collapsing in on itself and Green Arrow caught on the inside along with Martha and Jonathan Kent.  The way Taylor writes both Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen makes me nostalgic for the good old days and I dearly hope he can find some way to bring the two of them together again on Earth 2 when he takes over that title in a few months.


Jheremy Rappack's artwork perfectly complements Taylor's story.  He does over-indulge on the inks in a few panels, which causes some of the details of his pencils to be lost.  Thankfully, these moments are few and far between and this tendency actually proves effective in his depiction of Superman, whose face seems lost in shadow as the character himself is lost to a spiritual darkness.

This is a good comic but it is not an ideal jumping-on point for new readers.  This should come as no surprise given that this issue is the second chapter of a three-part storyline.  Check out last week's issue before getting this one, should you be a newcomer to the wicked world of Injustice. 

Injustice: Gods Among Us #27 - A Review

Injustice: Gods Among us continues to be more than your typical video-game tie-in comic.  Indeed, it's proving to be more than just a typical comic.  Tom Taylor and company have paradoxically taken a world where our favorite heroes are changing into something other than how we think of them and managed to distill the essence of what makes them who they are.


The action of this chapter is split between two separate scenes.  In the first, Superman and his loyal team of Justice Leaguers discuss the potential of Lex Luthor's latest invention - a drug that can give ordinary humans the endurance and damage resistance of a Kryptonian.  In the second half, the prodigal son Damian Wayne - disturbed by the implications of what his Justice League allies are planning - attempts to make peace with his father, Batman.  I shan't spoil the events that follow but suffice it to say it is not a happy homecoming.


Jheremy Raapack's style is well suited towards this story.  Raapack's command of shadow is masterful and he adds a layer of distinction as well as an aura of moodiness that leaves even characters standing in full light seemingly cloaked in darkness,  A visual metaphor for how our major players in this chapter are using deception in some form or fashion?  Either if it isn't, it looks wonderful.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #18 - A Review

Injustice #18 centers upon the formation of Batman's resistance movement in the face of Superman's regime.  This resistance comes, oddly enough, after a meeting between Batman, Catwoman and the President of the United States.  Those who dislike the political turn of Catwoman's character in last week's issue will find more to dislike here.  Personally, I find the real-world parallels with the current debate on freedom versus security in the United States to be fitting and ironic coming from the pen of Australian writer Tom Taylor. 


As before, Taylor's expert handling of the characters is this book's greatest strength.  There are several good character moments throughout, such as Batman's dry comeback towards The President's empty attempts to put him at ease.  There's also some nice shout-outs to previous issues, such as Catwoman needling Black Canary about Green Arrow hiding a handcuffed Harley Quinn in the Arrowcave.  


Sadly, Jheremey Raapack's artwork doesn't quite live up to Taylor's script.  I've noted before that Raapack is quite good at depicting scenes that take place in the shadows (i.e. Batman and Catwoman's lurking among the rooftops or Catwoman visiting with Black Canary in a dark alley) but he tends to over-ink and over-emphasize his line work in the brighter scenes.  It's not exactly off-putting but it does prove to be a distraction from the story as a whole.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #14 - A Review

Injustice #14 escalates the battle between the heroes who value liberty over security (i.e. Batman) and those who wish to bring about safety at any cost (i.e. Damn near everyone else).  After thwarting Two-Face's attack on the Channel 2 News anchors in Gotham City, Superman promises that he and the Justice League will do something about Arkham Asylum once and for all.  Naturally, Batman is less than pleased about this announcement.  He's even less pleased when his sidekicks either outright refuse to help him stop Superman or play the Devil's Advocate for Superman's point of view. 



Tom Taylor's scripts continue to impress me.  It would be all too easy for Superman to be portrayed as a power-mad tyrant but Taylor's take on the Man of Steel shows that he's still the same charming gentleman he's always been when it comes to dealing with law-abiding citizens.  Even knowing what he's done, you can't help but like the guy as he talks about his dead wife and smiles when someone apologizes for saying she was the better reporter.  The drama between Bruce and his sons is also well played and the dialogue is perfectly suited towards each character.


The artwork by Jheremy Raapack is not quite so inspiring.  Rappack is not a bad artist but his particular style is better suited toward illustrating Batman stories than the more colorful exploits of Superman.  The sequences set in the Batcave look quite good but the inking on the scenes with Superman in the TV studio seem overly dark.

Apart from that one issue, this is a fine comic and well worth the price of a download.  I don't know how many Injustice fans will be up for reading a comic on this, the day of the game's release.  I just hope that some of them - who aren't regular comic readers - come across this issue later.  It may well make them into fans of the medium.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 - A Review

Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 has no right to be as good as it is.  The story contains various elements that have been done before.  The plot centers around a particular element that I always find distasteful and usually find hackneyed.  To top it all off, it is a video-game tie-in comic which is rarely a sign of high quality.

And yet... I liked this book.

I really liked this book. 

Tom Taylor has done the impossible!  He has crafted a story that has little in the way of originality, many reasons to hate it for its' content... and it still works because of all the elements in it that are enjoyable.  I like having a Harley Quinn who is a good-natured goofball who names her vehicles.  I like having a Hal Jordan who quips in such a way as to make me think of Nathan Fillion.  I like a Batman who is self-conscious of how ridiculous he looks being carried around at super-speed by The Flash.  But most of all, I like seeing Lois Lane and Clark Kent married again and the little touches like how Lois can throw a book at Clark's head and he'll barely notice it.


Dammit, I like this comic because it's something most of the New 52 line hasn't been - fun.  Which is ironic given that it's meant to be setting up a dark, dystopian future where superheroes rule the common clay with an iron fist.  Yet Taylor is able to move beyond the base world and makes this issue dance through judicious use of good humor and fine character moments.  


Artistically, this book dodges another bullet.  With three creative teams on a title, there's always a danger of clashing styles and disparities in the action.  Miraculously, that's not a problem here.  All of the creators involved are of equal skill and craft and the differing styles actually work to the story's benefit as the tone changes with the artwork.


Even if you're not a gamer who has been looking forward to Injustice: Gods Among Us, this comic prequel is well-worth picking up.  There is a humor and vitality here that is sorely missed among many of the current crop of DC Comics.  If you miss having a Joker that makes jokes, a Harley Quinn who wears clothes or anything that reminds you of the Bruce Timm animated universe, you'll want to give this book a shot.