Superman is a super dick. Well, he is if you take away Lois Lane from him apparently. Someone needs to put the guy in check and thankfully Batman is in the process of doing so; can he get it done before the new video game, Injustice 2 is released in 2017?
How about the comic, is it good?
Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Five #15 (DC Comics)
So what’s it about? According to DC Comics official summary:
Batman forms an alliance with the savage Hawkman, who is still determined to remove Hawkgirl from Superman’s regime. How does the warrior from Thanagar hope to succeed in defeating The Man of Steel where so many have failed? By getting his hands on some Kryptonite, and he claims to know where to find it.
Why does this book matter?
I dig elseworld tales because they allow writers to take characters places you simply can’t in the main universe. If you squint your eyes a bit when reading these stories you get the sense that this is how the characters you love would act if forced in the direction they’re forced into.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
The plotting begins.
If you’re just joining this series Superman was involved with the death of a certain famous butler. That has created a cascading effect from Superman’s once 100% loyal teammates as they question his motives. That gives Hal Jordan a new direction in this issue that brings up a tantalizing turn of events. Meanwhile, Superman is rushing around the globe demanding characters verbally give him their loyalty. Things are moving in a direction that will bring an all out war and that’s interesting. Brian Buccellato keeps the stakes high and the story moving.
Hawkman gets an awesome fight sequence too and revealing who he fights is too big of a spoiler. Let’s just say it’s a pretty boss character and he must do so to acquire something that will take out Superman. Most of the action resides in this scene, but it’s very well paced and drawn by Xermanico.
The art throughout this issue is actually quite nice, with good inking to convey the darkness of Batman’s current mood. Black Atom and Superman have a compelling interchange too. All in all, the art is of the caliber of any other superhero book if not better.
It can’t be perfect can it?
Besides the cover being misleading (that happens quite a lot in comics), the only negative in this issue is how the characters continue to be in complete alliance with Superman. While a few chinks are appearing in the support he has, it’s hard to believe he can threaten Cyborg and he just shrugs it off. I get that they are sticking with their guy, but his actions are so erratic it’s growing harder to believe they’d not at least doubt supporting him.
Never back down!
Is It Good?
Probably the best paced issue of this series. A lot of things go down, plenty of action takes place, and the plot thickens quite a bit.
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