Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Three (2014) #10 Review

Deadman dead and the Swamp Thing joins Superman's One Earth Regime... "The Green will rise" and probably destroy everything the Insurgency has been planning for the last couple of issues.

This issue was just so tense, setting up more questions that it does answer. A quick synopsis would be; the Spectre cuts Deadman with a blade that causes a fatal wound, Batman and Constantine try to recruit Swamp Thing for the Insurgency, Deadman goes to Nanda Parbat where he recruits a familiar face to become the new Deadman and change the tide of the war.

For all the tension in this issue, it was nice that Zatanna provided humour, using one of her magic spells to seal both Constantine and Batman's lip together was really funny. The big twist in the final panel made my jaw drop and I was like "No  way!!! This can't be right." I'm both confused and ecstatic at the same time.

I'm not sure if I want to ruin it for those who are yet to read it, but those who have will know what I mean (I'll post the comic underneath the post).

Finally we see one of the most magical places in the Dc Universe, Nanda Parbat and I'm just hoping it will make more appearances because it is one of my favourite locations in the comic book world. I also enjoyed the Swamp Thing panels, where it is looking like Constantine and Swamp Thing will be the bitter rivals of this series, like Batman and Superman in the game.

Overall this issue is great for setting up the Swamp Thing's choice and the twist at the end will shock and surprise as it comes without any warning. Well? What was is Madame Xanadu said in #6 "A dead man will fall and a dead man will rise."?

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three (2014) #7 Review

Superman bleeding? Magic rules with vengeance as he is taken prisoner. Things are going from bad to worse for Superman's Regime, with his capture adding to their defeats.

In this issue, Teekl has freed Raven's spirit, allowing her to reveal her location to Superman. Superman goes rescue her and after freeing her from her imprisonment is attacked and bound up by an unknown patchwork cloak (Ragman.) The real Raven has been moved by Klarion and Constantine and he has fallen for the Insurgency trap.

This is a change to the war, since Batman's Insurgency has been constantly beaten down and broken by Superman's forces. I love this as it shows that Kryptonians are no more powerful than the average mortal (even if he is wearing a magical patchwork suit.)

There is a great conversation between Klarion and Constantine, Klarion has become my favourite character in this series, where Klarion's moral compass comes into question and Constantine has to remind him "Your a necromancer who likes to play with dead people... who likes to reanimate corpses" which results in Klarion merely saying "fair enough." I just love the casualness of this statement and the fact that he agrees with it.

 

I'm not sure about the Spectre though. His character is rather annoying me .... and he killed Jason Blood.

However apart from the Spectre's fire first attitude the other characters I really like. Maybe I just need to wait and see if he'll improve. But that is my only complaint about the comic. The issue I just adore and the dark humour that is brought forward from Constantine and Klarion just add to tension when the action happens.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three (2014) #8 Review

Ragman and Constantine V.s Superman and the rest of the Regime.

In this issue Ragman is using his Suit of Souls to imprison Superman and end the Regime. However Superman is too strong and after activating his comm-link calls for backup. This results in Shazam incapacitating the Ragman and despite his protests, watches as the Spectre kills him. The rest of the Regime turn up and turn their focus on Constantine.

I feel so sorry Ragman in this issue, who is used and then killed when Constantine decides to turn his back on his "friend." This comic takes inspiration from the Hellblazer titles and I love how it keeps his personality very much the same: manipulative, inelligent and dangerous to anyone who forms a partnership with him.

I love how this title focuses on the interrogation of Superman and am interested to know how Superman managed to get out of the suit's power, though he was overpowered before hand.

This entire issue is why I love the occult. The magic that these characters wield is both amazingly powerful and fascinating how it ffects the user or it's target. Ragman was a hero I was unfamiliar with before this issue and it has made me want to go back and look up the character.

That is what I love in comics, if they make you like the character in one comic, then you will want to know about a character's backstory in another and you will actively read those comics to learn more. Though the story progresses extremly slowly, (a small number of scenes throughout this title) the detail in character development is astonishing. I like comics that choose to develope characters, just as much as issues with lots of action and emotion and this issue and title as a whole lives up to this.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three (2014) #9 Review

This series just gets stronger and stronger with every title that passes. I have always been fond of the magical side of the Dc Universe and it's occult and this series just enhances that.

A synopsis of this title would be that Superman has decided to spare the life of Constantine. When Shazam is transporting him, he is possessed by Deadman, who causes him to drop John and be saved by Zatanna. During a mental conversation between Deadman and Billy, Shazam transforms back into his child form, causing the Spectre to realise that there is a third mind inside his head. He exorcises Deadman and the latter asks to speak to Jim Corrigan, however realises that the Spectre isn't who he thought he was, ending with him questioning the Spectre as he smiles darkly.

I am loving the character of Constantine in these issues and am also interested  in how Superman will lose his Sinestro Corps ring, as he is not wearing it in the final game. 

This character change in Superman is becoming extremely apparent and I am just waiting to see how further he will descend into depravity before the events of the game.

If you are fan of the Injustice Gods Among Us game, you will love this title and it's two predecessors, Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Two (2014) and Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) (the first year of Superman's new World order.)

Earth 2: World's End (2014) #8 Review

Apokolips is in Earth 2's orbit, the Furies are on the offencive and the moon is hurtling in tiny fragments that are destroying everything which they fall upon. Welcome to the end of the World.

This title is fast paced and filled with action, following the end days of Earth 2's destruction. A brief summary of this issue would be, Flash and Hawkgirl have recovered from Fate's accidental Famine contamination. Alan Scott, Grundy and Sam are trying to locate the other Avatars. Batman and his team, must fight there way through Superman clones to reach Huntress and DeSaad. Constantine has teamed up with prisoners of the Arkham Base in the Lost Lands of Gotham. Chicago is destroyed by the moon and Barbara and Dick Grayson's fate has been left on a cliffhanger. Finally Hawkgirl has been possessed and opens fire on Flash and his mother, while Huntress' monitor has flat lined.

I love this issue and the tension that is building between the White Avatar (formerly Sam Zhao) and the Green Lantern (Alan Scott), because although it appears that Sam has completely disappeared, their are still traces of their former relationship and Sam inside the Avatar. I also like the number of cliffhangers this series leaves for the next issue or the mainstream Earth 2 title, making the reader want to find out how this will be resolved. 

Obsidian has been introduced into the Earth 2 title, which I am really excited about. Todd Rice was one of my favourite heroes before the Pre-Flashpoint event, so I am looking forward to seeing how they will shape him in this series. 

I am enjoying Batman using his brain to defeat his enemies instead of just drugs and brawn. This is the first time Batman II really follows in the footsteps of his son and I think he is a better hero for it. Another great panel is Major Sato choosing to ignore the Chancellor and deciding to power a survival and evacuation rather than fight against Apokolips.

I find it hard to actually find a complaint about this issue, because I love so much of it. Sometimes it is slightly hard to follow everything that is going on, but that is what is so brilliant about going back and reading it a few times. Once you have re-read this several times you get it, and it is such a good read that I don't begrudge that. 

So I would recommend not only this issue but the title as a whole and it's Earth 2 companion.

LoveCraft- Gotham Season 1 Episode 10

An interesting episode, not my favourite but it certainly great to see Alfred in a stronger position than he usually is.

The premise of this episode is that an assassin (Copperhead- Not named in episode but is defiantly her)  has been sent to hunt down and kill Selina Kyle, who has been identified as being the witness to the Wayne murders. She escapes with Bruce, causing Bullock and Alfred to team up and find him. Gordon goes to find LoveCraft, Harvey Dent's main suspect to the murder, but things go from bad to bizarre when he is killed with Gordon's own gun in his bathtub. After the children are saved, Gordon is confronted by the mayor, where he is positioned to become a security guard at the newly opened Arkham Asylum.

I love the interactions between Bruce and Selina, being a perfect foreshadowing for their relationship as Catwoman and Batman being both flirty, but also disparaging to the other. Another relationship that I'm glad they explored (though differently to how I imagined it to be) was the Selina and Ivy "friendship." Ivy Pepper, who had mysteriously disappeared since the first episode is back and her awkwardness is refreshing to see, when you see how different she is in her Arkham counter part in the video games. I like how Selina is scared of her. I also like the slightly flirtatious side she shows with Bruce, which I hope grows with the show to become the classic Poison Ivy from the comics.

I am very fond of Edward Nygma, and although absent through much of the episode, the hug between himself and Gordon was sweet. I am really enjoying his smart and socially awkward personality, making him human and relate-able and not just plain annoying as the Riddler was in Batman Forever. 

I was not sure about Alfred in the earlier episodes, but I have warmed to him. I think the turning point was the episode where he sits down with Bruce and helps him with the investigation into his parents murder. But back to this episode, I love how he respectably talks Fish Mooney into helping him, something that Bullock is finding harder to do after so many incidents between them. 

What made this episode good was that Barbara kept far away from it. No disrespect to Erin Richards as an actress, but I just don't like her character and I feel she serves no real purpose in the show. It is not even that she is a strong female character like Felicity Smoak or the Lance sisters in Arrow or Caitlin Snow in The Fash. She is merely there to be his girlfriend. So unless Gotham has great arc for her character (like they did with Laurel-as I didn't like her much before the later half of series two) I feel she is just there in the background. The relationship's between the  other characters are really strong, which was a plus for the episode. In terms of a mid-season point, it lacked the action that Arrow had with it's first two seasons, where the big bad was revealed or some big plot shift. Although having said that it does introduce Arkham very nicely for the second half of the season. 

What I didn't like about this episode was line "Mayor James... Kiss my ass" at the very end by Gordon  during his closing battle with James. The comic would, I feel, have given a very witty retort to this and not descended into childishness. Also I found Falcone's response to half his criminal activity being destroyed was slightly underwhelming. I would have liked to have seen a full response gang with Maroni (who he believes is responsible), not see someone shot and spend the rest of the episode with his face in a bowl, while he still trusts Fish Mooney. The trust he has for her, even with everything she has done against him, is shocking. For someone to be a crime boss with that much fear and respect, surely they would be smarter to know that everything that has happened has connections to her. 

If I were to predict what might happen in the second half of the season, I would guess that Liza may not last until a season 2 if one is made and nor would Fish. But what do you think?

Green Lantern (1990) #137 Review

This is a fairly old title based before the Flashpoint saga that started the New 52 series of events.

A sweet comic, that has a rather interesting feature: It has no fight sequence, evil mastermind or criminal subplot of any kind.

However what it does do is give the chance for great character development.

A brief synopsis of this title would be Kyle Rayner proposes to his girlfriend, Jenn Lynn-Hayden, who refuses for the time being. When Kyle tells his assistant Terry about this, he grows angry with Terry's disinterest, resulting in Terry going into a jealous rage and running off home in tears. This jealous rage was due to the fact that Terry had a crush on Kyle and was confused with his sexuality. Kyle eventually goes to Terry and after a long heart to heart chat, Terry comes out to being gay.

This comic has some beautiful dialogue, a sweet message and warmth. It is nice to see a comic that chooses not to focus on a bad guy for once and instead goes for the heart. I never really knew Jenn (Jade) when I read Brightest Day and Blackest Night, so it was nice to see some background to her. 

But it is Terry who is the star of this issue. The way this coming out story took place was believable. I also like how Terry (who does know that Kyle is Green Lantern) is in love with the man behind the mask and not the hero on the outside. 

Overall I would recommend this comic to all for it's sweat and rather different twist of no villain. Truly one of my favourite Pre-Flashpoint titles.