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If the Joker blew up Metropolis, would you accept Superman as your President? Find out in this review of Injustice Gods Among Us, Digital Editions #1-15 ….
Injustice Gods Among Us, Digital Editions #’s 1-15
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by Various Artists
Synopsis: The Joker has blown up Metropolis and left the Justice League divided. Superman decides to appoint himself commander in chief for the entire world, in attempt to create a global armistice. But at what cost?
The Good: Thus far, this series has been nothing short of fabulous. It’s everything a comic fan could ever want in a non canon Justice League civil war type story. While the premise of this book is really nothing new (Superman, the boy scout, finally gets corrupted, uses his power for unjust acts and needs to be reeled back in by the incorruptible Batman), it is executed brilliantly in this story. The beauty of this story, being non canon, is that this story can really be told the way it should be, anything can happen and there are no consequences to the ongoing titles.
Taylor has delivered realistic character evolution throughout his run on the title. The beginning features Superman in his classic “hero of the people” form. Following the actions of the true to character Joker in chapter 1, Superman is quickly transformed into the supreme dictator of the entire earth. The Joker completely breaks Clark Kent, and pushes him to realize that no matter how hard he tries. No matter how many criminals he puts away, it will never be enough to truly save the world. This causes a rift between Clark and Bruce Wayne because Bruce will never be willing to break his almighty “rule” of not killing criminals because that is the line he draws to keep himself from becoming a criminal himself. The title is a great exploration of what Superman could be if he didn’t have Jonathan and Martha Kent to teach him his morals, and the global impact he can have if a mad man alters his them.
The other heroes and villains are written spectacularly as well. Even though the events that take place cause them to evolve and modify some of their deepest beliefs, they still manage to not stray from the personalities they have been assigned in the regular continuity. Wonder Woman is still loyal without question to Superman, as Nightwing is to Batman, Damian Wayne is still defiant of his fathers no killing policy and Aquaman is still caught in conflict between the surface world and the depths of the sea. The way the story has utilized DC’s top villains has also been very effective. Although they have only made brief appearances, most of them have had a devastating effect on our heroes’ psyches which has altered their moral code. The Joker, Doomsday, Two-Face and more recently Solomon Grundy have all made appearances that have steadily pushed the heroes towards the grey area between good and evil. Taylor has used Harley Quinn as an effective source of comedic relief between the plots most dire situations.
The artwork in this book has been mostly good. Due to the revolving door of artists it has been hit and miss. The overall style has been grainy and dark tones with colouring that is reminiscent of a pencil crayon. There is little use of bright colours, and the costumes on characters like Wonder Woman, The Flash and Superman have had the reds and blues scaled back in brightness. The darker shades are fitting for a book with such a bleak plot line, so the artwork is suitable to the titles content.
The Bad: This title has so many positive things going for it, so I must admit anything in this portion of the review is going to be just nitpicking. As I stated earlier, the art is inconsistent at times which I suppose is to be expected when a title is being released on a weekly basis and has several artists involved in the work. Some of the costumes seem to be too different from those in regular continuity. Batman’s costume is really jagged and plated looking (his cowl looks like an accordion), and Robin’s bracers look very disproportionate on the cover of issue #13.
Overall, I have been nothing short of thrilled with this titles run, and am eager to see what unfolds throughout the rest of the story. I definitely recommend you pick up the hard copies or head to DC’s website and grab the digital download editions if you haven’t already.
Rating: 4.8/5
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