The Injustice brand appeared initially as a game for consoles and computers. It was produced by NetherRealm Studio under the leadership of the legendary Ed Boone. In the game, a strong emphasis was placed on the plot – it was a kind of continuation of the revolution initiated earlier by the same developers in the remake of Mortal Kombat . Usually, mordoklepki had a pretext story, presented mainly in the form of full-text boards, unlocked after playing the game with a given character. Instead, NetherRealm gave players a story full of cutscenes,the length of which often exceeded the time spent on skirmishes. This is how an almost cinematic experience for the viewer was created. The problem was that this “movie” was very, very poor in terms of the script. The story mode of Injustice showed the world under the rule of the regime Superman, but the main characters made heroes of another (“main”) reality, who come to fix this whole mess. Only for what purpose should the recipient cheer on “ordinary” t-shirts, when their sinister (but are you sure?) Versions are much more interesting?
Is god allowed in the regime?
Comic book Injustice does not make this mistake , because Tom Taylor presents the very source of the conflict. Five years before the plot known from the game Clark Kent learns that he will become a father. His happiness does not last long, however, because thanks to the plot of the Joker (and Scarecrow’s gas), Superman kills a pregnant Lois Lane, which in turn launches an atomic bomb that destroys the entire Metropolis. In the face of such a great tragedy, something breaks in the hero. Superman decides to introduce his own order on Earth, disregarding the opinion of politicians. Some heroes, incl. Wonder Woman, Flash, and Cyborg support such efforts. Others, led by Batman, are trying to restore the former status quo . Old friends become enemies to each other.
The war of heroes
Injustice is a great elseworld. Tom Taylor has written a story in which neither side to the conflict is entirely right. In the comic strip, Superman kidnaps one of the dictators in order to end a conflict in a fictional country in the Middle East. This is a breach of the old rules of the Man of Steel, who did not interfere in such a way in global politics – however, Iron Man behaved very similarly in his first movie since the MCU, and it was portrayed there as a heroic act. So how are these situations different?
In the case of Clark Kent, the change of mind is justified by the traumatic experiences, but the psychopathic lust for blood emerges from such Wonder Woman. In other “regime” figures, the bending of the moral compass comes just as quickly – such a sudden radicalization of the heroes simply has to be bought. It is a short cut in the storyline, but this way the story gets a really good pace and gains the drama. Hence, it is not surprising that Batman opposes such behavior, but his methods (not for the first time anyway) do not fare much better (such as the kidnapping of Hawkgirl). In this way, it is difficult for the reader to both completely condemn the Man of Steel team and stand on the side of the Dark Knight Team. Interestingly, typical villains are almost absent here or they play a third role (except for the well-led Harley Quinn). History does not need them at all, since there are clashes between the “good” ones.
F
It is worth adding that in the first year (out of five), the corpse is quite dense. Death does not miss even important heroes, which is somewhat reminiscent of Robert Kirkman’s approach in Invincible. It perfectly builds the drama of the series, especially since each subsequent death spins a spiral of hatred. However, Taylor knows when to defuse this bubble of seriousness through brilliant and funny dialogues. An example would be Harley Quinn from Green Arrow and his Cave of Arrows (which, according to her, should be called Quiver, because arrows do not live in caves. And it’s hard to disagree with this point of view!). epic scenes involving Alfred that I have ever seen (spoiler: the moment he knocks Superman out of his head).
36 mushrooms into a superbark
Injustice. Gods Among Us is a lot of good – for the simple reason that the comic book Year One consists of 424 pages, which were originally published in as many as 36 parts. Why such a high number? Well, originally the title was released in a digital version, which made the episodes much shorter. Unfortunately, this episodic character is visible. A lot. I do not like the changes of cartoonists within one story, and here is a whole kaleidoscope of different styles, because artists working on the story changed all the time. Worse, none of those working on Injusticegraphic designers are not above average, and many of them rank much lower. If that was not enough, there was no one here who would take care of the consistency of the whole – this way Lois Lane can have medium-length red hair for several pages, and a moment later be a long-haired brunette. This Damian Wayne is constantly getting older and younger (maybe some superpower that I don’t know about?). It’s a pity that such a good script got a completely incongruous visual layer.
A good title among us
As they say: better late than never. A comic book that is so pleasant to read should have reached the Polish reader a long time ago, especially since Tom Taylor enjoys constant popularity, and seeing its subsequent titles, I am not surprised at all. The Injustice cycle has grown enormously over the years – the first game has received five “years”, and there are also comics for the second part of the fight, the prequel Year Zero or even a crossover with … He-Man (sic!). May Egmont not delay this time, because I (and probably many others) want more.
