Not so cool – review of the comic book “Injustice. Gods among us. Year Two “, vol. 2

The first volume of Injustice made a big impression on me. Admittedly, he was sometimes too “edge” in showing the conflict between superheroes, but it was rewarded by the talent of screenwriter Tom Taylor (long before his current fame), who excelled in character handling and humor in dialogues.

In Year One , thanks to the Joker plot that killed the pregnant Lois Lane and millions of Metropolis residents, Superman decided to establish a new regime on Earth. Parts of the Justice League and other superheroes supported the idea, which in turn for Batman and his henchmen was an unacceptable border crossing. As a result of the conflict, among others Nightwing, Green Arrow and the Martian Human Hunter, and Gack’s backbone has been broken once again (this type has it).

Batman v Superman

Roy Burgundy would sum up his second year with the words “that escalated quickly!” The conflict between the heroes goes beyond the Earth. The Sinestro Corps and the opposing Guardians of the Universe appear in the arena, along with the Green Lanterns eager to judge Superman. Meanwhile, on Earth, due to Batman’s unavailability, Jim Gordon is preparing a rebellion, who in the previous volume gained pills that give superpowers.

More is less

Like the Second Year, it uses the same patents as its predecessor, but as if the freshness has disappeared somewhere. There is no scene here as epic as Alfred smacking Superman out of a fairy tale. The comic book focuses more on the adventures of Man of Steel, but his demise becomes less and less nuanced. The rest of the superheroes like Flash have nothing to do or say here. Sinestro, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan all get their five minutes. Probably a new volume of Injusticelovers of colored rings will appreciate more, but for me they remained indifferent (apart from the aforementioned “main” lanterns). The corpse lays together densely, although this time more anonymously than in the previous volume. This is because the nameless yellows and green aliens are often used for cannon fodder, and there are so many of them that their limbs, guts and other remains constantly pass through the frames. Fans of the massacre should be satisfied, although I remained indifferent to this riot. However, there are also deaths of key characters in Year Two , and these work much more dramatically. I hope that the next volumes will focus again on Superman’s conflict with Batman, because I missed Gack’s cunning while reading.

Not great, not terrible

The first Injustice was a victim of his online pedigree – initially it was published only online and every episode was drawn by someone else. The second year calms down a bit in this respect. There are fewer cartoonists here, so the reader has less dissonance. Nevertheless, none of the artists from the second volume has a distinctive style, so everything looks like something drawn from the same boring and average punch.

Comic book Injustice inherited from the game rather poor character designs. Almost every costume has been unnecessarily disguised and speckled with dozens of ornaments. In the past, even such designs seemed cool to me , but now they look cheesy to me. It is not better with women’s costumes, because this Harley Quinn parades most of the time in a skimpy vest and lace panties. NetherRealm, the studio responsible for the game Injustice , has long learned to create interesting (and dressed!) Character models. Unfortunately, Taylor’s comics come from dark times.

Years by years

Taylor is an efficient scriptwriter who can surprise with unusual solutions to some events. Nevertheless, now that the conflict is fully clarified, there are fewer and fewer surprises. The first volume was one of the most interesting Elseworlds I have read, the second unfortunately is closer to a typical superhero event. May the following years bring a return to form.