Titanomachy – review of the comic book “Injustice. Gods among us. Year Four”, vol. 4

The more I delve into the world of Injustice comics , the more I become convinced that turning this Elseworld into a multi-volume series was a mistake. A very good initial idea became more and more lost with each chapter (year). Year four brings an additional tragedy – the original screenwriter himself: Tom Taylor, left the project.

The first volume set the stakes – in one corner stood the authoritarian Superman, in the other a supporter of the old order, Batman. The remaining heroes joined one of the two camps and the brawl began. Year Two involved the Green Lantern Corps in the conflict, and Year Three focused on magic and the characters who wield it. As you can see, each subsequent volume had a different main theme.

Year after year

What’s new in the latest version? Transcendent beings. The subtitle of the series is Gods Among Us and this is the aspect that the inhabitants of Olympus did not like. Hera and Ares incite Zeus, telling him that Superman’s regime is based on treating the Man of Steel as a god, and that cannot be the case. Therefore, the Greek pantheon gives Clark Kent an ultimatum – either surrender or the gods will show him his place. Wonder Woman is woven into all this and must choose between her friends from the former Justice League and her family ties (here, as in “New DC”, Diana is the daughter of Zeus).

A divine tragedy

Apart from Ares, known to me from the game Injustice and the movie Wonder Woman (oh, that mustache under the helmet), I had no contact with this side of the DC universe before. However, I don’t feel like I’ve lost much. The appearance of the Greek pantheon in the fourth volume is highly pretextual, and their powers are mediocre (apart from Zeus, who is far too overpacked here). Just another team of bullies, which makes the fights very mediocre. In turn, Zeus’s motivation and his attempt to restore divine rule on Earth is lame and I have the impression that it was introduced only for some additional drama. In this respect, the magical main theme from the previous volume is much more creative (but it was written there by Taylor, which also explains a lot).

BvS

Not much happens on the main line of the Superman-Batman conflict. In fact, the status quo does not change in any way. Besides, there’s very little of the Dark Knight in this comic. And I mean a real detective with a sharp mind, not some doppelganger in a bat suit. Bruce wanders between frames; the new screenwriter clearly failed to find a purpose and a credible motivation for his actions. Harley Quinn is the best in Year 4 , although in this case a strange relationship with teenage Billy Bateson is added, which smacks of grooming .

As long as it lasts

Injustice is still a good Elseworld. I mean part one. Each subsequent volume, instead of increasing the tension, only diluted the entire intrigue. The absence of Tom Taylor is clearly felt by the lack of interesting plot twists. The dialogues also deteriorated because they lacked the punch typical of the previous scriptwriter. Unfortunately, the story about the Superman and Batman conflict overstayed its welcome. If it weren’t for the fact that there is only one volume left, I would probably stop following this series.