Forever Evil #5
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by David Finch, Richard Friend, and Sonia Oback
The short of it:
The Injustice League with Batman and Catwoman against Deathstroke, Shadow Thief, Giganta, Copperhead, and Blockbuster! Power Ring versus SINESTRO! The Syndicate wants dead bodies, and Deathstroke wants to get paid, and it’s a full on melee. Batman doesn’t trust the Injustice League and assumes they’re with the Society, Luthor tries to earn his trust and Batman…well, he’s Batman. There is no trust, or else he’d be Nightwing. Volthoom spends a lot of time calling Power Ring weak and telling him to wish big and stop being afraid, which sends the Hal Jordan doppelgänger into a rage against the leader of the Yellow Lanterns. At the same time, Giganta is beating on Black Adam until Catwoman says the wrong thing and the Black Marvel knocks Giganta’s giant form out of the building. You don’t mess with Black Adam.
Manta and Cold take out Shadow Thief, bonding for only the slightest of moments before Manta proves to be icier than Captain Cold. Batman takes on Copperhead, and Luthor goes to assist him again, but is stopped by Deathstroke. Slade makes a crack about Luthor not wearing a helmet, and then Luthor does what he does best. He makes a deal. He gets to the heart of what motivates Slade, and makes him a better offer than the Syndicate has on the table. He makes Deathstroke an offer that he can not refuse. Meanwhile, Sinestro remains unimpressed by Power Ring. He cuts Power Ring’s arm off before disintegrating him, just as Deathstroke blows Copperhead’s brains out. Bizarro finishes Blockbuster, and we have a regrouping.
Luthor lays out what he and his group wants, Batman tries to argue. Sinestro shows up to explain why he’s there, and to tell Batman that he failed as a Yellow Lantern because he didn’t embrace it. Luthor talks Sinestro into staying, that he is needed, and he can show up Hal in the process. Batman says he’s in charge. That isn’t happening. Meanwhile, the Ring of Volthoom has gone off looking for a new host, and it’s energy pulse isn’t confined to just one universe. The Syndicate tracks the energy source, and now…whatever destroyed their world looks to be here.
What I liked:
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Volthoom trash talking Power Ring into suicide by Sinestro is hilarious. That ring is such a prick.
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Seriously though, Sinestro was a badass, and it’s unsurprising since Geoff loves him some Sinestro.
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The cost of Deathstroke’s loyalty.
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Lex Luthor remains the star and the hero of this story, and it’s been making things so much better. Lex has made for a fantastic lead, balancing his extreme ego with the fact that he truly does want to save the world. He never comes across as a villain, and it’s a big distinction.
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Batman gets shamed left and right and it just works. From Luthor saving his ass, to Sinestro pointing out that he would be a phenomenal Yellow Lantern, all the way up to declaring himself in charge and nobody even humoring it. It’s fun to see Bats get knocked down a peg.
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Rick and Morty ads. I know, if you’re reading digital, you aren’t seeing it, and chances are even if you read in print you’re like “The hell is Grey talking about?” Well, Rick and Morty gets a page ad in a lot of DC books, and that show is funny as hell. So this is me saying to watch Rick and Morty.
What I didn’t like:
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The pacing of the series. The issue was more than fine, but I feel like we should be further into the event by now. Plenty of cool stuff has happened, but nothing has really happened.
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It’s not that I don’t like Finch’s art, but this issue was pretty static. A lot of canned poses, off looking faces, and an unimpressive Batman for the guy that’s supposed to be a Batman guy.
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Power Ring didn’t put up much of a fight at all.
Final thoughts:
Some of the best Deathstroke moments involve him being offered a better deal to not kill his intended target. There was an issue of Nightwing back in the Chuck Dixon days where Dick managed to call off a hit Slade had taken by offering him exactly one penny more than he had been paid. Loved it here too.
Manta would make a good Rogue.
Well, I thought that Darkseid destroyed Earth 3, but what if it was someone else? I mean, he wouldn’t come back to the main universe looking for the Syndicate, would he?
I would not hate it if the new Power Ring was from the main DCU and became a bad guy. Just so long as it’s not thrown off into limbo, because the Ring of Volthoom is pretty damn intriguing. I mean, I really want to know what the hell that does to a person. Deathstrom has the right idea!
I forgot Bizarro existed during this issue. Take that however you want.
A few deaths were really what the doctor ordered, this issue NEEDED some casualties.
It also could have used some answers, because while a big fight issue was nice, I really could have used some actual plot instead of just teasers.
Marvel has ruined events for me, I swear, my biggest problem with this book is that it’s actually a monthly and not that Mighty Marvel Method of two to three issues a month. Waiting has become that much harder.
Overall: 8/10
