Injustice: Gods Among Us 1 Review
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artists:Â Jheremy Raapack, Mike S. Miller, and Axel Gimenez
DC and NetherRealms are preparing a new fighting game starring the cast of the DC Universe due out this April. In anticipation of this title’s release, DC Comics is also releasing a tie-in comic series that details the events that lead up to the start of the game. In an interesting twist, at least a first for me, DC is releasing the comic in digital chunks before releasing a physical release. For the purpose of this release, I’m reviewing the physical first issue which combines the first 3 digital issues.
The story focuses on Batman and Superman as their main characters, and knowing the DC Universe it makes sense to have your big two as the centerpiece of the story. Starting in the present day, we see that Gotham and the world has changed. There is no more crime, there are no more kids becoming orphans due to murders of their parents, but this is no peace-time, it is a world living in fear. The story then jumps back 5 years to the past, and we learn that Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane are expecting their first child. There’s excitement in the air, but soon Lois is called to report on a senator taking a pay-off and a certain bat is causing trouble in Metropolis.
The two events don’t seem to be interconnected at first, but like a good domino effect, all the pieces begin to fall into place quickly and deadly. As the cover and game hints at, the Joker plays a vital role in this story, and like any Joker tale he is a complete wild card and no one is safe.
I am going to break my no spoilers rule in a review because this point needs to be talked about so for those who want to continue reading SPOILER WARNING. The Joker uses kryptonite he steals from STAR Labs and the Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin to create a compound that could enter Superman’s system. He is able to trick Superman into believing that Lois Lane is Doomsday and he fights with all his life to destroy him and protect his new family. Before Batman can warn him or the effects wear off, Superman has already flown Lois and his embryo into space and he is able to hear them die. But that’s not just it, Joker has also placed a trigger in Lois that causes a giant explosion when her heart stops. When it comes to cliffhangers in comics, there are few that are better than this.
 SPOILERS OVER
This is what happens when you are able to break free of the shackles of continuity in comics, and correct interesting dynamics and stories with consequences. The story has a nice flow to it, but I do wonder if there will be much of a conclusion to the arc since it needs to lead into the game.
When I first started reading the comic, I didn’t realize it was 3 digital releases bundled together so when I saw the art was done by 3 different artists, I was a bit worried. That doesn’t usually work out too well for me because the constant shifts in art are a bit jarring especially if you love one style and it’s replaced by a far inferior one. Luckily enough for me, that wasn’t an issue in this book for the most part. The art was fairly consistent and solid throughout the book. Of my two major problems, only one could really be chalked up to the artists on hand. The first deals solely with the game, but I’m not huge into the characters’ costumes in this world. It’s too much like armor and just looks really chunky.
The other was really some of the faces of the human characters/heroes outside of costumes. With the biggest offender being Superman’s face during the climax of the book. It’s supposed to evoke some type of emotion out of me, and I feel like laughter was not that emotion!
Recommendation: Buy– My reservation with some of the design decisions aside, this is a really good book. It doesn’t drag it’s feet with action and the consequences to comes will be exciting to read about!