Alright, so I had positive feedback on the last guest blogger I had and it just so happens that one day I was eating lunch with my friend Cullen. He is a super cool guy going off to college this year, but back to my story-- while we were having lunch he was telling me all about this online comic he has been reading: Injustice- God Among Us. I became so interested in what he was saying that I had to ask him to be a guest blogger, little did I know that besides being a huge Star Wars nerd and comic book addict-- he is a fantastic review writer! If you like what he has to say or if you want to see him write more, then just leave Cullen a comment below and tell him what you think!
If you are as big of a comic book nerd and/or fighting gaming enthusiast as I am, most likely you have played Injustice: Gods Among Us at least once. I’ll be honest when I heard the the creators of Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm Studio, were making a game set in the DC universe, I had mixed feelings. Besides a few exceptions comic book video games have been pretty terrible over the years (Superman 64 I’m looking at you) but, Injustice blew that all out of the water. This game finally allowed me and a few friends to finally settle the question as old as time: who would win, Batman or Superman? (or in my case, finally showing Aquaman to be the badass that he is). However, the game does fall a bit short in the storytelling department, which is a shame when you consider just how many great characters are included. The game centers around a alternate universe where Superman rules the world with an iron fist and Batman leading the resistance against The Man of Steel and while the background for this awesome premise is briefly touched on in the game, lots of details are left unexplained. This is where the tie-in comic series comes in handy, as it starts at the beginning of the events which cause Superman to go cuckoo for cocoapuffs. Writer Tom Taylor masterfully illustrates a series of tragedies, which includes (spoilers!) the Joker simultaneously tricking Superman into killing Lois Lane, and nuking Metropolis, causing Superman to murder the Clown Prince of Crime and adopting a much more brutal approach to protecting the world. Horrified as I was to see my childhood icon become a remorseless killer, I was equally intrigued by how this drastic shift quickly changed the world. In fact almost all of the major heroes of earth support Superman’s new lethal approach and stand behind him, except for Batman, of course. I will go on record in saying that the friendship/partnership between Batman and Superman is the most fascinating in comics, and it is equally so here, except this time we get to see their friendship gradually slide toward animosity. In fact the point where Superman decides he has to “deal” with Batman once and for all is easily one of the more heart-breaking moments of the entire series (and trust me, the whole thing is an emotional rollercoaster). But besides those standouts we actually have scenes of real emotional content and character development. We can rewind the clocks and look at how the Flash and the other characters behaved in their better days, show what each character’s personal life is like outside of the costumes, and really focus more on plot and dialogue than punches and kicks. Taylor captures the voices of Green Arrow, Harley, Batman, and many more perfectly and while there is almost overwhelming darkness throughout this saga he also manages to inject a good bit of humor. There are honestly several laugh-out-loud moments throughout this volume.One of my only real complaints is that I am not a huge fan of the character designs. I can tell that they were going for a more modern and practical look but some of it just comes off as silly, like why is Superman wearing f@#!ing armor! You know what we call Superman? The 'Man of Steel'. Not the 'Man of Easily Bruised Fruit'. Also Green Lantern has these stupid neon lines on his suit, which looks like some asshole's gone and drawn a skeleton over his outfit with a highlighter pen But besides that, the art actually does look nice and helps to complement the mood. Lots of colors for more light and comedic moments, but becoming very dark for more serious ones. All in all I cannot recommend this book enough, everything comes together to form a truly great superhero tale and while I will never be used to seeing Superman take a life (cough, Zack Snyder), thats the kind of shock factor that drives the series from issue to issue. But, if you don’t want to take my word for it check it out for free at Injustice- God Among Us. Give this epic series a read and see that this is not a tie-in that lazily repeats the plot of the game, it answers all of your questions and digs deep into the mythology of the dc universe to give you a far richer experience than the game could ever hope to provide.
