Injustice 2 #32 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Bruno Redondo, Penciller; Juan Albarran, Inker; Gabe Eltaeb, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The weird thing about DC right now is that the best Green Lantern and Teen Titans books are both the same book – Injustice 2, Tom Taylor’s story of rebuilding the DCU after a turn for darkness. Working with complex themes of redemption, he’s managed to take what could be a standard video game tie-in into something very special. In this issue, the Green Lantern Corps are making a last-ditch stand for Oa against the brutal Red Lantern Corps, and they’ve picked up a few unconventional new allies – the disgraced Hal Jordan, Sinestro, and the wild card Lobo. Lobo in particular makes a fantastic debut, kicking Dex-Starr clear across the cosmos and proceeding to beat Atrocitus with a giant green…object that cannot be mentioned in polite company. Suffice it to say Ghost Guy Gardner says they should probably have a second Lantern around him to cover him with a green censored sign. The Lantern action in every scene Lobo is involved in is excellent.
The best parts of this issue, though, are in the more dramatic moments. The partnership of Booster and the new Blue Beetle continues to be a pleasant surprise, as they head back to Earth to try to take down the Red Lantern Starro. Although Jaime is close to panic mode, Booster tries to use Skeets to help him – only for Skeets to nearly break down as he looks at the possible outcomes to this battle. This is one of the best scenes involving a time traveler and the inherent spookiness of the concept I’ve seen. I think Taylor was expecting us to be a bit more affected by the events of the end of the issue, where Sinestro sacrifices himself to protect his Starro-possessed daughter, but it feels like we’ve seen this scene before. It was very well done, but Sinestro is always threading that line between antihero and irredeemable horrible person. Then, before we can process these events, a massive new DC villain descends on the scene. This title never slows down, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
