Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: David Finch
Inker/Colorist: Richard Friend / Sonia Oback
PRSIONERS
“The world’s most powerful mind stuck with the world’s most undercooked….ah, good boy.”
Batman and Catwoman have escaped, Cybrog is in critical condition, Ultraman and Black Adam are engaged in a deadly battle, and Luthor is plotting on how to destroy the Syndicate with his secret weapon Bizarro at his side. With all the chaos going on will any of the remaining forces be enough to stop the Syndicate?!
The Ups: Slowly but surely and through a number of tie ins here and there, the story behind the Leagues defeat and capture is finally revealed. Honestly I enjoyed the route they took in order to explain what happened, it was something original, scientific (in a sense), and makes you wonder how much more insanity could of happened and will happen in the issues to come. At first I was a little concerned with the amount of stories they were going on this issue, the group that threw me off the most being in the issue was the Rogues, since they already had their own series going on. But the way it is was slipped in by separating Captain Cold from the group made complete sense and set up for the main story in a simple and acceptable manner. The way Johns is writing the interactions between Luthor and Bizarro is hilarious, all I could think when reading was Pinky and the Brain and it just made it all the more enjoyable for me. As in the last few issues Finch’s drawing is rock solid and he sure can draw some insane fight scenes ( I mean Black Adam’s face ouch!) Oback brings real dark and intense colors to this issue and brings out the raw feel of each fights.
The Downs: I had a few problems with the choices Johns made in this issue. My first is what happened to Captain Cold, I mean its probably not permanent (and I really hope not) but it really bugged that his powers were taken away. Second and my biggest problem with the issue was the completely one sided battle between Ultraman and Black Adam. Personally I see Adam so much stronger then he was portrayed here and with Ultraman completely ignoring his attack and crushing his face in an instant just made Adam look weak. I get Ultraman is Superman without the weaknesses but Adam is far more capable than that.
Overall: A lot of interesting facts were revealed and we finally know what exactly happened to the Leagues. With Luthor’s plan slowly being revealed as well as his rag tag team coming together the action is definitely starting to pick up. Even with the problems I had with the issue, it’s a solid entry and moves the story along in a great fashion.
Grade 3 of 5
ComicsRefueled 