Forever Evil Event: Forever Evil: Arkham War 6

Forever Evil: Arkham War 6

Peter J. Tomasi, Scot Eaton

Forever Evil Crossover

Spoiler alert!  You have been warned!

First things first: What an awesome cover by Jason Fabok!  This series has been pretty excellent (and by far the strongest of the miniseries spinning out of the main Forever Evil title), so it should come as no surprise that the finale (if you can call it that) is equally good.  It’s solidly written by Peter J. Tomasi and the fight sequences are action-packed and stylish thanks to the hard work of artist Scot Eaton.  But is it really the end of the series?  Not quite.

The events from last issue start off right after Bane has a little soul-searching (if you can even suggest that a character like him even has a soul), with the temporarily crazy (crazier) Venom-induced Arkhamites take on Bane and the Talons of Blackgate, led by Scarecrow.  We see Killer Croc, Mad Hatter, Black Mask, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and all of our other resident Gotham crazies taking on Bane and his forces in a last ditch surprise attack on Blackgate.  And just when the action seems to escalate out of control, Scarecrow orders an air-strike by Man-Bat, who quite literally picks up Bane and takes him to their home turf: Arkham Asylum…  where he proceeds to beat them all within an inch of his life.  Because, you know, he’s Bane.  And he’s awesome.  And as he pointed out, he’s a) not addicted to temporary Venom and b) he’s not crazy.  So he makes a final deal with the Penguin (who obviously picked the right side by playing both sides) and strings up the Scarecrow for all to see.  And then…  it’s to be continued…?

That makes sense.  Ending a six issue miniseries with a to be continued mark.  Granted, because it is the nature of comic book companies such as DC Comics to reveal major plot elements months in advance, we knew that this was going to be the case a while ago.  So I guess we’ll have to see the finale one-shot (part seven of six, if you will) in a month or so.  Count me in.  I’m excited to see the “new” Batman take on the old one.  Batman VS Bane is always a welcome battle.  Especially after they have both been through hell and back.  All in all, this was a quality miniseries.  I’m a bit peeved that it wasn’t just seven parts, but hey, quality is quality.  And plus, we get an extra issue of a good series, so my complaint will be instantly invalidated as soon as the next part comes out.

My Rating: 4.5/5