Forever Evil Event: Justice League 26

Justice League 26

Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis

Forever Evil Crossover

Spoiler alert!  You have been warned!

I was so glad to see that the Crime Syndicate’s origin stories are still going strong in the Justice League crossover issues (adding to the overall Forever Evil event, but not taking away from the action or the plot progression of the main miniseries).  I was also very impressed with mastermind Geoff Johns’ ability to read the thoughts and fears of his readers and fans and tell a story about the Syndicate’s least interesting team members in one issue, rather than dragging it out to each one getting their own issue.  We started off strong, getting Ultraman’s.  Then we moved onto Owlman’s.  And we even got the Outsider’s origin in its own issue during Villains Month.  But even though Grid, Deathstorm, Atomica, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring are interesting, they’re certainly not cool enough to fill an entire issue on their own.  Hence, a jam-packed but still very well-done issue.  And, as an extra added bonus, we get a slight artwork upgrade in the form of the always excellent Ivan Reis.

Grid is the narrator, which makes sense, because he’s talking about his mission to do the one thing he cannot: Feel.  The irony isn’t lost on anyone as he tells the tales of the various dastardly and cowardly lot of villains.  Johnny Quick and Atomica are told as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, but, you know, gaining superpowers instead of being gunned down.  Deathstorm is a mad scientist and possible pervert.  Power Ring is a complete coward with a weird alien squid-like arm draining him and terrifying him even further each time he must recharge his ring.  But the pasts of Grid’s fellow teammates is not the most exciting part of this issue.  It’s the fact that the ongoing misadventures are starting to shed light on things to come.  The Syndicate is going to tear itself apart eventually, what with the revelation of just who Superwoman’s baby daddy really is looming on the horizon.  And that she’s manipulative.  And evil to the max.

I am anxiously awaiting Superwoman’s origin issue.  I hope it’s next.  And I cannot wait to see just what made her into the villainous manipulator that she is today.  This was not my favorite issue of Justice League in terms of its characters being featured, but I will say that’s probably why I liked it so much.  I don’t really care for any of the characters featured, but there was just enough to make them interesting.  It was well-written.  It was fantastically-drawn.  And the combination of different stories with similar themes and relatively similar outcomes made for a fun read.  All-in-all, I’m very impressed with the creative team’s ability to make what should have been a filler issue one of the better installments of the crossover chaos of the last few months.  Kudos, gentlemen.  That’s how you do an origin book.  Now if only they had had a less misleading cover…  Probably one more appropriate for Forever Evil 4, also out this week.

My Rating: 5/5