The Good

We usually have to wait until the final issue of a story arc before getting the big answers. It turns out, Geoff Johns decided to mix it up a little by giving us some answers right now. There is still one more issue to go but there's plenty that goes on here.

From future solicits, we have a small idea what's to come. It's interesting to know where things will go and seeing them start to develop. Who would've thought we'd see Batman standing next to Lex Luthor, getting ready to attack the Crime Syndicate. We've come a long way to have Batman fighting with this motley crew of villains. They're bad, just not as bad as the Syndicate.

With the end so close, there is the big question of what will happen to Dick Grayson as well as who is the mystery hooded man the Syndicate brought with them from Earth 3? These two questions get answered but there's even more to see.

David Finch must be working overtime to draw all the characters contained here. If you're looking for plenty of characters, fighting, and simple bloody mayhem, you're going to find it here.

The Bad

There's a lot going on and it makes the pacing in this series feel a little disjointed. Part of it might be the other tie-in issues but we're suddenly getting a lot of action happening at once. The flow in the action in some scenes also felt a little crammed in as we'd jump around from character to character.

I dig Finch's art but every once in a while, some of the characters' looks are a little inconsistent. For example, it seems Catwoman has a tendency to put her goggles on and then slide them up and then put them back on, etc. A couple times some characters had looks on their faces, like Superwoman, and I wasn't sure what was going on in their heads.

The Verdict

There's no denying that this series is changing the face of the New 52 Universe. We know Lex has a big future ahead of him, at least for a little bit, and the Bat Universe will feel some affects as well. Geoff Johns cranks up the action and you can feel it all bubbling towards the final issue as David Finch draws fight scene after fight scene. There's still no telling what will happen next but it's a safe bet you're not going to want to miss it.

forever evil has been pretty awesome. the main down fall is waiting so damn long for the next issue, seems like this event has been going on forever, where as marvels infinity seemed to fly by

Ugh, this series is taking forever to end (pun not intended). And every time I read an issue, it doesn't seem like much actually happens.

I'm somewhat confused I mean...Luthor sounds like he hasn't killed Dick yet towards the end of the issue but it looks like he's dead. Is he dead or do will the final issue give a clear answer?

Also interesting twist on who the hooded man was, I mean the Internet guessed who the person was but as to what superhero dopple ganger...cool!

So we still don't know who'll get Power Ring yet, right? Looking forward to see out who that will be, I guess.

Im feeling quite disappointed that the main cast of the DC Universe (Im talking about most of the heroes and Justice Leagues) is still missing from this limited series nearly completely.

It felt good when the Titans or the Doom Patrol appeared for like 3 or 4 pages (in total) and I love Batman and this weird and unexplored team up, however if Stargirl and M.Manhunter are going to free the league and they are (all of them) joining the fight I would feel its just quite late, still.

I have enjoyed this series but the pace has been too slow... and suddenly the pace is joining Flash in the Speed Force, all the events NOT happening in the last 5 issues are happening here.

@brinkthemoviemyfavoritemovie:

looks like batman pulled out a green ring

...wasn't Aquaman suppose to finally show up?

or was that JL?

@brinkthemoviemyfavoritemovie: We do, it's Jessica Cruz (a kinda...backwards reveal/hint from Green Lantern #20 last year).

@ravisher: It was his K-Ring. Power Ring has/will go to Jessica Cruz

Man this issue was awesome. Captain Cold and Black Manta stole the show in this one.

Say hello to Alexander Luthor-Prime-Sha...Mazash.

@ravisher: how can he be revived?

Naaa.

Agreed.

so captain cold is a badass

Well I wasn't too glad about Dick Grayson's involvement, even if it does prove to be fake. I hope DC and Johns don't screw him over.

Also Alexander Luthor as alternate Earth 3 Shazam? That makes no sense at all. Why would this work even in an alternate universe? Johns' way of thinking is always skewed though so there's the answer -_-

It was a huge disappointment. A very long, conventional, huge disappointment.

@lvenger said:

It's likely he stole that power from the real Mazahs (damn, is that a dumb name).

Captain Cold was such a damn BAMF in this issue, I absolutely love when he reminds johnny quick that he fires more than just a "freezegun"

True I wouldn't be surprised if Alexander Luthor had the intelligence to build a power siphoning machine like regular Lex should be able to do.

So it was Alexander Luthor all along, and it looks like he can absorbs anyones powers permanently, makes Kirby look like nothing XD

Seriously this issue was by far my favourite, it was so intense. I just wish we got to see more of Sinestro fighting Ultraman, and Deathstroke, Deathstorm (damn that's a lot of deaths, appropriate too, considering how many people died in this issue XD), Super-Woman and Owlman.

i hated this issue yet again Johns writes Batman as a overly emotional child and as a moron who cant see that Lex's plan is the same one Batman had himself in Arkham Origins

@lvenger said:

Countdown to Final Crisis: Annataz Arataz. Guess whos doppelganger she was?)

I had such high hopes for this event I love the Crime Syndicate and I hate the fact they are going to die, I want to see more of them without having to deal with bad resurrection plots. The pacing of this felt terrible, I am pretty sure they could have did better with the eight months they were given. This issue should have answer the last question, we still don't know superwoman's story, Alexander's story, or what the crime syndicate is running from. Now they have to pack all this into the final issue which way too much.

this

@justice_teen: they will probably put superwomans story and maybe alexanders in the justice league tie in like they did with the other members of the crime syndicate

So , can someone spoil this for me and tell me if Nightwing Died?

@rubear: that one made sense though

@fil123 said:

Yeah I understand the complaints, but all things considered it's different when you know what your plan is and when a person who has murdered without blinking has the same plan. Why would Batman trust Lex to even want to bring him back to life?

Zatanna's counterpart but she wasn't another character as well. This unnecessary change just changes things for insubstantial reasons.

@spinningbirdcake: Maybe but Batman could have brought him back himself after Lex had killed him instead he freaks the hell out i just think the whole secne is set up to make Batman look like an idoit when in fact the ending would have been alot better if they had Bruce kill Dick now that would have been a cliffhanger

@fil123: doubt it the last jl tie will be about grid

@lordofthenorth I agree everyone said batman can do so much amazing stuff because he is the goddamn batman, but this clearly went against that. Hell I figured out that the best way to save everyone was to stop and restart Nightwing's heart he did say he heart had to stop to save everyone THE GODDAMN BATMAN should have figured out instead of whining.

Gets three stars from me purely for the knowledge that it will only be a month and this lumbering irritation will finally be over.

UUUGGGGHHHHH not sure how I felt about this issue. Not sure if the ending was really cool or really stupid.

@outside_85: If you don't like it, then why are you reading it??? Just a Question don't freak out on me. :)

I was wondering what you thought of it given how much you like a certain character. You know that the fate of you know who won't be made permanent don't you? And I agree that the ending was quite stupid actually.

@narrowghost21: I'm not. But its affecting stuff that I am reading.

This issue was pretty dang intense and cool. However, I kinda wanna point out some things here.

There's no betrayal here whatsoever.. The Nightwing issue still isn't clear at all. We're gonna have to wait another month to actually know his true fate(This issue was suppose to do that...but it didn't. Put us right back at the cliffhanger!) We still know little about Superwoman!

it can't be said enough how great this artwork is, but the same can not be said about the writing. im still kinda upset that Black Adam is still walking around with a broken jaw, i would think by now his wounds would have healed giving his powerset. And why did Batman not think of temporarily stopping Nightwing's gave him info that him dying would set the bomb off. Guess Luthor had to be glorified by Batman somehow, and i guess saving Nightwing was the key, we'll see.

Honestly people Batman intelligence should come into major question here. Go read the Superman/Batman Annual(which was amazing btw) and then read this. I guarantee you're going to be asking yourselves "Who in the blue hell is this guy in the Batman costume?"

Yeah, I just responded to your mention. I had just finished the issue and rushed over to this review to complain lol. I know the fate of said character wouldn't permanent but it's the fact Didio has been trying to kill this character for so long and finally convinced Johns to do it. That's why I get so heated …… and because he is one of my favorite characters :p

I thought this issue was great. The fight scenes were epic, and everything really got turned up to 11. I still can't help but geek out at the awesomeness that is the Injustice League. Deathstroke, Parallax Sinestro, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, etc. So great. And Bruce and Dick's scenes were really tastefully done (big surprise considering it's Johns) and I even appreciated the Death of the Family callback. The reveal at the end of the issue was very interesting. Not sure why he's got red hair (that was throwing me off, I was like Roy? Wally!?). We'll have to see how it plays out.

Could someone tell me if the crime syndicate is from Earth 2 or Earth 3? I know Morrison and Quitely did series called JLA: Earth 2 but obviously on the wiki page it says they are from earth 3 and that the man under the hood who I won't say is from earth 3. Just confused. Also are both the old universe and new 52 universe versions from earth 3?

This issue made me love and respect Captain Cold and Black Manta more then ever

Len Snart, you da man.

But wow, does Geoff hate Batman. That voice activation password cracked me up.

As for Bruce's attitude during this arc: I'm okay with his emotions running high considering he just lost his son (the whole Damian thing takes place before FE, right?). He lost his parents at a young age, but he hasn't really experienced this kind of loss in the New 52 (unless the whole Jason Todd thing is still continuity, I guess? Idk). I understand most of where he's coming from and why he might not always be on his game right now.

Lex Luthor smothered him to death. Stopping his breathing, his heart, and the bomb. If Batman took two seconds to get Dick down, he could use CPR and a defibrillator, and revive him rather easily. It's not even Sci-Fi, it's just science.

Lex Luthor stopped his heart by smothering him to death. Dick was hooked up to a machine that could only be disarmed if his heart would stop, but in 5 minutes it would instead ignite the nuclear reactor of the Watchtower. Killing everyone. He does say he's sorry to Dick, and even tells Batman it's not too late to save him.

Right? It's getting ridiculous. I'm just glad the interaction between him and Dick was done rather well, Bruce even apologized for what happened in the aftermath of Death of the Family.

You guys should use spoiler tags like I just added.

Am I the only one who thinks that Alexander Luthor looks an awful lot like the Pre-Flashpoint Elongated Man?