The Good
Tom Taylor is easing us into YEAR TWO and he's doing an absolutely tremendous job setting everything up. In the last issue, we had a bit of powerful reflection before getting just a glimpse of what's ahead, but now we're taking a look at all of the characters who'll clearly have big roles in this volume. Seeing as we like to keep things spoiler-free here at Comic Vine, I won't dish out any names, but I will say Taylor brings in two characters from the game and teases a couple more as well. No one here feels like they're being jammed in just to connect with the game, either. He's provided everyone with a logical reason for being present and each one establishes a new plot thread. Then there's the gut punch ending. Man, this is a series that has delivered some big cliffhangers and we're hit with yet another powerful one. Don't be surprised if you have to pick up your jaw after this issue.
INJUSTICE tends to have mixed visuals, but this issue's consistently solid and even legitimately impressive at times. Bruno Redondo's character work remains strong and, along with Rex Lokus' coloring, the three drastically different environments come to life. Gotham feels cold and dangerous, space is vast and gorgeous, and the third environment's a spoiler, but I assure you it looks just as good as the others. The art team also does a phenomenal job making the final page incredibly ominous. The contrast of the vibrant coloring and what occurs really sells the moment and makes one heck of an impact.
The Bad
Taylor's covering a lot of territory and building up the hype with quite a few characters, but unfortunately, this means there's no room to deliver on Black Canary's group and the last issue's cliffhanger. That'll definitely be a bit of a bummer for some, so hopefully their roles will be worth the wait.
Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but can't Batman's new allies accelerate his healing process? If so, it's a little odd they didn't bring that up to put him a bit at ease.
The Verdict
It should come as no surprise by now, but the INJUSTICE series remains superb. It's more than transparent YEAR TWO won't feel like a blatant rehash of the first volume. Instead of feeling like a book that primarily revolves around Batman and Superman, Taylor's now giving other characters the chance to step up and, so far, he's proving he's more than capable of writing each one very well and making them feel like a critical part of the universe. Simply put: this issue is pure setup and it's guaranteed to make you want to see what'll happen next. Tuesdays are so much better now that INJUSTICE is back.
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