COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Injustice Year Two #1 – The Saga Continues

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artists: Bruno Redondo / Julien Huggonard –Bert
Colors: David Lopez / Rex Locus
Cover: Jheremy Raapack, David Lopez

After a long hiatus, the prequel to the worldwide video game hit Injustice: Gods Among Us continues to unfold, this time, focusing on the aftermath of Year One’s conclusion.

Composed of two condensed episodes, Injustice Year Two deals with the repercussions of Green Arrow’s death at the hands of Superman, while the second half centers on Batman’s slow recovery, Clark’s confrontation with Jim Gordon and Kyle Rayner’s homeward journey to Earth.

Surprisingly, Year Two opens quite slowly, focusing on character building than larger than life sequences, which is fine, since we all needed a relapse of sorts following the climactic end of the Insurgency’s last battle against Supes. What I liked about this issue is how Tom Taylor expanded on the relationship between Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan(the latter being considered as the third wheel behind Ollie and Dinah’s relationship), and how his demise affected the latter and Black Canary. The dialogue between Superman and Jim Gordon is also spot on. It is very humane, haunting and natural to say the least. That two-page moment shows Tom Taylor’s affinity with bringing real drama to a fantasy-ridden world. The conclusion is quite a shocker too, as it involves a fan-favorite hero. As much as I want to talk about it, I want you guys to discover the ending for yourselves.

Bruno Redondo’s art has improved quite a lot.  The expressions are spot on, and everything feels dead solid. Huggonard-Bert’s inks and the team of Lopez/Rocus’ colors also blend in nicely with Redondo’s pencils, bringing us a tightly knit product with almost no flaws, which makes me look forward for their creative team in the next couple of issues.

In conclusion, Year Two might have opened at a slow pace, but it sure brings the boost needed for the story to move on. As the old adage says, the saga continues.

8/10

We thank Comic Odyssey The Fort for this copy. They are located at the fourth floor of Fully Booked, near Bonifacio High Street, BGC.