Injustice: Year Four #11 Review

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Mike S. Miller
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: July 14, 2015

Ultimatums 

I enjoyed last issue of Injustice and that is as rousing a review you'll get from me since I really haven't enjoyed much from this series lately.  The "Year of the Gods" has been far from inspirational and has left me praying for something good to happen.  It finally did last week with an all out battle royal between heroes and deities and ended with a pretty cool lineup of Olympian all-stars showing up to stop Superman's reign dead in it's tracks.  Was the promise of finally getting some kick ass "Year of the Gods" action fulfilled, or is it another example of wrong pew, wrong church...wrong everything.  Let's find out.



The issue opens up with a repeat of the awesome cliffhanger page from last week...Atlas, Athena, Hercules, Apollo and Eros looking like the gods they are.  I will forgive the shuffle of their positions from last week (maybe I'm nitpicking there) because they look so, so good.  I was a great cliffhanger and it was an equally great opener.

The gods give Superman and ultimatum, surrender or die.  Gee, why didn't Batman think of that?!?  Of course, Superman don't play that, but before he tells them that, Cyborg sends out a signal to all remaining Justice League members.  It really felt like a forced way to peek on some other characters, but I liked seeing them so I won't complain too much.

First up is Raven in a "dimension of her choosing".  Fresh off the Constantine screw job from Year Three, she is floating around feeling sorry for herself and her dead father, Trigon.  I loved seeing her again, but I want to know ho Cyborg's signal reached her.  It felt odd.  However, I can't wait to see more of her.

We then travel to the Quiver where we see Billy Batson still in Harley Quinn's duct tape web.  When his signal device goes off, he doesn't even wake up...but someone else looks pretty happy to see it. Again, this scene felt a little off.

That continues when Lex gets his signal and we go back in time to see the aftermath of the cloned Superboy.  Superman and Lex argue over whether Conner should exist and Superman rages out and destroys the cloning equipment...and then smiles and wants to meet Conner.  I can't begin to explain how crazy and awkward this scene is.  Back in the present, we see that Lex never learns his lesson.

Don't look him in the eyes, Lex.  He is C.R.A.Z.Y.

We finally get back to Superman and the gods as they fight and...wait a minute.  They don't fight at all.  They give Team Superman twenty four hours to think about things.  Batman thinks it's a bad idea and so do I.  I'm not just talking about in the story...I wanted to see some action this week.  Not only does that take the luster off of last week's cliffhanger, but this week's cliffhanger really was a been-there-done-that scene that fell flat.

This issue really disappointed me.  I really thought we were going to get something that lived up to the "Year of the Gods", but instead we got more setup and odd feeling dialogue and scenes.  At least Harley didn't embarrass herself this week.  That's a plus.

I haven't been a fan of Mike S. Miller's art whenever he pops up on this book...until now.  This is by far his best Injustice issue and one of the better looking issues in a while.  I don't know what he ate for breakfast before drawing this issue, but I hope he keeps eating it.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue was pure setup and after the awesome cliffhanger of last week, I wanted action.  Instead the reader has to sit through more awkward dialogue and scenes that only push the story ahead by inches.  This was Mike S. Miller's best looking issue EVER, but in the end, it's another Year Four story I can't recommend.

5.5/10