Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter 17 Review

Walk a cow through the garden

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Tom Derenick, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: April 12, 2016

Brian Buccellato has been taking his time with Year Five by putting aside the break neck pace and subject matter to give fans more character work than they may have been used to.  Personally, I like it and it continues this week with a Bizarro and Trickster story that kind of came out of nowhere after last week's Superman murder fest.  I love Bizarro and the more we get of him the better, even if Buccellato is setting up my man for a big fall.  I know it's coming and I know it will break my heart.  That doesn't mean there are no surprises left because one of them is how much I'm enjoying Trickster and his interactions with Bizarro.  Does that continue this issue?  Let's find out...


The issue opens up in Syria where Bizarro has taken him and Trickster to hide away.  After facing Superman, Trickster told Bizarro that they better go into hiding until everything cools down and while we've seen that Superman has indeed moved on to other problems, something tells me that he hasn't forgot about his opposite doppelganger.  Of course, Bizarro continues to insist that he is the "real" Superman which Trickster is more than happy to exploit.

I say "exploit", but while Trickster jumped on the Bizarro trolley out of self preservation, they have become friends in a George and Lennie way that I love.  Buccellato had me laughing as Trickster teaches Bizarro proper sneezing etiquette even as it is all hinting at control issues down the line.  All this leads to Bizarro and Trickster going off to grab a few Burgers.  BFFs!

I'll tell you right now, my summary isn't doing this issue justice.  Buccellato really makes the reader fall in love with this unlikely friendship, but at the end of the day, all of this isn't really doing anything to advance the overall Injustice story.  That changes as the two chow down at an Israeli Big Belly Burger (they are everywhere!) and Trickster wants to know more about Bizarro's past.  Bizarro only remembers little bits and pieces...lab, bald man,white coat...while that fits what readers already figured and knew, for now it's a mystery for our two buddies.  Then, all hell breaks out.

John Steinbeck would be proud as Bizarro goes from likeable oaf to straight up killer within seconds and in a mirroring of what the "real" Superman did last issue, a bunch of people are feeling the heat.  I don't know if this will all lead to Superman being blamed for more atrocities or if this is the beginning of the end for one of my favorite characters, but I hope that Trickster learned that Bizarro takes everything very literally and when he does, people get hurt.  That is, if he actually survived!

This is another quick read, character issue of Injustice and now that I am getting used to such a thing, I seem to be enjoying them more.  I think that the other years of this series had given me Injustice ADD that demanded nonstop action and death, but Buccellato has begun to cure that.  I'd like to think of him as Injustice Adderall that is letting me slow down and enjoy the ride.  That being said, I can't wait until we get back to the shit hitting the fan and when it does, this character work will make it mean so much more.

I really like Tom Derenick's art in this issue.  It has more of a classic feel and his character models of Bizarro and Trickster were great.  Everything from the expressive details of the quieter moments to the kick ass action scene at the end, add to the story that Buccellato is telling.

Bits and Pieces:

I love Bizarro, so getting a whole issue of him and Trickster eating some burgers and figuring out his past is okay with me.  Does it push the overall story forward much?  No, but like Buccellato's stories with Catwoman and Damian, it makes us care more about the characters as we head toward this book's very violent future.

7.8/10