Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter 18 Review

Gesundheit

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Tom Derenick, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: April 19, 2016

Last issue of Injustice sure did end with a bang!  Actually, it was more of an explosion, followed by a fire and then...let's just say that things got pretty messed up.  It wasn't really shocking as that sort of thing kind of has been following Bizarro around since he left the old lab and decided to proclaim himself the "real" Superman.  Quite frankly, I'm shocked he's survived this long and I think that last week's problems are going to bite him in his backwards ass real soon.  Does soon become now?  Will Lex have to pay fro his mistake?  Will I stop asking questions and get on with my review?  Yes, yes I will...


The issue opens in Israel in the middle of the now destroyed Big Belly Burger.  I was going to make a joke about Bizarro liking things "well done" or even something about a "fire sale", but I was too shocked at seeing Trickster to joke around.  How the hell did he survive?!?!  I'm saying Bizarro shielded him and moving on because I really like the two of them together.  Maybe they will have a spin-off book when all this Injustice stuff is over.  That can happen, right?

Well, Buccellato answers that question pretty quickly and it's one of those love/hate things.  Bizarro was so worried that he lost his friend after messing up so bad, but Trickster took all the blame and I agree with him...you have to be very specific when you tell Bizarro anything.  If you say, "no witnesses", he probably will kill them.  If you say, "cover your mouth when you sneeze", he's going to drop whatever he's doing to do just that.  Why couldn't Trickster just let Bizarro be a slob?!?!



We end up back at the Big Belly Burger where Hal Jordan is checking out the scene and reporting back to Cyborg.  Bizarro did get rid of most of the witnesses, but all signs still point right back to him.  Superman eventually does find out and flies off in a rage, but not before Cyborg calls him out on what happened in Gotham.  He goes as far as to hint that maybe Superman and Bizarro may not be so opposite after all.

I don't want to spoil too much, but the rest of the issue involves Bizarro trying to fix a big problem and while he carelessly alerts everyone to his presence in Germany, the issue ends with him heading home and asking daddy for a little help.

I liked this issue for a number of reasons and hate it for one big one,  The hate all comes from Buccellato messing with one of the best teamups this series has had in a long time (probably since Harley and Shazam or Harley, Black Canary and Green Arrow), but they never seem to end well, do they?  While it may seem like this is yet another chapter with not much forward momentum, the tension between Cyborg and Superman and what is happening with Bizarro is huge and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Tom Derenick's art continues to impress me this week with his Bizarro character model being the best we've seen yet, in my opinion.  The facial expressions really sell what is going through his backwards mind.  In general, the art in Year Five has been really good and has made this fan very happy.

Bits and Pieces:

The slow burn story of Year Five continues, but Buccellato slips in some major moments that I loved.  Cyborg's reaction to Superman taking care of business in Gotham was great and made sense, but it's Bizarro's show once again and his actions are about to affect a whole lot of people.  The story and Tom Derenick's art are making this Year a fun ride to the finish.

8.5/10