Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter #22 Review

SPF 1,000,000

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Xermanico, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: May 17, 2016

Last week's chapter of Injustice was easily the best of Buccellato's run and one of my favorites of the entire series.  If you've been reading my reviews for this series (over a hundred of them as of now), you know that I'm a sucker for character moments and last issue had them in spades.  Harley may have had the most screen time and her scenes were excellent, but nothing can beat the quiet moment of Mirror Master and Golden Glider sharing a beer with the Flash while they honor their fallen brothers.  Seriously, it's still giving me goosebumps.  Sure, the chapter might have ended with Harley and "Shazzy" beating the crap out of each other, but I came into this week hoping for more of what made the issue great.  I'll clue you in...it's back, but is it as good?  Let's find out...


The chapter begins with the continuation of the Harley/Shazam fight (I'd call it the "Brutality of Multiple Personalities") and when Shazam finally asks Harley why she keeps showing up on Lobo's ride looking to pick a fight, she tells him.  She's confused why he is siding with a big dick!  Funny that Shazam is the only one on the planet that still thinks Superman is a boy scout, but before she leaves, Harley drops a little knowledge bomb on him.  By the looks of it, Shazzy got caught at ground zero!

That was a cool enough scene, but when we head off to Gotham, things get even better.  Do you remember when Alfred told Damian that Superman's life was ruled by fear?  Yea, that was pretty savage, but when Damian told Superman about it, you just knew it was going to cause problems in the future.  Well, the future is now and the way that Alfred continues to sass Superman is not going to end well for our favorite Butler.  The worst part is that while Superman does ask about Bruce, it almost seemed like a formality.  This is about pride and with all the bodies falling in Superman's wake, Alfred better put on some shades because his future looks bright...bright red.  Wait a second, how about this one...Alfred may think that he gave Superman the ultimate burn, but it looks like he's going to (Glen) Fry because the heat is on.  Screw it!  It really looks like Superman is going to kill Alfred!

 We then head off to another one of Harley's sessions and again, it's really good.  It also feels like it is another step towards a huge disaster.  Harley is really making progress...she is becoming an independent woman who can make her own decisions and she has decided to keep kicking some regimen ass.  Yea, she is going down.  The chapter ends with two characters we haven't seen much of lately meeting up and while it may not even the odds of the war completely, it makes things very, very interesting.

This chapter wasn't as good as last week's, but it was damn close.  This chapter was mainly setup, but it sets up something that might be the biggest moment of this whole Year.  Plus, we get a great Harley and the reappearance of a character who may be a total piece of crap, but is still a fan favorite.

Xermanico takes over art this week and he shows once again that he is the perfect compliment to Bruno Redondo.  The two have a very similar style which kicks ass when collected, but who cares about business talk like that...it looks awesome!  That's all you need to know.

Bits and Pieces:

Brian Buccellato continues the good times this week by showing us that there are no good times and the not so good times are about to get even worse.  Everything in this issue sets up eventual pain and suffering and boy, it feels like home.  Xermanico jumps in on art and the book looks fantastic.  We still have a ways to go before Year Five ends and Buccellato is making it a sweet ride.

9.0/10