Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter #29 Review

An Offer He Can't Refuse

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Xermanico, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: June 5, 2016

Year Five has been running along smoothly...if you call Alfred getting murdered, Flash saving Bruce, Bruce wanting a Flashpoint redo and Superman being more of an ass then ever before running along smoothly.  I don't know about you, but I do.  Brian Buccellato has given us some really good character moments that have made the big events more personal and in general, I've been digging it.  Now that Bruce is more active, it's even better and you can tell it has thrown Superman off his game and into asshole overdrive.  That's where we are this week as Superman goes to pay a little visit to Black Adam.  Superman is in Kahndaq...with a few hours to kill.  Is it good?  Let's find out...


The issue actually opens in the old Alaskan Lead Mines where Batwoman asks Bruce for the straight dope, "Is it over?"  His answer will not surprise anybody, but the reason for it is one of the things I am looking forward to see more of going forward.  We are going to have to wait a bit for that, but at least we get to see one of my favorite characters in the entire series...Lex Luthor.

It's a very brief look, however, as we fly off to get a peek at two old friends shooting the shit.  Oh wait, it's actually Hal Jordan and Sinestro and it seems it doesn't matter what color ring Hal wears, he is not a big fan of the Sinestro Corps leader.  It goes deeper here as Hal wants some answers about how Zsasz escaped prison and Sinestro seems to take delight in being coy.  Of course, we all know what's going on and it all leads to...

Superman!  The Man of Steal is heading to Kahndaq to "visit" with Black Adam, but even on the way, he manages to offend Cyborg and throw out random threats in the direction of Raven, Shazam and Aquaman.  Once in Kahndaq, he tries to tell Black Adam how it's going to go and it's kind of a Godfather..."Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me...." moment.  At first, Black Adam isn't going for it and really comes off as a badass.  However, Superman's usual cronies show up and he has to back up a bit and declare his loyalty.  I like that it seems to come from his desire to keep his people safe because really, Black Adam is a man of the people...his people!

The issue ends with the continuation of what Bruce was talking to Lex about in the beginning of the chapter.  If you look at the cover, it's not a shock who is involved, but boy, he is having a bloody good time doing whatever he is doing.  Actually, it looks more like a bloody time that isn't so good.

This issue was a whole bunch of setup to get us to the next phase of the story and it shows that both sides are getting ready for the big showdown.  After what happened with Flash, Superman is taking an allegiance tour and in his world, if you're not with him, you are obviously against him.  In the meantime, Batman has to feel that his team is losing confidence and has something big planned and I want to see what it is.

Xermanico has a kickass name and he also can draw the hell out of this book.  He is one of my favorite artists on this series and while we don't see his awesome name enough on the cover, when it is there, everything is smooth sailing.  It's all in his character models which are just superb.  Rex Locus' colors are great here as well, which they always are.  What I'm saying is this Chapter looks great!

Bits and Pieces:

The pieces of the puzzle aren't quite in their final position just yet, but this Chapter shows that they are getting close.  Both Superman and Batman are busy doing things to strengthen their sides, but we still see some cracks in the armor.  The art is great and Buccellato continues his character study story even as we see the end on the horizon.  This Chapter may be a lot of setup, but I like where it's going.

8.5/10