Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #4 Review

Can I Borrow an Ending?

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Steve Epting, Nick Filardi, and Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 18, 2020

I have been cautiously optimistic about Hell Arisen so far, but as we got closer to this ending, I have become more and more worried.  Why?  Well, because we aren't getting a lot of answers to the big questions and also, not much has happened. It's all been more about little moves on the chessboard than going for checkmate, and while that can change here, I am starting to doubt it.  So, is this issue game over, or are we just getting started. Let's find out...


The issue opens with a broad stroke recap of what led Lex Luthor to this crazy cosmic war.  Tynion does a decent job, but it still is a recap when I want to get to the fireworks factory!

We finally get there, and it's cool to see Lex and the Batman Who Laughs square up.  The fight goes back and forth with Lex showing that he came more prepared.  I don't know if it's a backhanded compliment, but the best moment is when Lex takes care of the Infected nonsense that has been going on way too long!  Before we get to see the heroes get a little payback, though, Lex teleports himself, Mercy Graves, and the Batman Who Laughs off to the Godhead.  Yea, that didn't feel forced to get things back to normal in the other books without doing anything in this one!  Plus, what happened to the Year of the Villain bad guys?  Did they just decide to stop fighting when the Infected changed back because the last time I checked, they would still be...Villians...who fight good guys...whether they are infected or not!

So, now that Lex has brought the Batman Who Laughs before Perpetua, this can all end, and Lex will get everything he always wanted, right?  Well, not quite.  It seems the Batman Who Laughs has planned for all of this (go figure) and gives a rah-rah speech that puts the game into overtime.  You know that Lex would pull a Matt Hasselbeck, "We want the ball, and we're gonna score" move, and at this point, you know he is done.  

Check out our Video Review of Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #4

The issue ends with the Batman Who Laughs coming out on top so he can come on back for the next round of "DC Comics Next Big Thing" which is months away and this is getting fucking annoying and ridiculous!!!!!!!!!  I love that Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs end up laughing it up at the end because that's what it feels like being a DC Comics fan right now...everyone, even the characters are pointing and laughing at us!!!!

I think it's obvious I am a bit angry.  We got the Year of the Villain and the Infected that hijacked our books to lead to Batman/Superman which was just a setup to this book, and now we have to wait for another book to hopefully end it all????  Throw in the non-ending to Justice League, and I want to quit now.  Maybe if DC gave us a tiny hint at what they have planned, I wouldn't be so mad, but mums the word.  Well, I am giving the middle finger to everyone involved, and the only thing that keeps me going is my undying love of DC Comics, and it's characters.  STOP TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT AND GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES!!!!!!  I think that DC has officially become The Company Who Laughs...at its fans!

My patience was already running thin, and now I am at a breaking point!  I am at a loss of words with how DC is treating its fans and hope there are enough of us left when we do eventually reboot to something better.  It has to be better...it just has to be! 

I did like the art enough in this book to raise my score a bit.  I am so out of breath right now, and I really need to watch my blood pressure!

Bits and Pieces:

After a year of setup and so many books being hijacked, we get another non-ending.  In a couple of months, though, we can start all over again, aren't we lucky?  No...no, we are not! I just don't get it anymore.

4.0/10