Injustice: Year Zero

[sifighter]

Alright so today’s latest issue decides to shift focus, Joker is still very much up to machinations but we do get some follow up from heroes from the ending of last issue, even letting Superman get in some nice and caring moments. Besides that the ending of this issue and the solicits for the next one might actually be leading to something we’ve heard reference to in Injustice 2 and something fans might actually like to see...of course it’s happening in a prequel book to injustice so may not exactly play out like we hope. Overall good issue, about an 8.5/10 (it’s good but not jaw droppingly amazing and even though I like the potential ending possibilities we all know where it leads so it’s lacking punch.)

Onto some spoilers if that’s okay, read at own risk

spoilers:

-So Wesley Dodds is definitely dead but Alan Scott is in critical condition and also the prime suspect of the murder...which I guess technically he is. Batman and Doctor Mid-nite are going detective mode while Superman is trying to console Alan’s Husband Jim. Honestly it’s nice to see Taylor get chances to write a good Superman. -Joker tries to kill Amazing-Man but it fails, shouldn’t have sent the mailman -Joker decides that he wants to test his powers of the limit between his amount of control and the victims subconscious awareness...on Harley. The trauma apparently was enough that she then knocks out a window to leave. -Next issues soliciting mentions Poison Ivy and Vegas so I can only assume that it’s actually the wedding of Harley and Ivy that that Taylor had mentioned in the Injustice 2 comic series. And normally I’d be happy about that as I like the pairing and how Taylor writes them but...well this is a prequel to Injustice, meaning at some point she goes back to Joker and helps kill Lois and all of metropolis. Can also only imagine how a chaos god powered Joker will react to that.

end of spoilers

[sifighter]

I actually think people will really like this issue, for a good number of things that happen and that its a generally lighter in tone issue compared to what has been happening with the JSA. Honestly its basically a detour to have a Harley and Ivy issue, but as someone who actually likes Harley and Ivy together I'm perfectly okay with this issue.

spoilers:

So after the end of last issue, Harley basically is having a moment of clarity and busts out Ivy. They then go to see Harley's daughter Lucy and basically have a cryptic talk of what will probably be Injustice year one, that Harley knows that shes on a downward spiral with the Joker but feels she can do nothing about it. So then Ivy leaves....and goes and beats the crud out of Joker (she caught him off guard so he wasn't wearing the evil god amulet). Basically she berates him and bangs him around but doesn't kill him (obviously because this is a prequel). Harley and Ivy then go to Vegas, they have another serious talk about the path they're on and that Harley is well aware she is on a path to self-destruction that doesn't align with Ivy's. After a bout of gambling and a very obvious Three Jokers reference, we get to probably the best part of the issue but saddest part of the story....the Wedding of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Ivy surprises Harley with her sister and daughter and an Elvis pastor and that maybe things can be okay if they're together, and then they basically have a Vegas wedding that ends the issue on a kiss. Which personally I thought to be very sweet until I remembered something....this is Injustice and Harley certainly was not with her now wife Ivy when Joker nuked Metropolis, so this is going to be ugly. So yeah, maybe one of my favorite issues of the series so far but I know it cannot lead anywhere good based on past series.

end of spoilers

[Frontier]

spoilers:

Taylor is totally going to find a way to ease up on Harley's culpability in the Metropolis event at the rate things are going.

end of spoilers

[sifighter]

It’s time for another new issue, and of course more Joker wrecking havoc upon the JSA, this issue Jay Garrick and Ted Grant. So it’s follow up from last issue because Harley for now has left the Joker, so some poor guy (Gary) is wearing an ill fitting Harley suit because Jokers got issues....which I guess is an obvious statement but he’s also arguing with an amulet after poison ivy whooped him so he’s probably more then upset. So what’s going on the JSA then?

spoilers:

Jay is not only worried about what happened to Alan Scott but he’s heard about the attack on Amazing Man a few issues ago and is planning with his wife Joan to leave the city until things are safe, unfortunately Jay’s got to be a good man. Jay goes to save people from a burning building and bam, gets mind whammed by Joker and Gary. What happens next is a bit grim, see Jokers got a grudge on Wildcat because Batman respects him, so he sends Jay to Ted’s boxing gym and the other boxers pull a gun on the controlled Jay...but Jay is okay, it’s the boxer who got it bad because Joker didn’t know how fast Jay could go and when he ran at him, well let’s just say it left a mess. So now we got to be a bit worried. Because we know Ted makes it out of this thanks to Injustice 2, but we also know it ends with him being deep into a bottle so the events will probably traumatize him. As for Jay...his fate is a bit more up in the air.

end of spoilers

[TheRay]

The story is to show where the JSA is and why they have no impact on Injustice.
All of them have to be dead by the end....or trapped in the Phantom Zone. It is essentially the point of writing it.

[sifighter]

The story is to show where the JSA is and why they have no impact on Injustice.
All of them have to be dead by the end....or trapped in the Phantom Zone. It is essentially the point of writing it.

No completely true, some of the members are alive in Injustice 2 the comic only completely cut off from the world as they deal with trauma they probably suffered during this story.

[TheRay]

Basically almost exactly what I said, but sure yeah whatever.

[sifighter]

Okay so this issue was brutal even for me, pretty much a constant downer even when thinking about a particular happy moment. I would not argue with anyone who would not like this issue or were upset with it, even I am not a huge fan of what happens and I genuinely really like the Injustice series.

spoilers:

So we pick up pretty much immediately from where we left off and Joker has Jay Garrick under his spell and attacking Ted Grant, with Flash (Barry) and Superman inbound because the incident gets polices attention. What makes even worse is that as Jay and Ted fight Joker lets Jay have some self-awareness until he has him pummel Wildcat until Barry shows up and stops him. Unfortunately Jay has a knife, so he stabs Barry in the leg and....well this entire next part is pretty bad. Joker has Jay at super speed slash peoples throats with the knife. Superman and Barry try to stop him, which is when Joker has Jay full-speed run into a building to death, the only thing left his hat and Barry sad that because he got stabbed in the leg he wasn't fast enough to catch Jay. So yeah, thus ends the Story of Injustice Jay Garrick and its only made worse by the fact that probably Jay had self-awareness that Joker made him kill himself by running into a wall. Like I said, I get being upset at this issue, and that is someone who likes Injustice. Oh and that other thing, yeah its Doctor Mid-nite telling Lois Lane that yes it is possible for her and Superman to have a baby together........so yeah let that one sink in. Like I said, its a downer overall.

end of spoilers

[Robotman]

Okay so this issue was brutal even for me, pretty much a constant downer even when thinking about a particular happy moment. I would not argue with anyone who would not like this issue or were upset with it, even I am not a huge fan of what happens and I genuinely really like the Injustice series.

spoilers:

So we pick up pretty much immediately from where we left off and Joker has Jay Garrick under his spell and attacking Ted Grant, with Flash (Barry) and Superman inbound because the incident gets polices attention. What makes even worse is that as Jay and Ted fight Joker lets Jay have some self-awareness until he has him pummel Wildcat until Barry shows up and stops him. Unfortunately Jay has a knife, so he stabs Barry in the leg and....well this entire next part is pretty bad. Joker has Jay at super speed slash peoples throats with the knife. Superman and Barry try to stop him, which is when Joker has Jay full-speed run into a building to death, the only thing left his hat and Barry sad that because he got stabbed in the leg he wasn't fast enough to catch Jay. So yeah, thus ends the Story of Injustice Jay Garrick and its only made worse by the fact that probably Jay had self-awareness that Joker made him kill himself by running into a wall. Like I said, I get being upset at this issue, and that is someone who likes Injustice. Oh and that other thing, yeah its Doctor Mid-nite telling Lois Lane that yes it is possible for her and Superman to have a baby together........so yeah let that one sink in. Like I said, its a downer overall.

end of spoilers

Sounds like a really disappointing story. It seemed to have so much potential but Taylor just made it a grim dark Joker gore fest.

[Frontier]

Sounds like a really disappointing story. It seemed to have so much potential but Taylor just made it a grim dark Joker gore fest.

Such is Injustice...

[TheRay]

Shame the same can't be said for others like Diana given the game writers' lousy concept and Taylor's traditionally lazy writing with her.

I actually thought getting to see Wonder Woman fight regime Wonder Woman was a fun concept. Sure they could expand a bit more but I liked what we got.

[Gaius]

I actually thought getting to see Wonder Woman fight regime Wonder Woman was a fun concept. Sure they could expand a bit more but I liked what we got.

Well, Taylor did. It’s just his “expanding” on it was just doubling down on her as arm candy and using her to absolve Superman of his fall by making her a Lady MacBeth cliche. And then not even bothering to explain how she got like she did until he tried to ride off the coattails of the movie years later.

So yeah, Taylor ain’t cracking any “Best WW writers” list anytime soon.

[sifighter]

Alright so another issue, and as it turns out we are getting to the end because this is issue 11 out of 14. Basically if I were to describe this issue is basically catch up for the league post Jay Garrick. They find out that it’s the Joker, they learn about the amulet, and basically feel that they need to protect the JSA....which actually doesn’t go well because of, you guessed it, the Joker. Now I will say I definitely preferred this issue to last one, yes something bad happens at the end but it’s not as heart breaking as with Jay, it’s just more of a cliffhanger where you have to hope everyone makes it out okay.

Also I don’t know why but I found it very funny the scene with Green Arrow where he’s caught between Dinah Drake and Dinah Lance. Something just amusing about that.

[sifighter]

Oh wow I fell behind on reviewing this huh, guess I’ll just give my opinion on this overall.

Overall I’d say I kind of wish this wasn’t Injustice but in a good way...I realize that’s an odd statement. Because honestly besides tying in the Harley and Ivy wedding and Joker getting the idea for Injustice year one it doesn’t really read like an Injustice series. Besides two character deaths, one of which I’m not a fan of, if this wasn’t titled Injustice you could argue this was just an out of continuity JSA and Justice League series. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just felt very divorced from the rest of the Injustice series.