Batman/Superman #5
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse
Cover Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse
Publisher: DC
After an excellent first arc, Greg Pak continues to write a fun story, this time with Brett Booth on art duties. Toymaster makes his debut in the New 52 (when are they going to stop printing that on all the covers?), and Pak does a nice job of giving him a modern twist. He’s an interesting character because he couldn’t necessarily be classified as the villain, seeing as he had no idea his video game was real, however, the way the story plays out, he might just end up becoming one. Pak does a great job defining Batman and Superman’s relationship now that the story has caught up to the present (almost), where Batman is all business, while Superman is still much more playful and carefree. The horizontal layout of the entire issue is both irritating and interesting. As far as pacing and the flow of the story, the horizontal layout is ridiculous and unnecessary. However, the wider panels do allow for some amazing pages from Booth, Rapmund, and Dalhouse. 3.5/5
Forever Evil #3
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: David Finch, Richard Friend, and Sonia Oback
Cover Artists: David Finch, Richard Friend, and Sonia Oback
Publisher: DC
With the halfway mark of the Forever Evil event upon us, Geoff Johns ramps up the action and starts plotting the end of the Crime Syndicate. With Batman’s return at the end of the last issue, Johns explains what happened to the missing superheroes, as well as plants the seeds of the hero resurgence. Batman has always been the best strategist, making him the appropriate hero to fight back against the more powerful Crime Syndicate. On the flip side, Johns also brings together a group of villains who refuse to bow down to the Crime Syndicate and instead plot to overthrow them. That being said, there are minor problems with the issue. Some of the plot lines originated from tie-in issues and as a result can be a little underwhelming at times, such as the battle between Black Adam and Ultraman, or the Rogues’ appearance. Nevertheless, this issue does a great job of setting up the remainder of the series. 4/5
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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
I remember reading an old issue of X-Force that did that same layout and I hated it then! lol
What’s the point of doing that if it doesn’t help with the story in any way? Ah well, I’m actually enjoying that series more than I thought so I’ll probably give this issue a shot anyway.
I haven’t been reading Forever Evil since the first issue and decided I’d pick it up in trade. Though I will say that I’m a bit tired of Batman being the ONLY guy that seems to “make it” in these events regardless of him being a great strategist and all.