FOREVER EVIL #1

Lex Luthor, a recently freed man, is trying to negotiate the sale of Kord industries to LexCorp. Just as it seems Kord will begrudgingly sign, his helicopter loses control and crashes into LexCorp Tower. As he crawls from the wreckage, he sees a message on his phone saying: "THIS WORLD IS OURS." Lex sees Kord is still alive and just when it looks like Superman is going to save him, the non-Superman causes Kord to fall to his death as he smashes into Lex’ safe and steals a shard of Kryptonite. He crushes it into powder and snorts it, causing Ultraman to claim he is again the strongest there is.. Grid has taken down power in Metropolis and Gotham City is next and he sends an energy pulse that does just that. Nightwing, in Gotham to deliver Mister Zsasz to Arkham, sees a caped woman tear the doors off of the Asylum. He is quickly punched in the face by someone resembling Batman and then finds himself dangling at the end of a barbed wire lasso. The freed inmates are given the chance to join the Secret Society and they do, based on the flip of a coin by Two-Face. Meanwhile, The Rogues are trying to break into Iron Heights to free the Trickster. Suddenly they encounter a super speedster and a tiny woman. Belle Reve is broken into by two super-powered criminals just as Amanda Waller is attempting to recruit Black Manta for the Suicide Squad.

The freed criminals assemble at the ruins of the Justice League Watchtower in Rhode Island. Suddenly Aquaman’s trident hits the floor, followed by Wonder Woman’s Lasso of truth and Superman’s shredded cape. Ultraman appears with the members of the Crime Syndicate and announces that the Justice League is dead. He tells the crooks that they come from another world that they conquered and destroyed because the people turned against them. So they have come here to conquer this world. They reveal that they have Nightwing and proceed to unmask him in front of all the criminals. Dick Grayson has been unmasked. Dick’s friends are watching on television, as is the whole world. The Crime Syndicate says they know everything about Grayson: who his family is and who his friends are and they will hunt them down and destroy them. Ultraman tells his Secret Society that they represent the new world order: one that is “forever evil”. The criminals head out into the world as Ultraman winces from the radiation of the rising yellow sun. Suddenly a solar eclipse is put in place, blocking out that sun. Lex Luthor mentions how this seems like a job for Superman, who is nowhere to be found.

And this is how it all begins. September is a good month for comics. DC has FOREVER EVIL and all that will come from it and Marvel has INFINITY and all that will comes from that. But this is the first salvo in the “Big Event” War and this is a beauty! Geoff Johns knows how to write the BIG STORY and he’s well on his way with this one. We get a boat load of bad guys, the Crime Syndicate from Earth 3(there are 52 you know!) and Dick Grayson unmasked. Paint yourself out of THAT CORNER, Geoff! Toss in Davd Finch’ phenomenal art, including a beautiful four panel spread inside the Watchtower and I was blown away! This is the lead to VILLAINS MONTH and we shall see where that goes, as I review those week by week. For now, this is one of those fun reads that I want to continue week by week. Now I know how my parents felt when they had to wait week by week for the next movie serial chapter.