FOREVER EVIL Month #3

FOREVER EVIL #3: Batman and Catwoman have gotten Vic Stone’s remains to his father’s lab in the Red Room and avoided being trapped in Deathstorm’s Matrix. Dr. Stone and Dr. Morrow begin to try and save Vic while Batman and Catwoman search for Nightwing, whose identity has been revealed to the world. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor gets Subject B-Zero to move a satellite dish, allowing Luthor’s war suit to become fully operational. In the process, he finds the location of Ultraman, who is battling Black Adam. The villain crushes Black Adam’s jaw and tosses him into the sea. Luthor discovers Ultraman, who searches for Metallo to get access to the Kryptonite he needs to keep his powers, avoids leaving the shadow of the eclipse. In Central City, the Rogues are battling Deathstorm and Power Ring as a result of Power Ring’s paranoia. The Rogues try to escape but Deathstorm renders Captain Cold powerless by pulling his weapon from out of his DNA. The others head into Mirror World, but Power Ring smashes the mirror, trapping everyone except Captain Cold. Elsewhere, Luthor and Bizarro watch as Black Manta emerges with Black Adam’s still living but badly beaten body. The five villains, Luthor, Bizarro, Captain Cold, Black Adam and Black Manta realize that they may end up having to be responsible for saving the world.

Geoff Johns and David Finch continue their epic story of evil versus evil and now it looks like the bad guys may have to save the world after all. The story reads like a classic DC crossover of the Sixties and early Seventies, the art is mind blowing and this is one of the most fun adventures I’ve had in years. With Dick Grayson’s identity revealed, what does that mean for the Batman Family status quo? Too may questions and no real answers yet. but that’s okay, as this story is only halfway to the finish line.

FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S. #2: Steve Trevor is tasked with saving the President of the United States from Deathstroke and his team of bad guys, which he does, defeating Deathstroke, Blockbuster and Shadow Thief in the process. He gets back to A.R.G.U.S  with the President and secures him and Etta Candy in the Green Room: a room that exists out of time and space. Steve then heads to the Wonder Room, filled with artifacts of his time with Wonder Woman to visit the Delphi Mirror and communicate with The Weird Sisters about Wonder Woman’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Killer Frost toes the line between good and evil as she no longer has Firestorm’s powers to keep her alive. She desperately needs to feed and does so on a villain named The Hotness, saving a mother and child in the process. And, in the middle of all that, Dr. Light is reborn and not happy.

Sterling Gates does a nice job of adding some depth to a character who has been pretty much background fodder since Lyle Waggoner played him on television. And the addition of the new Rooms and what is inside them leads to a whole world of future possibilities in the NEW 52 Universe. But the promised battle on the cover between Trevor and Deathstroke lasts only three panels. That’s false advertising and DC is getting really good at that. And if you are wondering where you might have seen Neil Edwards work before, it was when he was doing DARK AVENGERS for Marvel. This is definitely not his best work and a lot of that is because the inking seems to change from page to page, but it doesn’t clutter the story too much.

FOREVER EVIL: ARKHAM WAR #2: In an effort to stop the fighting in Gotham City, Kirk Langstrom has given his Man-Bat Serum to a select few. Unfortunately, Bane and his army of soldiers has merged Blackgate Penitentiary inmates as they try to take control of Gotham away from the Arkham Asylum inmates. But Kirk and his man-bats take down Brute, telling his survivors that “science is always at war against ignorance.”  Soon Penguin decides to play both sides. When the Arkham inmates come to him for protection, Penguin will go to Bane with information. In return, Penguin wants the life of Ignatius Ogilvy. Bane agrees and then heads off to keep the Arkhamites from freeing the Talons. Penguin opens the door of an abandoned food truck, where Commissioner Gordon and Detective Pierce have been inside of, and offers a deal to save the staff at Blackgate. That night, Gordon and Pierce sneak into the prison and find the interim warden, Agatha Zorbatos. She explains that most of her staff were murdered.  The Scarecrow has allied the Arkhamites with the Man-Bats, but Bane returns before they can get all the Talon pods out. He steals a off of Langstrom's back, declaring this is his Talon. Gordon, Pierce and Zorbatos escape in an ancient police cruiser, when they discover Bane who claims he can work the angles as well as The Penguin can.

Peter Tomasi and Scot Eaton weave an interesting sub chapter in the FOREVER EVIL story. With Gotham under siege, it becomes hard to know the good guys from the bad. Apparently, Bane is the baddest and everyone else pales by comparison. Disappointing is the cover which leads you to believe that bane battles the talons when in fact, the Talons don’t really make their presence known in this book. Other than that, it was a nice tale that just continues to help define when a villain is really a hero.

FOREVER EVIL: ROGUE’S REBELLION #2: In Central City, the Rogues are battling Deathstorm and Power Ring as a result of Power Ring’s paranoia. The Rogues try to escape but Deathstorm renders Captain Cold powerless by pulling his weapon from out of his DNA. The others head into Mirror World, but Power Ring smashes the mirror, tossing the Rogues throughout the city. Mirror Master keeps Heat Wave and Trickster from falling to their deaths. Weather Wizard joins them and they quickly determine that they have landed in Metropolis, without Captain Cold. Soon they find themselves in battle with a man in a red hoodie calling himself the Archer and then the Parasite. Rather than battle this creature who is using their powers to feed him, they duck into Mirror World and soon find themselves in Gotham City, where they they are captive to the queen of Robinson Park: Poison Ivy.

If you read FOREVER EVIL #3, then you have seen bits and pieces o this story. This is the more complete version, with the Rogues ending up in Metropolis and then Gotham City where they are taken captive by Posion Ivy. Very cool. I haven’t been a big fan of what DC did prior to the NEW 52 with The Rogues, but these new versions are slowly starting to grow on me, as each has their own idiosyncrasies that I truly love. Brian Buccellato and Scott Hepburn have done a nice job with the story, obviously within the framework laid out by Geoff Johns, I am sure. If you are only reading FOREVER EVIL, you are only getting part of the story.