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ndizz87's review
5.0
So, wow. When I ended Year One it felt a lot like Avengers: Endgame in the sense that it came across as a culmination of all the struggles of our heroes into a final, destructive conclusion. When I realized that there are five years in the entire saga I thought, where in the world can they take this story next? How could they possibly amp the stakes up even higher? Well, a lesson learned from Year Two is that things can always get worse...much, much worse. And indeed, that’s where we find our heroes in this volume. However, this time Superman’s actions have caused this crisis to escalate to a galactic scale. We’re not just talking about nations. We’re talking about planetary sectors and hugely powerful characters attempting to intervene on behalf of mankind. Again, this volume was a 5 out of 5, even if it doesn’t quite capture what the first volume did.
The plot centers around Superman’s actions being reviewed by the almighty Guardians of the Universe who control the Green Lantern Corps. While Earth is only one planet among seemingly billions, even the Guardians realize that many issues that negatively affect the entire universe always seem to stem from that one planet. The situation only seems to escalate when it's found out that Superman is being advised and assisted by Sinestro. I did love how Sinestro was portrayed in this volume. He makes a lot of overtures to bring down the barriers between himself and the other superheroes. He’s super manipulative and he definitely has a mission. I did really appreciate how he instantly tries to tie his own story to that of what Superman is trying to achieve. This is effective in positioning a standoff between the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps and Superman and his team. He really does a number on everyone, giving Lex Luthor his ring and accepting his initial imprisonment. He murders John Stewart and pins it on Guy Gardner, leading Hal Jordan to kill one of his own Green Lanterns. You can tell the situation is spinning out of control when the Green Lanterns are split on what they should do about the growing crisis on Earth. I mean, Hal Jordan literally rips off Guy’s arm, effectively taking out his powers and killing him. The superheroes on Superman’s side are getting way more twisted and willing to do anything to keep their power.
One thing that I was surprised by that really made this volume so effective is that this is really Black Canary’s story as it tracks her from the aftermath of the first volume. She’s pregnant now with Oliver’s baby, but he died at the hands of Superman. She struggles between wanting to be involved in taking down Superman and avenging Oliver, and wanting to be there as a mother to their baby boy, Connor. She is a strong, heartbreaking, and wonderful character. I always kind of saw her and some of the other heroes as just background characters needed to populate the story. However, Black Canary transcends that quite effectively in Year Two. Her story arc throughout this volume was awesome to see. She is a mother scorned and looking for revenge. Going toe to toe with Superman was probably a crazy suicide mission, but in the end, even though it appears that Superman wins the fight, she captures her murder and projects it on every screen in the world. Everyone sees Superman slaughter her. She does this so that they can truly see and fear him. It was a super effective strategy and one I really didn’t see coming. I loved every minute of it.
The other secondary story that I thought was powerful, if not as much as Black Canary’s, was Commissioner Jim Gordon’s. He’s dying of cancer. He doesn’t have long. Every time he takes a synthesized pill to make him a super soldier, it hastens his cancer. But there is a city to protect from the monstrous super soldiers under Superman’s control. He wants to protect the city and his daughter. While the plot point of Clayface imitating his wife was a little wonky, it was still effective in the sense that it shows just how tragic his entire arc has been. I loved how he and some of the other good cops form a resistance as Superman tests out his super soldiers in Gotham City. Especially at the end where he takes out Cyborg so he doesn’t find out that his daughter is the Oracle, working with Lex Luthor who is the resistance’s man on the inside (shocker! I mean, Lex has been a pretty level headed person throughout all this), and taking a look at the Earth from the Watchtower as he slowly succumbs to the advancing cancer, was brilliant and heartbreaking.
There is still as much death as ever in this one, but it still can’t hold a candle to Year One. From the slaughter of the Green Lantern Corps to Sinestro’s Corps, the death of Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Ganthet (a Guardian of all people), Jim Gordon, and Black Canary (at least initially) kept the stakes high. I also loved the galactic scale that is in this one. I mean, there is literally a Green Lantern that’s an entire planet that comes to Earth! I also still loved and am forever disappointed with Superman’s trajectory. He seemingly seals his own path when he accepts the Sinestro ring and becomes a Superman/Yellow Lantern, gaining his power from fear. I was impressed this allowed him to drive both Ganthet and the Green Lantern planet into the sun!
One thing that I did miss was the fact that Batman is mostly convalescing in Dr. Fate’s tower, largely outside of time and space. I missed him and wanted more, even if it was just showing him trying to get back to his former self. This is also the same for Wonder Woman who was near a nuclear explosion in space, which I don’t rightly remember from Year One. Their absences are felt, but are ultimately offset by the crazy events going on. This also leads to trying to figure out how Dr. Fate and Zantanna will factor into the future installments. Batman says she’s his Plan B, but never ends up utilizing her. Dr. Fate seems intentionally absent, and only intervenes to resurrect Black Canary. He takes her to another dimension where she had already passed away and Oliver was still alive. He does this so she can find some peace with her child who he gives her. This is where the story ends and while I really liked seeing her survive, I thought it stole a little of the thunder that the death of a new mother gave the story. What is Dr. Fate’s game? I wanted more, but didn’t get it.
All in all, this volume is almost just as strong as the first one. The stakes take it to a galactic level and Superman, with the help of the manipulative Sinestro, has the ability to match the powers that are coming for him. His path is seemingly sealed. Batman and his resistance have some minor wins, but the battle and the larger war is still up in the air. Who knows where they’ll go next with this. I honestly couldn’t tell you. I was worried that it would have a hard, downward trajectory, but it certainly didn’t do that. Can’t wait to read the next exciting volume and see how all this begins to get resolved.
The plot centers around Superman’s actions being reviewed by the almighty Guardians of the Universe who control the Green Lantern Corps. While Earth is only one planet among seemingly billions, even the Guardians realize that many issues that negatively affect the entire universe always seem to stem from that one planet. The situation only seems to escalate when it's found out that Superman is being advised and assisted by Sinestro. I did love how Sinestro was portrayed in this volume. He makes a lot of overtures to bring down the barriers between himself and the other superheroes. He’s super manipulative and he definitely has a mission. I did really appreciate how he instantly tries to tie his own story to that of what Superman is trying to achieve. This is effective in positioning a standoff between the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps and Superman and his team. He really does a number on everyone, giving Lex Luthor his ring and accepting his initial imprisonment. He murders John Stewart and pins it on Guy Gardner, leading Hal Jordan to kill one of his own Green Lanterns. You can tell the situation is spinning out of control when the Green Lanterns are split on what they should do about the growing crisis on Earth. I mean, Hal Jordan literally rips off Guy’s arm, effectively taking out his powers and killing him. The superheroes on Superman’s side are getting way more twisted and willing to do anything to keep their power.
One thing that I was surprised by that really made this volume so effective is that this is really Black Canary’s story as it tracks her from the aftermath of the first volume. She’s pregnant now with Oliver’s baby, but he died at the hands of Superman. She struggles between wanting to be involved in taking down Superman and avenging Oliver, and wanting to be there as a mother to their baby boy, Connor. She is a strong, heartbreaking, and wonderful character. I always kind of saw her and some of the other heroes as just background characters needed to populate the story. However, Black Canary transcends that quite effectively in Year Two. Her story arc throughout this volume was awesome to see. She is a mother scorned and looking for revenge. Going toe to toe with Superman was probably a crazy suicide mission, but in the end, even though it appears that Superman wins the fight, she captures her murder and projects it on every screen in the world. Everyone sees Superman slaughter her. She does this so that they can truly see and fear him. It was a super effective strategy and one I really didn’t see coming. I loved every minute of it.
The other secondary story that I thought was powerful, if not as much as Black Canary’s, was Commissioner Jim Gordon’s. He’s dying of cancer. He doesn’t have long. Every time he takes a synthesized pill to make him a super soldier, it hastens his cancer. But there is a city to protect from the monstrous super soldiers under Superman’s control. He wants to protect the city and his daughter. While the plot point of Clayface imitating his wife was a little wonky, it was still effective in the sense that it shows just how tragic his entire arc has been. I loved how he and some of the other good cops form a resistance as Superman tests out his super soldiers in Gotham City. Especially at the end where he takes out Cyborg so he doesn’t find out that his daughter is the Oracle, working with Lex Luthor who is the resistance’s man on the inside (shocker! I mean, Lex has been a pretty level headed person throughout all this), and taking a look at the Earth from the Watchtower as he slowly succumbs to the advancing cancer, was brilliant and heartbreaking.
There is still as much death as ever in this one, but it still can’t hold a candle to Year One. From the slaughter of the Green Lantern Corps to Sinestro’s Corps, the death of Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Ganthet (a Guardian of all people), Jim Gordon, and Black Canary (at least initially) kept the stakes high. I also loved the galactic scale that is in this one. I mean, there is literally a Green Lantern that’s an entire planet that comes to Earth! I also still loved and am forever disappointed with Superman’s trajectory. He seemingly seals his own path when he accepts the Sinestro ring and becomes a Superman/Yellow Lantern, gaining his power from fear. I was impressed this allowed him to drive both Ganthet and the Green Lantern planet into the sun!
One thing that I did miss was the fact that Batman is mostly convalescing in Dr. Fate’s tower, largely outside of time and space. I missed him and wanted more, even if it was just showing him trying to get back to his former self. This is also the same for Wonder Woman who was near a nuclear explosion in space, which I don’t rightly remember from Year One. Their absences are felt, but are ultimately offset by the crazy events going on. This also leads to trying to figure out how Dr. Fate and Zantanna will factor into the future installments. Batman says she’s his Plan B, but never ends up utilizing her. Dr. Fate seems intentionally absent, and only intervenes to resurrect Black Canary. He takes her to another dimension where she had already passed away and Oliver was still alive. He does this so she can find some peace with her child who he gives her. This is where the story ends and while I really liked seeing her survive, I thought it stole a little of the thunder that the death of a new mother gave the story. What is Dr. Fate’s game? I wanted more, but didn’t get it.
All in all, this volume is almost just as strong as the first one. The stakes take it to a galactic level and Superman, with the help of the manipulative Sinestro, has the ability to match the powers that are coming for him. His path is seemingly sealed. Batman and his resistance have some minor wins, but the battle and the larger war is still up in the air. Who knows where they’ll go next with this. I honestly couldn’t tell you. I was worried that it would have a hard, downward trajectory, but it certainly didn’t do that. Can’t wait to read the next exciting volume and see how all this begins to get resolved.
shadybanana's review
4.0
The introduction of Lantern Corps, Guardian and Sinestro Corps was very much transcendent. Sinestro's entrance indicated that Supes was losing his brain and the step by step involvement of Lantern Corps and finally the Guardian with Mojo shows that the matter is becoming more serious. On the other hand, Batman remains slick as hell. He always show he is better than Supes. The constant resilience of Insurgency against Supes & Co. is something that brings more interest in the comics. Some side notes here. Flash and Shazam should have joined Insurgency by now. Diana's character is becoming detestable. And perhaps the character I hate even more than Wonder Woman is Damian aka Robin. Also Lex is becoming an important part of the comics.
sweets_reads's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
dogeared88's review
5.0
ALL I WANTED WAS A HAPPY ENDING FOR OLLIE AND DINAH OKAY
I sent my friend some very ... distraught text messages at 3am last night.
Something to the affect of HOW COULD YOU!? and WHAT KIND OF SADIST ARE YOU TO MAKE ME READ THESE!?
Genuine tears just for the record. Gosh, these are great. I cannot wait to read the rest of these.
I sent my friend some very ... distraught text messages at 3am last night.
Something to the affect of HOW COULD YOU!? and WHAT KIND OF SADIST ARE YOU TO MAKE ME READ THESE!?
Genuine tears just for the record. Gosh, these are great. I cannot wait to read the rest of these.
robotswithpersonality's review against another edition
Holy crap! Well, just when you thought things couldn't get worse..I am very grateful for that hopeful moment at the very end, but boy oh boy does the majority of this situation seem very, very doomed! An engrossing read, just keep turnng the pages wondering what will happen next. The change for certain heroes, finding themselves on the 'wrong side' is so skillfully done, it's clear how they got to that point, all the shades of gray. Still loving the amount of Harley Quinn we get in this series.
spellsandmonsters_'s review
5.0
This book had me feeling all the feels! I laughed, I cried, and I was angry. Give Tom Taylor all the comics to write! This series is so good and I’m so mad I waited so long to read it. Especially when I love the video games also! This series has even gotten me to be a Harley Quinn fan, which I’m shocked by. Alllll the stars and recommend it to every comic fan!
jhouses's review
4.0
Mantiene perfectamente la calidad de la primera serie, elevando la confrontación a niveles interplanetarios cuando los Green Lantern Corps deciden intervenir ante la situción en la Tierra. Los propios Lanterns están divididos y la aparicion de Sinestro no mejora la situación.
sfletcher26's review
5.0
I've always been a Marvel fan and other than Batman, and then only occasionally, DC has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I think it's because for me Superman has always been just a bit too earnest and whiter than white. I like my characters with a little more colour, preferably grey and many shades there of, which is something that this story is delivering in spades.
I genuinely love this series it' absolutely unputdownable and is delivering a shocking storyline.
After year one I couldn't see how it could get better and Year two topped it. Here's hoping Year three will be as good.
I genuinely love this series it' absolutely unputdownable and is delivering a shocking storyline.
After year one I couldn't see how it could get better and Year two topped it. Here's hoping Year three will be as good.