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A review by roxcollector
Forever Evil by Geoff Johns
5.0
Synopsis: The Justice League is trapped inside of Firestorm by the Crime Syndicate. The Crime Syndicate gathers all the villains of the main earth and basically tell them to pledge their allegiance to the Syndicate or die. The Syndicate also reveals Dick Grayson as being Nightwing to the entire world. Ultraman pushes the moon (?) in front of the sun as he is the opposite of Superman and the sun is his Kryptonite.
Lex Luthor releases his Superman clone (Bizarro) even though it is not done growing. The Crime Syndicate has brought with them an unknown prisoner, who Owlman thinks they should kill, but Ultraman thinks he could be useful. Superwoman is pregnant, but has told both Owlman and Ultraman that it is their child as a means to manipulate them both. As shown in the previous volume, Batman has brought Cyborg to his father Silas.
Lex manages to use a satellite dish to track Ultraman, who is currently beating the shit out of Black Adam. Lex meets up with Captain Cold, Black Manta and Black Adam, who all agree that it is in their best interest to take down the Crime Syndicate. The four break into Wayne Enterprises, only to find Batman and Catwoman are already there. They begin to fight, but Power Ring shows up with other villains that have aligned themselves with the Syndicate. Batman attempts to use a Yellow Lantern ring against Power Ring, but Power Ring crushes it.
At this point, Sinestro shows up and severs Power Ring's arm with the ring on it. Sinestro murders Power Ring as Power Ring thanks him for removing the ring. Ultraman and other Crime Syndicate members watch a red lightning streak in the sky, saying that the thing that destroyed their world has found them. The villains and Batman invade the fallen Watchtower and the homebase for the Syndicate. Black Manta and Captain Cold kill Earth-3 Alfred and Johnny Quick respectively. Cold and Manta then free the Syndicate's prisoner, revealed to be Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 with Shazam powers.
Earth-3 Luthor is revealed to be the true father of Superwoman's child and also has the ability to steal powers from other metahumans. Bizarro is killed by Earth-3 Lex, but Earth-1 Lex is able to stab his counterpart with a lightning rod and say the magic word to change him back into a normal person. Lex kills him as Ultraman comes in to murder Lex, but Black Adam and Sinestro have brought the sun back. Using the Lasso of Truth, the heroes are brought out of Firestorm's body. Lex steps on Atomica and kills her, thne removes the Kryptonite from Superman's brain. It is revealed that the thing that killed Earth-3 was the Anit-Monitor.
Review: What a great book. I have a love-hate relationship with Lex Luthor, but I absolutely loved him in this story. He hates Superman but when faced with something like the Crime Syndicate, he's like "where the hell is Superman?!" But Lex isn't a quitter and he takes matters into his own hands. The team-up of most of the main Justice League's enemies was genius. It shows that they are just as powerful of as the Justice League when they work together because they are able to defeat an evil version of the League.
Honestly, I almost forgot that Batman and Catwoman were there at all because I don't think they did much in the way of defeating the Syndicate, but that makes sense because this story wasn't about the heroes, it was about the villains. And while the Justice League, had they been there, wouldn't agree with their methods, I would argue that the situation called for the brutality the villains were capable of.
My favorite parts of the book were the moments when the villains killed the Syndicate members. I loved that Captain Cold, the one with no powers, was able to defeat Johnny Quick and what a piss baby Quick turns into once he's lost a leg. Black Manta's brutal murder of Earth-3 Alfred is incredibly satisfying, considering Alfred was one of the two that started this whole thing.
As for Power Ring, I think it is easy to say that Power Ring is annoying because he is, at the heart, a coward. And I won't lie, he is annoying most of the time, but I also find him sympathetic because of the ring he wears. So when Sinestro kills him, I didn't feel a sense of "YES HE'S FINALLY DEAD," I felt happy for him that he was free of the ring and able to die in peace. Atomica might have been my favorite death, though it is the briefest. I loved that Lex just fucking stepped on her and crushed her. It was so simple, yet such a FUCK YEAH moment.
The reveal of Alexander Luthor as being the prisoner the Syndicate brought wasn't all that surprising, I will admit. I had to roll my eyes though when Superwoman revealed that he was in fact the father of her child. That's honestly my only problem with the book. We still don't know who this woman is, really. I have mixed feelings of the implications of her sleeping with three different men, not that I'm judging her. I mean I get it - Ultraman and Owlman are hot (can't say the same for Alexnader). But I feel like some readers might call her rude names for that. However, I have to admire her manipulation of both Ultraman and Owlman. I think it shows that she was playing the whole Syndicate, which in my mind makes her the smartest on the team.
I absolutely loved that Lex, a human with no powers, was able to outsmart Alexander and kill him, when even Ultraman couldn't. It also shows that Earth-3's Luthor isn't as smart as the main earth and I dig that. Lastly, about Lex, I loved that he was upset over the fact that Bizarro died. Then at the end when Lex calls in Ted Kord about his company now that his father's dead, instead of buying the company - he wants Ted to run it. Lex tells Ted that he can always call him for advice and such. Considering Lex threatened Ted's father with the death of his family if he didn't sell the company to Lex, I thought this was a great character growth moment for Lex.
Anyway, awesome story. Again, Geoff Johns continues to blow my mind with this run.
Lex Luthor releases his Superman clone (Bizarro) even though it is not done growing. The Crime Syndicate has brought with them an unknown prisoner, who Owlman thinks they should kill, but Ultraman thinks he could be useful. Superwoman is pregnant, but has told both Owlman and Ultraman that it is their child as a means to manipulate them both. As shown in the previous volume, Batman has brought Cyborg to his father Silas.
Lex manages to use a satellite dish to track Ultraman, who is currently beating the shit out of Black Adam. Lex meets up with Captain Cold, Black Manta and Black Adam, who all agree that it is in their best interest to take down the Crime Syndicate. The four break into Wayne Enterprises, only to find Batman and Catwoman are already there. They begin to fight, but Power Ring shows up with other villains that have aligned themselves with the Syndicate. Batman attempts to use a Yellow Lantern ring against Power Ring, but Power Ring crushes it.
At this point, Sinestro shows up and severs Power Ring's arm with the ring on it. Sinestro murders Power Ring as Power Ring thanks him for removing the ring. Ultraman and other Crime Syndicate members watch a red lightning streak in the sky, saying that the thing that destroyed their world has found them. The villains and Batman invade the fallen Watchtower and the homebase for the Syndicate. Black Manta and Captain Cold kill Earth-3 Alfred and Johnny Quick respectively. Cold and Manta then free the Syndicate's prisoner, revealed to be Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 with Shazam powers.
Earth-3 Luthor is revealed to be the true father of Superwoman's child and also has the ability to steal powers from other metahumans. Bizarro is killed by Earth-3 Lex, but Earth-1 Lex is able to stab his counterpart with a lightning rod and say the magic word to change him back into a normal person. Lex kills him as Ultraman comes in to murder Lex, but Black Adam and Sinestro have brought the sun back. Using the Lasso of Truth, the heroes are brought out of Firestorm's body. Lex steps on Atomica and kills her, thne removes the Kryptonite from Superman's brain. It is revealed that the thing that killed Earth-3 was the Anit-Monitor.
Review: What a great book. I have a love-hate relationship with Lex Luthor, but I absolutely loved him in this story. He hates Superman but when faced with something like the Crime Syndicate, he's like "where the hell is Superman?!" But Lex isn't a quitter and he takes matters into his own hands. The team-up of most of the main Justice League's enemies was genius. It shows that they are just as powerful of as the Justice League when they work together because they are able to defeat an evil version of the League.
Honestly, I almost forgot that Batman and Catwoman were there at all because I don't think they did much in the way of defeating the Syndicate, but that makes sense because this story wasn't about the heroes, it was about the villains. And while the Justice League, had they been there, wouldn't agree with their methods, I would argue that the situation called for the brutality the villains were capable of.
My favorite parts of the book were the moments when the villains killed the Syndicate members. I loved that Captain Cold, the one with no powers, was able to defeat Johnny Quick and what a piss baby Quick turns into once he's lost a leg. Black Manta's brutal murder of Earth-3 Alfred is incredibly satisfying, considering Alfred was one of the two that started this whole thing.
As for Power Ring, I think it is easy to say that Power Ring is annoying because he is, at the heart, a coward. And I won't lie, he is annoying most of the time, but I also find him sympathetic because of the ring he wears. So when Sinestro kills him, I didn't feel a sense of "YES HE'S FINALLY DEAD," I felt happy for him that he was free of the ring and able to die in peace. Atomica might have been my favorite death, though it is the briefest. I loved that Lex just fucking stepped on her and crushed her. It was so simple, yet such a FUCK YEAH moment.
The reveal of Alexander Luthor as being the prisoner the Syndicate brought wasn't all that surprising, I will admit. I had to roll my eyes though when Superwoman revealed that he was in fact the father of her child. That's honestly my only problem with the book. We still don't know who this woman is, really. I have mixed feelings of the implications of her sleeping with three different men, not that I'm judging her. I mean I get it - Ultraman and Owlman are hot (can't say the same for Alexnader). But I feel like some readers might call her rude names for that. However, I have to admire her manipulation of both Ultraman and Owlman. I think it shows that she was playing the whole Syndicate, which in my mind makes her the smartest on the team.
I absolutely loved that Lex, a human with no powers, was able to outsmart Alexander and kill him, when even Ultraman couldn't. It also shows that Earth-3's Luthor isn't as smart as the main earth and I dig that. Lastly, about Lex, I loved that he was upset over the fact that Bizarro died. Then at the end when Lex calls in Ted Kord about his company now that his father's dead, instead of buying the company - he wants Ted to run it. Lex tells Ted that he can always call him for advice and such. Considering Lex threatened Ted's father with the death of his family if he didn't sell the company to Lex, I thought this was a great character growth moment for Lex.
Anyway, awesome story. Again, Geoff Johns continues to blow my mind with this run.