You can't put yourself above us Clark.
You're right. I'm not saying I'd act differently if I had your abilites. I'm not saying I wouldn't try and impose peace. But you...
You're a better man than I am.
The video game offered an interesting, if not formulaic, premise to build off of: Superman versus Batman. The game had alluded to a catastrophe set five years prior, one where Joker tricked Superman into murdering Lois Lane (who was pregnant with her and Clark's child) and triggering a nuclear bomb to destroy Metropolis. If players were excited to see the comic explain how Joker managed to pull this off, the end result may have left them rather dissatisfied. Joker was able to, somehow, hijack a nuclear submarine, remove the warhead, and insert the detonator into Lois's heart via open-heart surgery. Pick which one of those three sounds least believable, because any of the aforementioned tasks would require a team of experts with years of training. It was a forced excuse to explain motivations the game had already set up.
Fortunately, once the opening sheds a lot of the baggage tying it down to maintain continuity with the game, Injustice really begins to hit its stride. Tom Taylor is an underrated stud in the industry, a master of emotional conveyance and back-and-forth banter. Given an open template with no tie-ins, he is free to take each character and build them as he sees fit, and he takes up this task with enthusiasm. Hundreds of DC play a role, leaving their own impact on an overarching anthology tale. Though the story centers around Batman and Superman, Taylor takes time to explore several avenues and develop a multitude of other heroes and villains beyond the two of them.
This is compounded by death. Usually a non-factor in comics, Injustice almost seems to serve the sole purpose of making a satire of this trope. Many characters die, right from the first issue, and nobody who perishes returns at any point later in the run, save for flashbacks. It is an all-too present, very real threat, and much of the character development focuses on how individuals respond to the passing of their close ones. Some were expected via the video game, others come as a greater surprise, perhaps an explanation for why a particular character was not in the video game. This leads the comic gives off Walking Dead vibes. Unless a character is in the game, their fate is completely uncertain. It adds narrative stakes to each battle and prompts greater reader investment.
No character is greater impacted by loss than Superman. The comic was given a task of showing how one of the most iconic characters in pop cultures falls transitions sentinel of hope to ruthless dictator. It is a fall from grace that would not happen immediately, it has to be done slowly, and really examine how both Superman's grief and vulnerability are exploited by those around him but also how he becomes his own worse enemy. This is a man who just lost everything. His family, his city, his sense of honor, all because he failed one time. His paranoia to never fail again takes him down a dark path, and it is convincingly done.
DC has written Superman to parody what he means to the real world. The 'S' he wears on his chest is a symbol of hope, as characters in a multitude of comics so often point out, but he also signifies peace, safety, and the potential of humanity to perform acts of good. Thus, when he asks the world to unite under him and essentially declares himself a dictator, the world, including most of the Justice League, listens. Even as his ethics become more questionable, he is viewed by the public in the same flawed manner of an abusive relationship. They look at the person he used to be and hope he can return to the person, if only they listen to him.
Or maybe people are just scared. Superman is a godlike being who loves humanity and wishes to be human. His powers can sometimes be tapered, especially in modern comics, but readers forget this was a man who would casually move planets around in the silver age. Injustice flips this mindset on its head, asking not only what happens if Superman no longer holds back, but also what if he recognized how powerful everyone else saw him as and utilized it to keep people in line. Suddenly, the beacon of hope has become an unstoppable force of oppression. Nobody can match him with raw power alone, so most don't try. Only one truly stands in his way, the master of planning, the Batman.
Injustice is supposed to cover a five-year span, so the writers use the Batman versus Superman conflict to establish a backdrop for a central theme for each year. Year one is about the heroes, year two the Green Lantern Corps, year three the magic users, year four the Greek gods and year five the villains. Some of these hold more entertainment value than others. DC somewhat shot itself in the foot by failing to recognize when to stop a good thing, as there is a noticeable drop in quality after year two.
The weekly release schedule for shorter digital issues is somewhat apparent in the writing, but it is more so noticeable in the art. DC used a rotating cast of artists, and each one did a serviceable job, although nothing here is award-winning. The body language and facial expressions can sometimes come across as over-dramatic. Year one is easily the worst perpetrator, and the art does gradually get better as time goes on.
Halfway through the series, Taylor is replaced by Brian Buccellato. The transition in writing is definitely not jarring, especially at the moment when it happens, but Buccellato's first year to himself (year four) is the weakest of the five. There is just a connection between characters he cannot quite hit, but he still does a fine job and story continues along efficiently. Ultimately, the canvas is blank and the goal is to get superheroes to punch each other, and both writers succeed in this regard.
Injustice: Gods Among Us had to tell a convincing story to create a five-year-long prequel to a video game. It is much better than it deserved to be. Year one is a standout and a must-read, and for those who enjoyed year one, the other four years are also a great continuation of the new DC universe Taylor started building. Most major DC characters play a role at some point, leaving every fan satisfied, and the book story really does do an adequate job at analyzing the philosophies of Superman and Batman. At first neither really appears more right than the other, but as time goes on Superman falls further and further from the man he once was. The only clear winner here is the posthumous Joker. He finally achieved his goal and broke the heroes, turning them exactly into what they had sworn to stand against.
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