Choice pages from Forever Evil #4

[icon_uk]

We're at the halfway mark, so it's about time things moved along (Though villians month seems so long ago now, and most of the other titles have moved on, so how this all ties together I have no idea)


By this point I have to assume Selina is being sarcastic, since Batman is standing there with half his mask off (there's even a side shot which shows that, in profile, the right side of his face is effectively unmasked), and they refer to Dick Grayson, who Selina met many times, without acknowledinging that Batman is Bruce Wayne...



Of course, this would have a little more effective if the DCnU had given us any bloody clue as to how Dick stopped being Robin and became Nightwing, but it hasn't.

Then we have;



Lex Luthor's self assessment, which you have to admit has a certain honesty to it.


I rather like Luthor giving some vague respect to the Rogues...

Later on, Bizzaro appears to be afraid of the dark



and Lex has a woobie moment, or as close to woobie as Luthor probably gets.


Luthor being surprised that one of his creations is showing more courage than he does is a nice little beat.

And finally, a spoiler for the last page...



Batman is using his big bumper box of "JLA contingency plans" against the Crime Syndicate which includes a Yellow Lantern ring he kept from the invasion a while back. He knows it's almost out of power, but it's something he can use against Power Ring, and also means that they get to draw Batman in his Yellow Lantern Batsuit again. But there's almost no power left, which means that after his first assault, Power Ring is able to snag it back, and gloats, as he crushes it, that a yellow ring can't possible hurt him.

A voice from behind him then says "A yellow ring cannot hurt you?..."



Now THAT'S an entry line...

Comments

[thatnickguy]

Aaaaaaand John's complete irrational love for Black Adam and Sinestro continue. I haven't been reading this at all because I can't stand NuDC, but has Sinestro even been mentioned or seen in the series at all up until now?

Because if not, that's horrible writing, giving absolutely no build up to this at all. Imagine a totally new reader who heard about this Forever Evil event and decided to try out reading this, like it was their first comic. They'd probably be completely lost.

(Of course, this rant is probably all for naught as for all I know, Sinestro has been seen or mentioned.)

[jlbarnett]

this book is apparently something they've built to since they started the DCnU so it's not meant for new readers.

[thatnickguy]

But there will inevitably be someone out there who is a new reader and tries this out. I don't 100% buy into the idea that every comic is someone's first, but for a major, heavily publicized event like this? I think it easily could be.

[sadoeuphemist]

Look, it was established in the comic that Batman had a yellow lantern ring left over from the invasion, I'm sure Sinestro's name came up somewhere.

[qalchemist]

I also find it quite reasonable to think that the sudden activation of a Yellow Power Ring would draw Sinestro's notice.

[icon_uk]

That makes sense to me, he WOULD be the possessive type.

[jlbarnett]

well, my first Avengers comic book was Avengers Forever, and this is the age of the internet, so people can muddle through and they can look up stuff they're curious about.

[yvonmukluk]

I thought the whole point of the Nu52 was to make it easier for new readers to get on board.

My mistake.

[jlbarnett]

only if you came in at the first issues

[icon_uk]

Sorry, I don't know. I haven't followed the Lantern titles in years.

[thatnickguy]

I'm talking about JUST Forever Evil.

[icon_uk]

Having had a think about that, I'm not sure it's that irrational. They seem to be amassing the various enemies of the JLA to fight the CSA; Luthor for Superman, Captain Cold for Flash, Black Adam for Shazam, and I know they have a subplot going on about Cheetah having Wonder Woman's lasso going on, so Sinestro showing up might be seen as the next.

[zapbiffpow]

The buddy-ship between Bizarro and Luthor is part of what's keeping me reading this series.

This puts Bizarro high on the Possible Casualty list, though. Possibly even at Ultraman's hands, for that added touch of, I dunno, irony? Still not clear how that works.

[icon_uk]

Oh yeah, I can see that happening; Bizarro sacrifices himself for Luthor because it's what Superman would do and Luthor will then have something new to hate Superman for... or something.

[skjam]

"not monster...Superman."

[icon_uk]

Good comparison! :)

[sadoeuphemist]

What, his name isn't Dextero?

[icon_uk]

Dextero went into commercial banking and, as a loving family man with a long history of kind and benevolent acts, is viewed as being the white sheep of the -ro family.

[junipepper]

:D






Although I'm not convinced commercial banking is really the opposite of evil...

[icon_uk]

The fact he's a commercial banker and still manages to be an incredibly nice guy just shows how innately awesome he really is.

[bradygirl_12]

Hmm, Lex's reference to growing up around hardworking people with little education and so on sounds like his pre-Crisis background: growing up in Smallville in a working-class family and becoming rich through his criminal career. Another version (later Bronze Age) had him gain the money through shady business deals, but he was a legitimate businessman until he showed his hand (like on Lois & Clark).

[espanolbot]

There's also the time he grew up in the slums of Metropolis with Perry White, and either worked his way up to wealth or implictly killed his parents in a life insurance scam to get his starting stake.

Most of his backstories have him be born into one form of poverty or another (one of the exceptions being the Smallville version of Lex, whose family was wealthy but put on airs of being Scottish nobility from way back). Which is something that I actually like about the character, in that he (oddly) shared a trait with Selina Kyle, in that they started life in dire straits and through hard work and determination managed to make something of themselves... though WHY they did and what they did once they'd become wealthy differ greatly.

[bradygirl_12]

There's also the time he grew up in the slums of Metropolis with Perry White, and either worked his way up to wealth or implictly killed his parents in a life insurance scam to get his starting stake.

Ah, yes. They used killing the parents for the life insurance money for Lionel's background in Smallville. Fit him perfectly, too!

*nods* That's a very good point about Lex and Selina.

[espanolbot]

Longer post here,
http://espanolbot.tumblr.com/post/71552677891/lex-luthor-and-selina-kyle-an-odd-comparision

[venatosapiens]

That is an amazingly awful outfit for Sinestro. Literally everything about it. The cape! The shoulders! The harness!

[icon_uk]

It's been his outfit for a while I think, and I suspect it's an homage to Parallax, who was the yellow fear Entity after all.

[deepspaceartist]

It's not just an homage to Parallax, Sinestro is host to Parallax now.

Which is, I suspect, the reason the end of issue preview text is making it quite clear he's about to turn Power Ring into a fine green paste.

[chrisdv]

It's been his costume since Wrath of the First Lantern, when he became the new host for Parallax towards the end of the story.

[silverhammerman]

I think we should all just take a second to appreciate that Bizarro's name here coming from him being called Subject "B-Zero" is among the most laughable contortions DC's made so far to portray goofy shit as totally serious and mature.

[thanekos]

It's consistent, if nothing else- Metallo's because John Corben got strapped into the Metal-0 warsuit.

[arbre_rieur]

See, I kind of feel just the opposite. If anything, it's going in the opposite direction. Isn't having Subject B-Zero become Bizarro descended from the same old-school that gives us a man named Octavius becoming Dr. Octopus or Thomas Oscar Morrow deciding he'll be a future-themed supervillain?

[icon_uk]

Actually, I kind of like it, as a nomenclature it seems valid, and it seems more natural than "Metal-Zero" becoming "Metallo", which came first.

[captainbellman]

Ungh. Luthor wouldn't end a sentence with a preposition. It should be "Hft. For what am I even wasting my breath?".

AMATEUR!

[icon_uk]

At a guess, he took Mad English along with Mad Science.

Heh, I'm slightly reminded of a scene in "Frasier", where perpetually fussy Niles is looking over his father's shoulder as he writes and constantly corrects his grammar. "There shouldn't be a comma there.... You shouldn't split an infinitive... You can't end a sentence with a preposition". Clearly having had enough Marty glares at him and scribbles something very short, Niles looks again and simply comments "I think you'll find that 'off' is a preposition too" before walking away with as much dignity as he can.

[donnblake]

Indeed. To quote a great man-

"“This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.”

[red_menace]

Every time DCnU calls him "Richard" I can't help but roll my eyes.

[chrisdv]

And it's only in Forever Evil that this has started happening, he's been Dick in all of his other appearances.

Unless Alfred was referring to him as Master Richard, but Alfred's classy like that.

[venatosapiens]

Not enough Dick in the DCnU.

[icon_uk]

In this instance I don't mind because it might be down to how he was unmasked. The Crime Syndicate called him "Richard Grayson" as they took his mask off, so Selina, if she somehow doesn't know who that is (or is wanting to maintain the illusion that she doesn't), would use the name she had heard for him, as there'd be no reason for her to assume that Richard was ever called Dick.

I agree though it is the sort of eye rolling silliness which suggests that someone in DC editorial is trying too hard.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Given the massive rewrite of canon, it's really hard to tell if Batman is still protecting his own secret ID with regards to Nightwing, or if their relationship has gone from father/son to just slightly older mentor.

[icon_uk]

At the moment it seems like employer/employee sometimes...

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Isn't Tim like an intern now?

There are many reasons to dislike DCnu, but for me the biggest will always be how they want to keep characters who's characterization rely on events heavily influenced by canon now gone (Kyle, Nightwing) the same without explaining how those characters have remained the same.

They want the reward, with none of the effort.

[icon_uk]

Bingo! Sadly...

[icon_uk]

Oh, and Dan Didio did describe the role of Robin as being an internship (and only about a year long one), so Dick, Jason and Tim would all be considered in that light... sigh...

[psylynce]

I admit, I had to look up "woobie" but it's very apt.

One question though, as I am not following this series, is this the first time Bizarro has spoken? Does he no longer do the "opposite speak" then?

[sir_razorback]

Sooo... the line of comics meant to be rebooted for new readers is no longer for new readers? Good to know. I'm actually having fun envisioning DC rebooting for 'new readers' more and more frequently until it becomes a 6-month rotating event. Then getting confused why nobody is reading their 'new-reader friendly' comics.