Injustice: Gods Among Us #32 (August 21, 2013)

Tags

Batman, Black Canary, Captain Atom, Catwoman, David Lopez, Green Arrow, Injustice Captain Atom, Jheremy Raapack, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Mico Suayan, Santi Casas of Ikari Studio, Superman, Tom Taylor, Wes Abbott, Wonder Woman

>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS<<<<<<<<<
(You’ve been warned)

“Chapter Thirty-Two”

• Writer: Tom Taylor
• Artist: Jheremy Raapack
• Colors: David Lopez & Santi Casas of Ikari Studio
• Letters: Wes Abbott
• Cover: Mico Suayan, David Lopez & Santi Casas of Ikari Studio

I certainly hope you weren’t too attached to the Injustice Captain Atom.  He went all Kingdom Come in this issue.  But he went down swinging.

Picking up where Injustice: Gods Among Us #31 left off, Batman’s crew is leaving the Fortress of Solitude when Superman comes home and throttles Captain Atom.  The Kents assure him they’re okay and to let Cap go.  But Cap is far too pissed himself to just let this go.

Captain Atom proceeds to lecture Superman while simultaneously kicking the Kryptonian’s ass.

The battle shakes the walls of the fortress and as a result Green Arrow ends up trapped inside with the Kents.  Black Canary can’t free them with her sonic scream because it may cause more damage.  Batman assures Arrow that they will come back for him.  Meanwhile, Captain Atom continues to school Superman.

Cap is telling the bleeding man of steel that, orders or not, he’s going to take Superman down.  Then Wonder Woman steps in and puts a magic sword to Cap’s throat that punctures Cap’s shell.  Which is not good news for anyone.

Captain Atom’s shell (not specified if it is an alien alloy in this reality) keeps all his nuclear stuff inside.  As in Kingdom Come, if the shell is ruptured, Cap goes critical and takes the surrounding area down with him.

Captain Atom realizes he’s doomed and decides to take Superman with him.  He drags Supes up into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.  Wonder Woman follows.


Superman blasts Cap with his heat vision just as Atom goes critical.

Captain Atom appears to be dead.  Wonder Woman is most likely injured but alive.  Superman is most likely alive as well.  I think we may find in future issues that Cap’s death was in vain.  As in The Dark Knight Returns, this whole mess is going to have to come down to Batman versus Superman.  Nightwing and Captain Atom are just collateral damage.

It is sad to see Captain Atom die again, but his departure from this series was much more satisfying than the New 52 Cap’s departure from the DC Universe (and time will tell on that one; he might resurface).  Again, Tom Taylor has told an engaging tale and Jheremy Raapack has backed it up with superb artwork.  I’m giving this issue an A+.  Well done, folks.

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Injustice: Gods Among Us #31 (August 14, 2013)

Tags

Batman, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Captain Atom, Catwoman, David Lopez, Fran Vazquez, Green Arrow, Huntress, Injustice Captain Atom, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Mico Suayan, Santi Casas of Ikari Studio, Sergi Erra, Superman, Tom Derenick, Tom Taylor, Wes Abbott

>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS<<<<<<<<<
(You’ve been warned)

“Chapter Thirty-One”

• Writer: Tom Taylor
• Artist: Tom Derenick
• Colors: Sergi Erra, Fran Vazquez & Santi Casas of Ikari Studio
• Letters: Wes Abbott
• Cover: Mico Suayan, David Lopez & Santi Casas of Ikari Studio

We’ve been without an appearance of Cap in this comic for six issues.  And when he comes back, he gets his ass handed to him.

Batman wants to break into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, but in order to do that he needs to distract the man of steel.  This he arranges with the President of the United States.

Green Arrow and Black Canary enter Batman’s latest hide-out via a bathroom elevator.  There they find Bats calling a meeting (naturally) with Black Lightning, Huntress, Catwoman, and Captain Atom.  Black Lightning is pissed off with Batman for imprisoning Hawkgirl.  Captain Atom tells Bats he should have told them about his plans to use Martian Manhunter.  Then Batman drops the bombshell that Superman killed Martian Manhunter (in Injustice: Gods Among Us #29 – Supes used his heat vision to burn J’onn J’onzz to death).

Batman and the president have arranged to have U.S. warships head towards the Korean peninsula, knowing the Justice League will respond.  Batman’s team teleports to the Fortress of Solitude, where Catwoman will pick the lock and Captain Atom will open the door.

But Superman isn’t playing right.  Rather than heading for Korea, he shows up on the White House lawn and demands to speak to the president.  It doesn’t take Superman long to realize this was a distraction.  Meanwhile, in the Fortress, Batman’s team comes upon Ma and Pa Kent.

Batman calls off the mission at once.  He wants to get out before Superman gets the wrong idea and thinks he showed up there to hurt the Kents.  But Superman proves yet again that he is faster than Batman and stronger than Captain Atom.

Nearly every issue of this comic ends with an “oh shit” moment and this one does not disappoint.  Tom Taylor is crafting quite the story.  And Tom Derenick does a great job with the art.  I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but once again this is an A book.