After a month of awesome, and not so great villain tie-in books, Forever Evil is back with a vengeance. This issue really develops the Crime Syndicate more than the first issue and shows us the inner workings and politics of a group of characters as smart and as powerful as the Justice League but not as nice. I really enjoyed everything about this issue. It really brings up questions on how governments are run and how should they be run and if you truly can rule the world. Not through force but through making people believe they are the ones who chose this government for themselves. And in the end isn’t government the something that will be Forever Evil?
We also get a glimpse at Lex Luthor’s master plan. He has a new experiment that is five years away from completion, but under the circumstances he has no other choice than to unveil project B-Zero. It is, of course, Bizarro Superman. I really do like how they explain his costume being backwards out without it being too hokey. Lex is becoming my favorite character in this book. If you have evil superheroes trying to take over the world, how do you stop it? Call the one man who has been planning for this since the day Superman showed up in Metropolis.
I really hope this quality of story telling continues in this book; I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It is part fun, part supervillain showcase, and part serious dramatic storytelling with complex themes all rolled into one. Geoff Johns is a genius and bringing us Silver Age ideas and putting a modern twist on them while still preserving the fun and goofiness of the original.
David Finch’s artwork is fantastic and while there is no epic four page spread in this issue like there was in the last one, I am still loving everything. There is a dark realism to his work while still retaining the wackiness of these characters. It does have a very cinematic feel to it and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we saw this as a future DC Original Animated Film.
Overall this issue is a fun ride that makes you stop and think. Especially with the recent Government shutdown and how opposing forces with deeply held beliefs will do anything to get their way and how it could lead to more destruction than needed. I give Forever Evil #2 Ten supersuits of Ten.
—Coty Keziah
The Nerdicon 