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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
When a sequel to the award winning video game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, was announced I don't imagine anyone was surprised. The original game was lauded for it's versatile gameplay mechanics - which heavily mirrored NeatherRealms' highly successful Mortal Kombat series - and the level of detail that was put into ensuring each character retained their individual personalities and fighting styles. But, perhaps more than anything, the original Injustice video-game received high praise for the unique story it chose to tell. One, wherein, the beacon of truth and justice, Superman, becomes a tyrant bent on claiming the world as his own and eliminating all those who would oppose his rule. The story was so intriguing that it spawned its own prequel comic book which ran for a whopping one hundred and seventy seven chapters - which is pretty impressive when you consider the fact that it revolves around the events preceding a video game.
In the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic we see our favorite DC heroes clash as they attempt to deliver their own brand of justice and save the world from those they deem to be evil. While it's clear from the start that #TeamSuperman (the Regime) will eventually become the villains of the story, the comic doesn't make it inherently easy to side with #TeamBatman (the Insurgency), and that's part of what makes it great - the debate surrounding how far super heroes should go to protect the people of the world. It's clear that Superman's Justice League is trying to do the right thing, but it's even clearer that they're not going about it in the best way.
So, with the combination of having both great gameplay mechanics and an incredible story, it didn't surprise anyone when it was announced that a sequel was in development - complete with its own prequel comic. While Injustice 2 would eventually come to surpass the original in terms of gameplay (also a surprise to no one), it also managed to provide a solid sequel to the original games story. While I won't go as far as to say it's better than the original, I will say that it definitely managed to keep me entertained, which I can’t help but give praise to, given the fact that I didn’t necessarily have high hopes for it to begin with - especially with how great (and final) the ending of the original game was. However, while the game itself was great, the prequel comic that told the story of what occurred between the two games left a lot to be desired.
Spoilers follow for both the Injustice 2 game and comic.
The premise of the Injustice 2 video game's story was very interesting. Annie threat has arrived and in order to stop it, Batman will have to rely on Superman and the members of his old Regime. Superman is the strongest being on Earth, and it would make sense (simply given the nature of comic-books) that there would eventually come a time where the new Justice League (composed mostly of non-super powered individuals) would face a threat that they would not be able to handle on their own. The idea of Batman having to release Superman and put aside their issues in order to save their world is a recipe for an excellent story.. however, the build up to it (especially in the form of seventy-two chapters worth of storytelling) doesn’t quite work as well.
My biggest issue with the prequel comic is that, even with so much happening, it didn’t feel as though any of it mattered. The main purpose of this comic is to present the audience with the events that proceeded the video game and I suppose, in the broad sense, it manages to do that. We find out how Brainiac came to form an alliance with Grodd, how he managed to merge with Bruce Wayne’s “Brother Eye,” and how Hal Jordan got his green ring back (though him saying he “went through hell” to get it back in the Injustice 2 game seems like a stretch now that we know what actually happened.) But, even with it laying the ground work for all of these things, it still feels as though so much was wasted. While Hal's arc was substantial, the groundwork laid for Brainiac didn't work very well. In fact, in the seventy-two issue run, there were only a handful of panels dedicated to both the hacking of Brother Eye and partnership with Grodd. The rest didn't matter factor into the game at all and, as far as I can tell, could have never happened at all - but more on that later.
So, let’s take a look at the important moments that happened within the comic, but were left out of the games story entirely. We have the resurrection of Alfred, the revelation that Bruce Wayne has a daughter, Aqua-lad becoming a terrorist, Conner Kent becoming the new Superman, a giant Star Fish coming to destroy Earth.. and there's still so much more. And yet, none of these things are mentioned in the Injustice 2 game, even though each of them have ramifications to the world of Injustice. Granted, there’s plenty that happens in the original Gods Among Us comic that didn’t factor into the games’ story, but it, at least, used each year of that comic served to explain why certain characters were behaving the way that they were, as well as why other characters weren’t present in the story. This comic may serve to do the latter (sort of) but it doesn’t tackle the former at all. For example, Conner Kent and Cassie Sandsmark are taken by the Legion of Superheroes and Batman is never shown to have so much as searched for them. It seems as though that should have come up at some point - especially given the fact that Conner was the new Superman - and yet, instead of devoting resources to finding the good Superman, Batman instead decides to put his faith in the evil Superman.
Now I won’t say that the series is not without its high points. I rather enjoyed Hal’s arc in the Injustice 2 comic; watching him come to terms with his past sins (specifically murdering Guy) was interesting, and it also devoted some much needed time to Atrocitus, who felt rather shoehorned into the game. In addition to working as a redemption arc for Hal, it also served to help redeem Sinestro to an extent, as he managed to make amends with his estranged daughter before dying in combat. All in all, that part of the story worked really well on a number of levels - it would have been nice to see the Red Lanterns explored a bit more in the main games storyline, but I understand that doing so might have been doing a little too much.
In addition to that, the Amazo was a genuine treat. The destructive power of the android was incredible, and the reveal that it was (in part) a creation of Braniac made him out to be even more of a threat. Though, I will say that the Amazo terrified me more than Braniac ever did - especially with how easily it snapped Zod’s neck during the battle at the Fortress of Solitude and how easily it obliterated that small town during its “test run.”
However, even with all the great aspects of the story, I just can’t help but feel that most of it didn't serve a point. I simply expected more from the comic. So much so, that when I read the final issue, I wasn't aware that it was, in fact, the final issue. It was only through researching why the series was on hiatus this week that I found out that issue seventy-two was the final installment. Without really noticing, the story had wrapped up all of its main plot threads and arcs. Starro was destroyed - and Booster along with him; Brainiac was on Earth and ready to find the two remaining Kryptonians; Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Black Adam we’re back in Khadaq, and Batman and his allies were living their normal lives - whatever that entails. And yet, even with everything primed and ready for the events of video game, I still can’t help but feel as though none of it mattered. It’s my belief that the ending of a story shouldn’t be so lackluster that readers can't even tell that it's the end. The original Injustice ended it's story with a massive battle that jettisoned readers into the game in a spectacular way and I would have liked to see something similar with Injustice 2.
The difference between this prequel comic in comparison to the original comic is that there just seems to be a genuine disconnect from the comics and the game. This can be seen from the opening sequence of the Injustice 2 video game, wherein the prison scene from the Injustice: Year One comic is retconned by having Damian kill the man who would eventually kill Alfred. But in addition to that, it also seemingly changes how Dick Grayson dies, because he was the one who was supposed to die in that scene. Furthermore, the death of Victor Zsasz also calls into question how Alfred is eventually murdered, because the comic carries on the fact that he is still murdered at some point - however, how can Zsasz be the murderer if he was apparently killed years before that incident? See how confusing that is?
All in all, as much as I enjoyed many aspects of the Injustice 2 comic, it really doesn’t serve its purpose in the same way its predecessor does. So much happens, and yet none of it really does much to make it feel as though it was necessary. I mean, another Robin dies and Batman doesn’t say anything about it during the events of the game. Therefore, what was the point? It didn’t serve as some sort of catalyst in the way John Stewart’s death forced Hal to kill Guy and fully embrace the power of the Yellow Ring. While the original comic had a level of depth to it that made it all worthwhile, this felt like - as people in the anime realm refer to it - a filler. I won’t say that it didn’t have it’s cool moments, but I can’t say that it added to the story in any substantial way that warranted its inclusion.
My overall rating: 7/10
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