Tom Taylor has not missed a beat so far in returning to the Injustice Universe. Just like before, Taylor has been able to take the world created by Injustice: Gods Among Us and progressed it to help build towards the new game. Now with the Injustice 2 video game out Taylor can continue to build on the momentum he has created along with the hype of the new game to progress his story. How will Taylor continue to fit all the sides of the Injustice 2 conflict into place in order to fit into the story of Injustice 2? Let’s find out with chapter 6 of the Injustice 2 comic book.
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Inker: Juan Albarran
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Inside Superman’s brain Atom acts as the Man of Steel’s personal warden with a Kryptonite knife allowing him to cause Superman to suffer from a seizure or stroke when he wants, as Batman planned.
Superman gets pissed and tries to attack Batman but is stopped by Atom, who stabs part of Superman’s brain. Superman collapses from the pain.
Batman tells Warden Turpin that Superman has been dealt with and asks for an update.
Turpin says they are holding their ground as Katana struggles to get past the warden and the prison security.
Batman calls Batgirl, Black Canary and Green Arrow for an update on their side.
Harley continues to hug Black Canary and Green Arrow out of happiness that they are alive. Green Arrow is surprised that his Injustice counterpart was friends with Harley. Harley says they were actually lovers to everyone’s surprise. After a moment of silence Harley laughs and says that she was just joking.
Harley does mention that she does live at Green Arrow’s place. Green Arrow wonders if she is talking about the Arrow Cave but Harley says his Injustice counterpart called it the Quiver. Green Arrow wonders if Harley is messing with her again but Black Canary says that she isn’t lying.
As Green Arrow thinks of how he doesn’t mind that name for his HQ the fake Batman and Diablo arrive. The fake Batman says he is disappointed in seeing Harley with Green Arrow and the others. He tells Harley that their operation is over and to get ready to teleport. Harley saddly says she has to go.
Black Canary wonders why they were after Superman. Harley reveals that they weren’t after Superman.
At Damian Wayne’s prison cell, Damian tells his mom to break him out. The woman Talia Al Ghul is with says Damian should say “Please” when asking to get out. Damian says they shouldn’t worry about manners when Talia and the mysterious woman killed a bunch of guards.
The mysterious woman sets Damian free. Damian wants to go get his friends but the mysterious woman says they aren’t needed since they failed to control the world. She goes on to say that they will fight for the world.
Turpin enters the room and tells Damian to get back to his prison cell. Damian says he does not want to hurt Turpin. Turpin does not believe Damian can do anything and calls Batman. As Turpin does so the mysterious woman kills Turpin and the guards, much to Damian’s shock.
Damian, Talia and the mysterious woman run outside with Damian complaining that they could’ve incapacitated Turpin rather than killing them like his mother’s “servant” just did. The mysterious woman pins Damian to the ground and Talia reveals that she is his sister Athanasia Al Ghul, whose father is also Batman. The three then end up teleporting out of the prison before Damian can react. End of issue.
The Good: Even with a set continuity Tom Taylor continues to find ways to add further depth to the Injustice Universe. Chapter 6 of Injustice 2 is yet another example of this as Taylor furthered the rivalry between Batman and Superman while adding to what other characters are doing outside of that conflict.
Seeing how Batman had already made preparations in case Superman ever escaped from his prison cell was perfect. It stayed true to the character and added a bit of an extra edge that the Injustice Universe is known for. Having Atom involved as Superman’s personal warden was a great visual and made Superman’s elimination from this current story believable.
With Superman taken care of early on Taylor was able to focus on the other key players in this current conflict. Notably, Injustice 2 Chapter 6 gave us a very entertaining interaction between Harley Quinn and Green Arrow. Using the previously established friendship Taylor developed in the first Injustice comic add a nice bit of comedy. Black Canary, Batgirl and the other world Green Arrow’s reaction to Harley joke about her and Green Arrow previously being a couple was executed extremely well.
That insertion of comedy made the fake Batman ordering Harley to walk away from her friends come off as a tragic moment for the character. Harley’s sad expression was a good way to show us how she isn’t doing things out of her own volition. It added further weight to the operation this fake Batman is running with his new Suicide Squad.
Learning that the fake Batman’s operation was actually involved only freeing Damian Wayne was a nice swerve. Damian continuing to act like the brat he has always been even when being saved by his mother was a great contrast to his newly revealed sister, Athanasia Al Ghul, calm attitude. Talia revealing that Athanasia is the daughter of herself and Batman added another intriguing mystery.
With Talia being known to keep clones of Damian around in the main DCU the question now is if Athanasia is actually a female clone of Damian or was actually conceived by Bruce and Talia. That mystery will be an interesting sub-plot to follow as we may be learning something new about Batman through Athanasia parentage reveal.
With everything going on in Injustice 2 Chapter 6, Daniel Sampere once again delivered a great looking issue. His clean art style worked well to deliver on all the different types of scenes Taylor gives Sampere to draw. The lighting of this issue was also impressive as Juan Albarran and Rex Lokus give a different feel to the scenes taking place in and out of the prison facility. I especially liked the red and black lighting of the prison scenes as it added further tension to Batman’s interaction with Superman at the beginning of the issue.
The Bad: The one minor complaint I have for Injustice 2 Chapter 6 is that Warden Turpin did not carry the impact it should have. A big reason for this is that Turpin felt like an inconsequential character. It would’ve felt more impactful if Athanasia killed a classic DC hero or villain rather than a character with very little name value for fans like Turpin.
Overall: Injustice 2 Chapter 6 was another strong issue that further built on what has happened in the Injustice Universe. Tom Taylor delivered a great clash between Batman and Superman that was nicely transitioned to an intriguing reveal involving Damian Wayne. With the reveal of a new character to the Injustice world things should even get more intense as we enter the next stage of Taylor’s story.
