OK, Taylor has officially put to rest any lingering concern that I had about Robinson leaving this series. This issue is great, from start to finish. He infuses it with a great sense of tension, solving several mysteries and raising new ones. Awesome stuff.
First, he still does a marvelous job in making sure to spend some time on characterization, despite juggling so many different plots at the same time. I loved Red Arrow telling Dr. Fate to ramble some prophetic words that could actually help him and Batman and Lois' testy exchange over their identities. (I'm not sure if Batman just doesn't recognize Red Tornado as Lois or if he doesn't know who Lois is. If it's the latter, than the mystery surrounding his identity gets curioser and curioser.) I also loved Batman and Lois blindfolding Jimmy so that he wouldn't be haunted by images of the parademon slaughter as a result of his photographic memory. It's a rare moment of kindness amidst the chaos and it reminds you who the good guys are. (Frankly, it's also something that I'm not entirely sure Bruce would've taken the time to do, so it's another way that Taylor creates a separate identity for this Batman.)
Taylor and Scott also do a great job of expressing the majesty of the various players here. Marella is spectacularly imperial as she takes the full brunt of the World Army's blast and then threatens the soldiers. Superman is equally imposing as he smashes the Washington Monument into the White House, making you realize why people would surrender all hope for fear of him. Similarly, the idea that Bedlam now has Terry Sloan and Michael Holt at his disposal really makes you wonder how the heroes are going to win.
Along those lines, this issue seems to bring to a close the "Empire Strikes Back" phase of this story arc. Batman, Hawkgirl, Marella, and Red Tornado (with Jimmy Olsen, Major Soto, and the mysterious Kryptonian in tow) seem to be heading to the Batcave to re-group. Meanwhile, Red Arrow and Dr. Fate are stranded fighting parademons while Flash, Michael Holt, and Terry Sloan are all prisoners of Apokolips. Not a good scene. Presumably, we have nowhere to go but up.
As I said in last issue, I'm glad that Taylor has decided to embrace the war with Apokolips, pushing aside other stories that Robinson left untold so that he can give this one the attention that it deserves. After all, we have a number of questions left unanswered. Who's the "angel in the slaughter" that Red Arrow seems to encounter here? Where is Darkseid? Why does he (or, at least, his minions) want to bring Earth into Apokolips space? How did Superman get corrupted? Why was Sloan hiding the mysterious Kryptonian? They're all intriguing questions and I continue to be excited about getting them answered.
**** (four of five stars)
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