Injustice Gods Among Us Year Five 3

The final volume of Injustice ends on a bit of whimper instead of a roar as Buccellato spends a bit too much time typing up loose ends instead of finding a strong final note for the massive run of this series. First and foremost, the book opens with a couple of secondary plots including Ray Palmer and Black Lightning joining the Regime with an initiative to clear Metropolis of radioactivity to rebuild it (since the city is a major location in the game) and another sees the return of Ares who also joins the Regime (he was last seen imprisoned by Darkseid, but the character was featured in the game). Even worse, these early chapters are actually out of sync with the main story. The first references events that don't happen until later on in this same volume. Why the story is being told out of sequence doesn't make much sense and initially really threw me off.From there the story explores Batman's final gambit: to kidnap Cyborg and hijack his computer systems to find video proof of Superman's wrongdoing (whether that be his massacre of the Joker Underground protest group or his complicity in the murder of Alfred). As you can expect by now the plan fails to materialize thanks to the return of Raven who manages to use her magic to prevent the broadcasting of the video. With nothing else left Batman and Luthor begin their last ditch effort: summoning alternate dopplegangers of the Justice League through the multiverse to help stop Superman (the plot of the game's story mode). Thus the ending of the book syncs up nicely with the start of the game's story mode, as fans had predicted it would.What makes the final volume such a weak ending is the continued problem of the Regime's lackluster reaction to Superman's outright villainy. The Flash, after have a crisis of conscience when Iris and his friends were jailed for being sympathetic to the Insurgency, immediately sets aside his second guessing of Superman and goes all in on the Regime (though we at least know with his character that he does eventually join the Insurgency during the game to repent for his actions). However, worse is Cyborg and Hal Jordan who actively seem to realize that Batman is right about Superman and that he did have some hand in the death of Alfred. Why they stick by him at this stage isn't explored as well as I'd prefer. The book even ends with Hal wondering aloud if Superman has gone too far and if he made the wrong choice, despite the fact that during the first game's story he refuses to leave the Regime with Barry and outright tries to stop the latter's defection. All in all, the quality of the writing often seems to suffer a bit when the creative team is hemmed in by creative decisions that were made for the story's game. In typing up all the loose ends so that Injustice Year Five perfectly rolls in to the game's campaign the book suffers a bit of story telling busywork.Also, once again, the writers kill off numerous Insurgency members as a second hand method of explaining away their lack of an appearance in the first game. Here we see the death of Hawkman, something Hawkgirl just accepts outright with little to do. Although I understand the writers' need to justify why these characters wouldn't show up in the game's story, I think they could have found other methods to explain away their absences other than killing off so many people. This is especially noteworthy when you consider that Injustice 2's story outright contradicts some moments from this five "year" comic. For example, in Injustice 2's opening we see a flashback of Robin murdering Victor Zsasz in cold blood to prove his loyalty to Superman. This is not only not the manner in which Robin joins the Regime in the comics, but it directly goes against the major "Year Five" plot thread of Zsasz murdering Alfred. All in all, I do feel the Injustice comics would have been better served playing just a bit more by their own rules instead of feeling overly beholden to the games and their events. While the connective tissue is appreciated, it does come at the cost of the overall story a bit. When you consider the fact that the game designers don't feel as much a need to ensure that the new game lines up with the comics, then I think we could have forgiven a bit more leeway on Buccellato's part.

So it’s all over. Vol 3 of Year 5 brings everything to a head, which is what the readership have been waiting for...except we’re left on one last cliffhanger that feels like more of a cheat than a resolution. I get that this is a prequel to the video game, and therefore sets up the story for it, but the usually excellent Brian Buccellato seems to have checked out with the final issue, and a great series dies with a whimper rather than the bang it deserved. Disappointing.

Really liked this storyline from the get-go, though a bit over the top: Superman so enraged he kills other heroes and an entire mob of people @ a rally against his new world order / Hal Jordan embracing his role as a Yellow Lantern / the Flash being relatively cool w/ Clark's enhanced shock troops ready 2 put down any anti-regime free speech protesters worldwide using any means possible, etc.Would continue buying the ongoing installments .

I understand this was a prequel to the game... but c'mon, man. We deserved a better ending to the story. Resolve a couple of conflicts and create a cliffhanger. This feels unfinished.

It was a nice way to wrap up the series, it definitely did a good job of setting up for the series, I was wary at first when Brian Buccellato initially took over for Tom Taylor but i think in the long run, he definitely turned things around towards the end and proved he deserved the writing job,

The epic conclusion brings you right up to the beginning of the hit game! Love this series! Can't wait for Injustice 2!

They story was going great....then it just stopped! The copy that I've received seems to be incomplete, missing at least one chapter.

What the ......? There was no ending. No wrap up. My copy ended with superman & wonder woman in the desert somewhere and batman & the joker in the regime version of metropolis.

Injustice year 5 volume 3 has got it all, action, suspense and, one very impressive finale. As supermans regime gets stronger, the man of steel is becoming more paranoid as time goes on. Batman and, the remaining insurgency members are looking to expose Superman, as the murderous despot he has become. Batman needs to capture cyborg, in order to do that. Unfortunately for Batman, raven prevents the insurgency from revealing the truth about Supermans actions.All is not lost though, because Batman always has a plan. He visits lex luthor, who reveals that he has discovered a way to help Batman and, the insurgency. Lex finds out from Batman, that he has a kryptonite weapon which is hidden in the batcave, but he needs the justice league's finger prints, to use as identification to unlock the weapons whereabouts. Question is, where will they find another justice league? In another universe of course. Batman and, lex luthor find a way to use the inter dimensional transporter to bring them across to their earth.It's only a matter of time before Superman finds out though, after catwoman gives up the insurgencies location. Superman sets of to find them, but he's too late because the inter dimensional transporter has already been activated.Will Batman succeed and, stop the regime or will Superman once again be able to stop him? You will need to read this book to found out (if you haven't already played the first injustice video game that is). Can't wait to read injustice ground zero.

Prequels can be a mistake (hello, Phantom Menace and Prometheus!) but truth to tell this (and the preceding volumes) ain't a prequel: it's the first five acts of a six act play. You KNOW how it ends (assuming you've played Injustice - and if you haven't you're going to have to) but its a fun trip.

Superb artwork and a series that puts a genuinely different twist in the dc universe. The game is t necessary to enjoy this one, it stands up on its’ own.

Great product .

A fantastic lead in to the first injustice video game