Forever-Evil-2-final-cover-David-Finch-Crime-Syndicate-vs-Teen-TitansFOREVER EVIL 2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: David Finch
Publisher: DC
Reviewer: Rob Patey (aka Optimous Douche Ain’t It Cool News)

This will be a quick review folks, because not a lot of words are needed to convey the central themes of FOREVER EVIL 2. Honestly, I only need two: carnage and Bizarro.

I’m not slighting the issue by any means. Watching the world get razed is a glorious treat, especially under Finch’s deft hand. There’s simply not a lot in this issue that begs to be analyzed. The Crime Syndicate is still doing their business to make Earth Prime a mirror darkly more akin to Earth 3. Luthor is still on the lam, but now has his secret undercooked clone that was teased in BIZARRO 1 a few weeks ago. The Titans make a move on the fallen Justice League watchtower with some disastrous results and finally Batman returns from his Syndicate imposed exile with some very grave news…and what looks like a carburetor. All right, maybe some explanation is in order after all.

First and foremost, FOREVER EVIL 2 crystalizes “villains month” beyond the obvious cash grab. Many criticized that the stories didn’t have any weight or impact on the overarching event since a majority of the titles were origin in nature. I felt this way about BIZARRO. “What the hell does this have to do with the event,” was all I could mutter. Now, it seems that each villain will have their moment to shine in the title we just need to have a little fan patience. I was never a fan of Bizarro’s prior iteration. The backwards speak felt hackneyed and was frankly just outright confusing after a while. When looked at beyond the words uttered, the old Bizarro made no fucking sense.  Thankfully he is now just a half-baked clone taken out of the lab five years too early.   Biz-boy gurgles, mutters and shuffles behind Luthor following his every whim as Lex prepares his first volley against the Syndicate. Perfect.

So it seems that all was not lost on Villains Month, it drew in a few new readers and actually looks as though it will tie into FOREVER EVIL and not completely tangentially either.

As for the rest of the issue, Johns keeps it all at a brisk pace. We learn a little bit more about the politics of the Crime Syndicate like Super Woman and Owl Man’s love child, Evil Flash and Atomica’s creepy love and the bromance between skeletal Firestorm and Power Ring. Frankly, I want more though. I consider it a huge loss the only dalliance with the Crime Syndicate in forever evil was SECRET SOCIETY 1. For anyone who never read EARTH 2 by Morrison, this lack of insight into motivation is a huge blind spot that needs to be course corrected in issue 3.

I also want a bit less jumping around. After a bit, it’s easy to get desensitized to even the most revered landmarks being burned, destroyed and otherwise defiled. The white noise effect is hard to ignore after about the fifth pile of rubble in the middle of the city. Again, nothing bad here, just my personal preference for the slow burn Johns versus the wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

The Titan battle was spectacular as was the way Evil Flash took the team out of the equation. Using some speed force “science,” Baby Flash Bart along with the rest of the team are going back to whence he came.

I’m enjoying FOREVER EVIL, its Michael Bay level destruction is the stuff of pure fluff, but it’s fun to watch as are the Machiavellian back-stabbing within the Syndicate itself. Hell, the heores might not even need to come back, simply let the dark souls of these characters devour themselves from within. I also appreciate FOREVER EVIL for the huge crater it will inevitably leave in this shiny new universe. Crime Syndicate is delivering the ass whooping Darkseid simply could not. The only thing I need now is a bit more insight into the Crime Syndicate as people, I would love for the next issue or a side book to address their lives prior to Pandora skull fucking Earth Prime.