Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter 30 Review

In Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter 30, Batman hatches a desperate plan to discredit Superman while Hawkman carries out his own mission on an alien world.

Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter 30

Written by Brian Buccellato

Art By Xermanico

Colors by Rex Lokus

Published by DC Comics

Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five is getting close to its conclusion, and the stakes are higher than ever. Once again, writer Brian Buccellato alongside illustrator Xermanico deliver a strong story with excellent artwork.

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Superman feels that his power is slipping away, and he’s on a mad tirade across his world to see who complies with his will and who doesn’t. The Resistance realizes that Superman is in a vulnerable state and decide that the time is now to execute their strike on the Regime.

The chapter begins with Batman speaking to Batwoman and Batgirl about embarking on a mission to infiltrate the Regime’s main headquarters. Batgirl has her reservations because she realizes that if Superman gets wind of their actions, it would certainly mean death. Batman and Batwoman are tired of hiding and are ready to bring the fight to the Man of Steel, instead of waiting in the darkness.

Batman mentions that he has a contingency plan that will surely keep Superman off their tails. That plan is Hawkman. Hawkman journeys to a place far beyond Earth in search of kryptonite, the only weakness that Superman has.

One of the last shards of kryptonite is in a ring of the Destroyer of Worlds—Mongul. Mongul knows why Hawkman is there, but he doesn’t immediately kill Hawkman because he wants to toy with the Thanagarian warrior.

For Hawkman to earn the kryptonite ring from Mongul, he has to last in a fight with the demon for 30 seconds. Now, a 30-second fight does not seem like a lot, especially when the challenger is not from Earth, but Hawkman’s fight is against Mongul—one of the most ruthless individuals in the DC universe.

The warrior and the Destroyer of Worlds begin their battle with Hawkman getting the upper hand in the first five seconds. Mongul then decides he has had enough and starts to pulverize Hawkman. Hawkman doesn’t need to win his fight against Mongul, he just needs to survive it once 30 seconds is over.

Readers are not made aware if Hawkman is breathing by the end of the 30 seconds. There’s only a panel of him lying in his own blood, and Mongul smiling ear-to-ear.

Like Batman, Buccellato does an excellent job with misdirection. Just when a reader thinks events are going to go a certain way, Buccellato switches it up and circumvents all expectations. Xermanico pens some terrific art. The details of the fight sequence between Mongul and Hawkman were sensational. Once again, the pairing of this duo is remarkable and one of the best writer/illustrator teams in the comic book industry.

The second part of the chapter is Batman, Batgirl, and Batwoman infiltrating the Regime headquarters—the Hall of Justice. The trio of Bat heroes arrives under the hall in a tunnel composed of lead, making them invisible to Superman’s x-ray vision.

Once they reach the hall, they immediately cut the power out. When Hawkgirl and Cyborg enter the Hall, Cyborg quickly puts the clues together, realizing that they’re in an ambush. The chapter ends with some of the Bat-family in the Hall of Justice about to face off against Cyborg and Hawkgirl.

The second part of this chapter wasn’t as action-packed as the first half, but it was still impactful nonetheless. Although it seems that the Resistance are in a losing battle, Buccellato crafts a way to make it appear that Batman and his followers still have some hope to succeed against the Regime.

The Bottom Line: For the second chapter in a row, Xermanico brings dynamic artwork that draws the reader in from page-to-page. Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five has been a decent series, but with Buccellato writing so well, it may be hard for him to surpass himself and stick every landing.

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