I thought this was awesome! Sinestro is the man!

Batman was fine.

The real travesty is poor new Shadow Thief getting jobbed in 2 comics this week! At least she put up a decent fight in Red Lanterns, lol.

No the issue here is that he needed saving from fricking Copperhead,and you're right Deathstroke and Luthor would own him THAT'S PRECISELY WHY HE SHOULD HAVE KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT. Gotta hand it to Johns though,he's become far more subtle in his Batman hate.

##@ArturoCalaKayVee:

Probably the biggest cliff hanger in New 52 history. I honestly thought the destroyer of E3 was Darkseid but now I'm thinking it's not... maybe its Imperiex or, dare I hope?, Anti-Monitor!

The sky at the end of the issue did bear a passing resemblance to the skies in Crisis on Infinite Earths (vague but possible). Considering AM wiped out Earth 3 in the first issue of the Crisis, it would make a perverse kind of sense. You could even look to Earth 2, where they've been hinting at a looming evil greater than Darkseid since issue 1. I'm not convinced that's what DC's doing but it would certainly create some interesting possibilities down the road.

I really liked this issue, Lex's villains team is starting to really pick up steam and the it looks like next issue is going to be some heavy stuff

I guess it's a good thing DC typically has multiple Batman comics coming out a week --- the alternative material makes it easier to just skim over Johns' usual fixation on presenting Batman as an incompetent half-wit. That aside, I think this issue should have spent less time on the fights and more time on advancing the story. Sinestro's motivation seems incredibly flimsy as well, and him badmouthing Hal or trying to prove he can do Hal's job better than him is a strange way for the character to proceed given how Johns left Hal and Sinestro's relationship at the end of GL 20. And why would Sinestro care about a single yellow ring anyway, considering he's not even supposed to be in this universe anymore? He just seems shoved in to provide a launchpad for his new series come April.

@maddpanda531: yeah man, each comic book should have about 30-40 pages. Forever Evil has substance and style that we don't really get to see in comics and I personally want more. It's funny you should say that the story is happening so slow because I think it's happening to fast, and with a month in between it makes it feel slow.

The scene with Batman and luthor's team made me remember Damian Wayne. That is exactly how Damian would act in that situation, miss the little guy. Batman should be more level headed and realise that these guys will not just obey him. I guess this is a preview of the many Lex vs Batman battles to come in Justice League.

For people that think Geoff Johns hates Batman your wrong. He actually express' what he thinks about Batman on Fatman on Batman. He explains that he doesn't like the version of Batman he has come to know as 'Bat-God' the Batman that does everything and kicks everyone's ass, a boring Batman in my opinion, it spawned soon after the Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns. Geoff Johns is trying to get his own Batman off the ground just like Neal Adams, Frank Miller, and Grant Morrison did. The underdog Batman.

This is the episode if you want to listen.

http://smodcast.com/channels/fatman-on-batman/feed/

Batman might not be Batman as well, that is still relevant.

Other things I'm going to get on.

Steve Trevor is a character that is more relevant in the DCU. Someone mentioned he is able to take Deathstroke and Deathstroke is able to fight Batman, have you considered that Steve Trevor is now on par with Batman and Deathstroke?

Batman is emotionally compromised. He lost Damian very recently in timeline terms. After trying to bring Jason back into the family and failed. Dick Grayson is now the closest thing he has to son.

Sinestro has a love/hate/competive relationship with Hal, anything to out do the great Hal Jordan. Sinestro also lost his home world, he doesn't want Hal to lose his.(This is a personal theory)

Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne have two completely different mind sets and perspectives. Flip a damn coin.

Sinestro was delicious in this issue.

I love how they put batman in the 'seat' in this one, little boys have to follow rules

Her?

They jobbed ivy [supposed to be immune to toxins but noo] and clayface [getting punched by a random black mask goon, really?] in arkham war to promote bane

Not to mention some of the rogues as well

I thought this was awesome.

@vsg413: I found the trevor thing in ARGUS bs, DS took down legacy who is superman super lite and weakened lobo

@vsg413: All I mean is that we have 5/7 issues already and it feels like all that's really happened is that we've established who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. But I definately feel like the month-long gaps have made a huge contribution to that feeling. Don't get me wrong, though, because I'm thoroughly enjoying Forever Evil. I just wish it was longer.

No we're totally right,Johns DOES hate Batman.Johns has given no hint that his Batman is emotionally compromised,you cant use the work of other writers to defend Johns and even those writers didn't write Batman like a moron. Johns excuse is totally lame,by that logic why not have Superman struggle to lift a truck after all who loves the over powered Supergod who can bench press planets. In fact that statement actually proves that he hates the character,the mark of a hater here is that he tends to hate a characters power levels.

I've been enjoying Forever Evil, but this issue was a little lackluster. I agree that this one scene took too long, whereas they could have spent a little more time working toward the end.

It's Darkseid or something Darkseid related,throwing the Monitor in there makes no sense whatsoever.

It's going to be completely out of left field if it's anyone other than Darkseid --- Ultraman's origin issue even had the Syndicate's enemy show up to the sound of Boom Tubes.

Still enjoying this event but this issue didn't feel like it took the story anywhere significant. Indeed it felt like filler in a series that's almost over. I kind of like how this book is making Batman look like a chump. His New 52 iteration is far from infallible so it makes sense that eventually Lex would put him in his place. I like to think of it as some residue from Earth 3 is still spilling into Earth 1 meaning that only evil can triumph in a situation this dire which is perfect for this story. Can't wait for that next issue.

The weakest issue so far from the series and from the event.The battles took the whole issue and the story had no development whatsoever and to be even worse the battles were nothing good in my opinion.And the issue to be even worse we got that terrible Batman characterization from Geoff Johns.

The way I was expecting this issue to go after the last months was that lex and bats have a quick nod between each other and then start kicking ass. In the middle of them kicking ass batman starts giving orders for who to fight who and by the end of it the injustice realise they need batman's tactian brain to win and let him be the leader.

That is not how it went.

To why the injustice league would follow him? I think is because Lex knows that batman strikes fear even in to the crime syndicate and he knows that if he wants to outsmart them he needs bats.

But at the end of the issue. there was something red in the sky. that's not really Darksied style

There should be a mini-series for just Power Ring and his opinions on what things are great and what things suck in this world, lol. He/She sounded like a sore loser at the end, lol. The two things I enjoyed is the conversation of Power Ring and Harold and of course Sinestro.

As for Batman and his role in this issue, I agree with some members here that he was out of character and being emotional compromised isn't a excuse to be used especially on Bruce, who lets face it, rarely shows any emotion to his closest allies much less his enemies, which was the most puzzling part if that's Johns' reasoning for Batman's illogical blabbering. A man, who been setup by many writers as one of the smartest and brilliant strategist hero in DC universe, doesn't start acting like a teenager says "I'm in charge and that's that." As for him being saved by Deathstorm and Luthor, I chalk that up to him being not that sharp, since he just survived from whatever onslaught he and JL suffered, plus though he may not show it, he obliviously is worried about Dick.

The death of power ring page annoyed me, but not because of what happened. It annoyed me because the artist forgot to draw sinestro's cape in the image and it was a flagrant omission. It reminded me of the types of mistakes John Romita Jr. makes when drawing a comic, it felt rushed...

Another slowly paced issue in a slowly paced series. Deathstroke came off as not being as intelligent as he is usually portayed I wouldve figured that he wouldve sided against the syndicate in the first place

this, imo, wasa great issue.....until Johns started writing Batman.....That is not who bruce wayne is. I could see if batman decided to be a loner. If you tell me Batman has his own contingency that requires no help then i could be on board. if you tell me that batman reluctantly agrees to fight with these guys while still forming his own plan then i could be on board with that too.....but batman screaming at a bunch of people "I'm in charge" like a petulant child when he has NO ground to stand on? Johns just either doesnt like batman or doesnt comprehend the character at all. It's totally annoying that johns continues to piss on batman

@vsg413: Ya i have listened to that cast and what happens Kev talks about flash or Gl he talks for an hour Kev tries to talk about Batman and he talks a little about Earth One and its so called proto-batman who isnt good at anything which is a fine idea the problem is Geoff Johns characterzation of batman beyond that is of a selfess, childess, and a revenge seeking moron who is a blantent hypocrite and worst of all with everything thats happens within the story Bruce learns nothing. So ya Geoff Johns liking the characters is completety bull.

Steve on the level of Batman or Deathstroke thats just silly Batman travaled the world mastering every martial art and has faced the most skilled fighters on the planet. Deathstroke is a highly trained meta human who beats down large groups of super powered teenagers on the regular.Steve Trevor was trained by the military which in the DCU is basicaly useless and has faced the likes of... basicaly nobody so iam sorry i only see that as DC trying to make a completely uninteresting character popular just by giving him BS feats and shoving him down or throats its the same thing with the Joker's Daughter a lame character nobody likes but for what ever reason DC keeps pushing her

Well considering Batman just had a big arc of him going through the stages of grief its afe to say at this point he has his emotions in check.Jason leaves and comes back all the time so thats no that big of a deal. As for Nightwing his allies get in trouble all the time you dont see him get all whiny and upset everytime that happens its part of being a hero

FFS, people.

I can't believe that you guys have to whine and whine and whine about Batman almost everywhere.

I'm enjoying Forever Evil and was happy with this issue...a few more pages would have done nicely ;)

Lex's and Siniestro's egos aren't going to be pushed around by Batman, doesn't matter how well written Batman is.

I hope you don't really expect us to shut up and ignore how Geoff Johns messes up one of our favourite characters just because of comments like that .

I can only encourage all Bat Fans to complain about the way Johns emasculates Bruce . Don't listen to people like this guy who tell you to shut up and don´t even try to defend Geoff Johns take on Batman. From Batgod to the new Aquaman. Seriously , what is Dc thinking ? Batman always steals other characters spotlight so we have to turn him into a whimp ? Thats idiotic and quite frankly disrespectful to the fans of this characte .

........I don't get what all of this Batmanfans vs Johns hate is about,but frankly I don't care.

In terms of the fate of Power Ring's ring,this MIGHT be an answer:

@lordofthenorth: You criticize batman for not acting like batman, and then criticize him for acting like batman. Derp he would try to assert his dominance and I thought it would really be out of character for Batman to keep quiet as the Injustice League said they were about to start dropping boding and during that whole scene he has the same facial expression, so I think your exaggerating a little when you said he's acting like a spoiled child. Batman has no tools, he can barely walk, and not a few hours ago he fought the JLA JLD and CSA. Plus in this story it's not batman's place to rescue the JL in this story, as far as he know's their dead. If you want a story about rescuing the JL's that's why the made FOREVER EVIL: Blight & ARGUS. Why would he save Nightwing? seriously? Batman litterally raised Dick (lol) He seriously supposed to be like, "yea screw him I gots 99 problems and a Dick ain't one" Sure he isn't superman but batman also isn't heartless. How does the father son relation not make sense in the new 52? Saying that batman being selfless in his character is stupid. Cause in death of the family (Warning:Sarcasm Ahead) he was totally like yea screw everybody else they kinda have been slowing me down. Okay joker you can kill everyone. (Sarcasm end) but no he risked hes life to save them all, Including Jason.

@holyserpent: That was a misunderstood concept, the green lantern universe was still changed like the rest of DC but what people meant when they said that was the green lantern vol.5 (nu52) picks up where GL vol.4 left off.

-I do however think batman's on thin ice with Nightwing's identity known I don't think I would let my relationship with him to well known to Lex. Pretty sure the whole point of that scene though was to establish that batman was on his own for rescuing Nightwing, the IJL is only there to stop the CSA. Everyone has there place in the overall story. I do hear your guys about moving slow, but that just john's style Blackest night, Third Army/First Lantern. The dude is a boss at build and tension.

@flashlantern: That's a really good point I never thought about that, they have kinda been hinting it was someone else besides darksied, I noticed no one was name dropping, With the Anti-monitor being the original destroyer of E3 it could be the anti-monitor.

@sinestro_gl: YEA BOI!

-I would love if power ring's ring flew the opening to earth 3 and found the E3 version of Guy Gardner.

-I love sinestro so I'm just gonna geek out real quick. AHHHH that was so great he just came out of nowhere a start beating power ring ugh and he even gave props to Hal during the fight saying that power ring was just like Hal, but in no way was Hal Jordan. Totally love the Sinestro and Lex Bromance going on. Serious mutual Respect.

@kingxpain: Ok you where to begain first in this situation how does Batman 'assert is dominace" like you said yourself he is hurt has barely any tools and he is going to yell at these villains who can kill him without much trouble and you think thats in character you dont know batman.

what are you talking about saving the Jl at this point Batman thinks they are dead.

No in the new52 Batman did not raise Dick first he was already 16 when batman brought him in aswell Dick only spent two years learning under Bruce before he became Nightwing.

Batman focusing on saving dick is selfess becuase saving Dick means letting millions die you know "how about the needs of the many out way the needs of the few"

DotF and here are two completely differant situations in the DotF the Family is the target so saving the family makes sense but in forever evil every life on the planet is at stake so when he should be targeting the CS which would not only save the planet but also open up a chance to save Dick

You know and here i thought batman was to be the smart one lord that was stupid what he is doing. My word man i thought the batman in injustice was an asshole, but this one is really pushing it now. How is helping dick suppose to stop the CS seriously how?

@lordofthenorth: No, what I meant was that was the purpose of that scene was to establish batman wasn't in charge, things are out of control and he trying to say he's in charge so he can get a handle on things. Putting Luthor's new team to work to stop the CSA and rescue nightwing, But now that he's not in charge the only difference is now they will stop the CSA, and maybe if there's time we can save Nightwing. That sounds very much like batman, plans upon plans and if you think it like batman to shut up and stand by while Luthor's team starts killing people, you don't know batman.

-as for that batman rescuing the JL thing, I might have been referencing someone else's comment and forgot to tag it.

Oh yea I forgot about that, he didn't have him for that long, regardless he still adopted him, trained him, helped him get over his parents death, and help he find the man who killed his parents. That's more than enough to forge a father-son relationship and lets just say he did decide to ignore nightwing, batman by himself wouldn't be very well off right now, with your needs of the many metaphor, whats batman supposed to do? Go outside make a shelter and start handing out canned foods? The CSA has nightwing, the CSA are the problem, it's the same goal anyway Stop the CSA save Nightwing. It really not an issue anyway.

-Also I know the situation are different I meant the point of the DotF example was to say that Batman deeply cares for his allies.

@kingxpain: Batman is a very practical person so him trying to gain control of a group that he has no advatage over makes Batman look like a moron. thatsjust not how Batman thinks he would join them and try to manipulate the group in any way he can becuase expeting a group of killers not to kill would be silly

I guess you didnt read my post becuase thats extaly what i was saying stopping the CS has to be piority number one and saving Nightwing not only tells the CS who is working together but risks all their lives to save a single person that gives them no advatage what so ever and stopping the CS can have the added bonus of saving Nightwing

@cameron83: What is that picture from?

It was one of the teasers before Forever Evil came out. I think that,whoever this girl is (she looks familiar),she might possibly get Power Ring's ring.

@cameron83: That's interesting, maybe it GIRL GARDER, naw lol. but it would be interesting to see a human female with a power ring, I always thought a power ring would be awesome on a Atlanten, The comic book series could be called "The green Atlanten!!"

Statistically speaking Wayne's tend to die. That line was boss.

not the best one but still good