The Good
Even when the world is about to be ripped apart by a war between immensely powerful heroes and villains, writer Tom Taylor finds a way to make us laugh. This chapter moves forward with Sinestro and leaves us on a mighty fine hook with the Green Lantern Corps, but when Harley Quinn and Black Canary share an issue, you just know that's going to be the highlight. The writer finds a way to cleverly incorporate a few of the book's strongest jokes (the mustache returns and obviously, no explanation is needed!) and, instead of feeling like it's just recycling the same material, it comes off as an appropriate use of the ongoing joke. Really, it's adorable in context and there's a few more enjoyable remarks thrown in there, too.
This chapter delivers with explosive events, too. Thaal Sinestro is once again given a bit of the spotlight and continues to be exactly what you expect him to be: a man that really can't be completely trusted. Once you get a handle on what's going down, the scene plays out how you'd expect it to but it's still an intriguing bit and leaves us wondering what Taylor has up his sleeve with this cosmic character. Oh, and the cliffhanger? Even though we know how the world turns out in a few years down the road, moments like this one proves there's plenty of exciting moments we've yet to see. Here's hoping the next event is more impactful than the previous big battle in this volume!
Bruno Redondo's pencils, Julien Hugonnard-Bert's inks, and Rex Lokus' colors all come together to fill these characters with life quite well. This is more than transparent with the bits involving Dinah and Harley. You can feel the emotion as a tear runs down Dinah's face and you can't help but chuckle whenever Taylor allows this visual team to really sell the joke (e.g. the muzzle, whether Harley can be trusted). Plus, the brief display of action is loaded with intensity. Watching two characters blow through an office building is every bit as crazy as it should be. It's swift and we only get a few glimpses of it, but it flows well and you can feel the force behind the motions. And, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love the way this creative team handles Sinestro. You don't need the dialogue to appreciate his arrogant and clever nature.
The Bad
The Injustice: Gods Among Us universe is a dangerous place and, unless you're on the playable roster, no one is apparently safe (if my memory serves me right, Martian Manhunter seems to be the only exception, but let's just assume he eventually recovered?). This chapter brings a massively powerful villain into the picture -- one that appears in the background of a stage in the video game -- and quickly dispatches him. Now, it's to further a plot with another character and in that respect it does a terrific job, but it almost feels like wasting the potential this character offers. He's an absurdly powerful character, so to write him off so swiftly and easily was a little disappointing. I can't help but feel like there's plenty of other characters who could have taken his place and the same message would have been received.
This is one of those chapters that feels like pure buildup. It leaves you wanting more -- which is obviously the objective -- but because of that, it never really had the opportunity to really blow me away. And, it's not that big of a deal, but there's a decent leap forward in time. It's totally understandable why they did this and I think it was a wise choice, but at the same rate, I'm left wanting to see a little more follow-up on what recently went down.
The Verdict
INJUSTICE: YEAR TWO #15 offers basically all of the reasons why we've come to enjoy this series so much. The levity will have you smiling or even laughing out loud, the narrative's taking some big and interesting steps forward, and the issue leaves us on a note that pretty much guarantees you'll purchase the next chapter. YEAR TWO is still continuing its slow burn approach and the tension continues to build and build, but issues like this one do a great job boosting the hype while also making sure our interest never falters. Even if you think this one's "filler," it's more than likely going to have you curious enough to see what's right around the corner.
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