Forever Evil #1 Review

The Justice League meets their evil doppelgangers and are quickly dispatched by them at the end of Justice League #23. In fact, it happens so fast that we don’t even see it but the so-called Crime Syndicate remove any lingering doubts in Forever Evil #1. They recruit supervillains from around the world with coins inscribed “oderint dum metuant” Latin for “let them hate as long as they fear.” They proclaim, “The world is ours.” As proof they display Superman’s cape and other trophies belonging to the fallen heroes. “The Justice League is Dead,” they declare. A Z-list supervillain named the Monocle believes it’s a trap and accuses them of being the Justice League in disguise. Ultraman is no Superman though. He doesn’t hesitate to incinerate the Monocle for questioning him. Dissing the “U” emblem on his chest probably didn’t help either.

Ultraman isn’t simply an evil Superman. He’s the complete opposite including his strengths and weaknesses. Ultraman snorts Kryptonite to make himself stronger and moves the moon to block the sun, which hurts him like a vampire. That’s not the strangest thing though.

“This is a job for Superman,” announces Supe’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor. “So where the hell is he?”

With the superheroes gone, it’s up to the supervillains to stop the Crime Syndicate but don’t expect Luthor to turn over a new leaf. The issue opens with him recounting an event from his childhood, in which he reluctantly tried to get his sister’s cat out of a tree. The cat scratched him so he threw it in the river. Expect Luthor to save the world in much the same way… kicking and screaming!