Things have gotten pretty heavy in Injustice: Gods Among Us lately, what with Batman and Superman finally going their separate ways and more than a few big name heroes biting the dust. But in the series’ first Annual issue we turn our attention away from all that darkness and toward the comic’s funniest characters, Green Arrow & Harley Quinn, for a hilarious one-shot that’s centered around “The Main Man” himself, Lobo.
While our story certainly ties itself to the events of the comic and the video game, you don’t necessarily need to be a gamer or a longtime reader of the series to follow what’s going on. It’s a nice sampling of what the series has to offer. Essentially, all you need to know is that Harley and Joker were responsible for the detonation of a bomb that wiped Metropolis off the map and effectively snapped the mind of the Man of Steel. The now corrupt Superman has already killed the Clown Prince of Crime, but Harley is still out there and he hasn’t forgotten. That’s where Lobo comes into play. Lobo is hired by Superman to hunt down Harleen Quinzel and bring her back and, as you can imagine, hilarity ensues in one of the most bizarre team-ups in years.
Were you one of the many who were upset by the New 52 design for this character and preferred the original, who was more of a parody of all the hard-assed anti-heroes of the late 80’s and early 90’s? Well, if that’s the case, Injustice: Gods Among Us Annual #1 is a must-buy for you. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best you’re going to get. Writer Tom Taylor took a very lighthearted approach to the character and captures the voice of The ‘Bo well enough to get some good laughs out of me and I found it almost impossible not to hear the voice of Brad Garrett from Superman: The Animated Series while reading it, honestly. However, there are some rules to what makes a true Lobo depiction that Taylor neglects. These are elements that casual readers will easily be able to overlook, but longtime fans of the character will quickly take note that The Main Man breaks his word not once, but twice, and he doesn’t react enough to the fact that his bike has been damaged. Since I’m not a diehard fan of the character myself and just wanted to enjoy a good laugh, I enjoyed what I saw here and thought that the final page more than made up for the other missteps.
It’s a really simple story played more for laughs than anything else and if you’ve read earlier issues of Injustice, you know that some of the best character interactions that Tom Taylor has written have involved Green Arrow and Harley Quinn so the annual definitely doesn’t disappoint in that regard. As always, however, the artwork is incredibly inconsistent and the book shifts between 3-4 different artists. Every few pages is of varying quality and there’s an overall absence of quality backgrounds throughout the comic, but I must say that it features one of the most well-drawn booties I’ve ever seen in any of the books that I’ve reviewed. Someone definitely put some time and effort into that badonkadonk. If you’ve seen the designs of Harley Quinn and Black Canary before– or just taken a look at the cover– you’ll know that there will be no shortage of cheesecake in this book. I really hated the cover and how Harley is trying look over her gigantic boobs but if you look at her eyes she’s not even staring at Lobo, but at us.
Oh well, Injustice: Gods Among Us Annual #1 has all the same strengths and weakness of its ongoing series and as always those weaknesses are outweighed by the strengths. I had fun reading this one. It was lighthearted and ridiculous, everything I expected from a book about Lobo and Harley Quinn in the Injustice universe.
Recommended If…
- Lobo is your main man
- Harley Quinn is a character you can’t get enough of
- You’ve enjoyed all other installments of Tom Taylor’s Injustice: Gods Among Us
- You want to sample what this series has to offer, it’s new-reader friendly as long as you’ve at least played some of the video game’s story campaign
- You’re in the mood for action and comedy, especially comedy
Overall
This is a great little one-shot and nice return to form for Lobo. The character may have gotten a makeover in the New 52 but this issue is a love letter to the original with a bad-ass finale and plenty of laughs throughout.
SCORE: 8/10
