Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Vol. 2 by Brian Buccellato is a tie-in graphic novel to the popular video game series. In this book we are focused on the villains that fight back against Superman's reign that is now in its fifth year.

But it also a turn in the story line as no one can any longer hide themselves from the truth of Superman's reign. The brutality and contempt that Superman has for humanity. This is Superman without Clark Kent. There is a movie coming out soon called Brightburn that tries to answer the question of what would have happened had someone other than the Kents had found the last son of Krypton. Injustice: Gods Among Us already has answered this question.

Injustice also answers the question of what would have happened if Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent's roles had been reversed. If Clark Kent had suffered a loss like Bruce did. Only Clark suffers his loss as an adult and when the Joker kills everyone in Metropolis, including Lois Lane, Clark loses it. He commits murder and then imposes martial law on humanity. The protectors of humanity become the oppressors.

Batman, of course, rebels and Injustice begins.

In this volume, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Bizarro, Zsasz and the Joker acolytes tell their stories of rebellion. But the focus is on the battle between Batman and Superman and the once Justice League. A team shredding in its betrayal of the truth.

A terrific tale that will make you want to pick up all the others.

ARC from Netgalley.
3.5 Stars.
The penultimate chapter in the Injustice Year Five Saga feels like we are closing in on an ending. The Insurgency is almost over, but the fights continue. Contained within:

- A group of civilians get together and plan to rise up against the Regime. They call themselves the "Joker Underground". When they are about to get Harley Quinn on their side, Superman shows up and brutally murders them with heat vision.

- Trickster is helping Bizarro figure himself out, but it isn't going so well. Ending up at the Fortress of Solitude, Bizarro takes on Doomsday (secretly a test from Lex, who had created Bizarro) and then Superman shows up. Lex, seeing a possible opportunity to take out Clark, turns Doomsday on him, then turns him back to save his own hide. Bizarro dies, but Lex's secret is safe.

- Harley goes off to try to convince Shazam to join the Insurgency, but it doesn't go well.

- Zsasz makes his debut. His first action? Killing Alfred. Batman returns to get answers from Zsasz, but ends up battling Damian over whether or not to kill him. As Batman defends (because Batman doesn't kill), the rest of the Justice League show up and beat him down. When Superman calls for his death, Flash saves Bruce, allowing him time to grieve the loss of Alfred.

-Suspecting Flash to be a traitor to the Regime's cause, Superman begins to search for him. Barry has gone off to try and make amends with Iris. Forced to defend her from King Shark and some other villains, he earns back Clark's trust ultimately, but not before informing Bruce that he won't go back in time to stop the reign of terror.

Curious to see how this will end. Hawkman has been brought into the field of play now...
Recommend.

Wow, we really have limped to the finish. This is just a bunch of filler before the next video game is out. Superman is shown to be a total tyrant and coward, worse than any villain out there. Barry Allen finally gets fed up, but the rest of the JL seems to be OK with Superman straight up murdering people.

I love this game but this was kind of boring and not what I expected. An okay read.

The fight continues. And Superman is getting very, very frustrated. When a group calling themselves the Joker Resistance rises in Gotham, they are destroyed. Then Bizarro makes his way back to Lex Luthor, he is sent to the Fortress of Solitude where Doomsday and Superman meet, fight and Bizarro is disposed of. Then Harley goes crazy and picks a fight with Billy/Shazam to no effect. Then Alfred is murdered. Was this a ploy to draw Batman out? Even if it was not, it worked and Superman got a beating and needed to be saved. But so did Batman. Flash came through for him, but then switched sides again to his detriment. Now we have to wait for the next episode to find out what happens.

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2 is what I expected, and wanted, the film BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE to be. Writer Brian Buccellato tells a story that is more thought-provoking and cohesive than the recent film-version match-up between Batman and Superman. At a time when antiheroes are extremely popular, INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2 has readers questioning what a superhero should be, and makes it difficult to tell who the good guys and bad guys are in a sea of moral ambiguity.

I have always been more of a Batman fan than a Superman fan, so it was interesting for me to see their personalities somewhat reversed, making for a nice juxtaposition. Although Batman is a vigilante, he usually abides by his "no kill" rule. However, in stories like A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Batman proves to get closer to crossing the line while Superman remains more of an eternal boy scout. In INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2, readers see how Superman's grief pushes him far beyond an adherence to any moral code, and a drift into madness. Stories about an out-of-control autocrat resonates with many readers, but seeing Superman fit into that role is particularly shocking in many ways. It is fascinating to see beloved DC superheroes get deconstructed and make choices we never thought they would. Some of the vignettes in INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2 are especially disturbing or heart wrenching, like Bizarro's sad Frankenstein-like story and the corrosive effect on Batman's family.

In INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2, Superman leads the Justice League on a downward path toward cataclysmic and ultimate destruction. This is a great book for comic fans looking for an explosive and philosophical tale. This story first intrigued me because one of my favorite characters is in it -- Harley Quinn. While I normally enjoy Harley's daffy exploits, as written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, she is still recognizably whimsical and homicidal here. As much as the Justice League superheroes annoy and exasperate her, I like how their nutsy behavior has her questioning herself. I have never really read any comics featuring The Flash, but I love how conflicted he is in INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE VOL. 2 and the way it adds complexity to this harrowing tale of good versus evil.

In one of the last volumes in the Injustice series, the drama and tragedy is sure to resume as the freedom of mankind is once again challenged by the former champion of it.

With the exception of the Bizarro Superman chapter, this volume was very good. That's one character that either needs to be eliminated completely from the DC universe or completely revamped. When he was created in the 1960s, he was used as comic relief in a much simpler time. In my opinion, he doesn't fit the seriousness of this series. I understand how and why he was used in the plot, but I just don't like it.

At any rate, the rest of the book was very good, and I can see how things might play out in the final year of this series. The characterizations of many of the major players was good, too, especially as they question their positions.

Umm...I think my copy had everything for volume 2, which was pretty good especially now that it's winding down. Some higher stakes, some surprises, some characters almost going too far, it all makes for a more compelling story than some of the previous volumes. I had thought this was the finale but it looks like there's a volume 3 coming out next year (which is good because the end of this obviously wasn't the end of the story and I got confused for a half a sec) so I'll be (mostly) looking forward to that and hoping they put out a really good ending to this whole arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, the Injustice series rocks my world. Even though it is not cannon, I cannot help but be swayed by the events in this series.

Oh my heartstrings. Oh the suspense. They left the volume at a tense moment, and you can fee the build up the whole volume of year five coming to an end. A must read series, and a great addition for those looking to beef up their comic collection. Having the video game to possibly bring in more readers than those who traditionally read comics as well. I can't wait for the next volume.

The overarching storyline seems to be wearing a bit thin, not a whole lot happened in this volume, and it is time that this series is wrapped up. That said, I enjoyed this series and even this particular volume more than most of DC's other offerings lately. I will purchase for my library as the series is quite popular here.