Forever Evil (Justice League # 24)

By Mark Rodriguez

Yeah, I've been busy and have fallen behind in this storyline, but hey, I did manage to get the entire X-Men Battle of the Atom down, so at least give me that. All I gotta say is wow... You heard it all before... some people are jerks and such because they were raised by a crappy family, abusive parents, or grew up in a horrible neighborhood in the wrong side of town. Well what if you grew up on an entire planet of assholes??? This comic really dives headfirst into the whole 'evil alternate world' thing as you'll soon see.

This clever cover is like an evil backwards version of the first issue of New 52 Justice League.

The story opens 25 years ago on the evil version of Krypton, during its final hours. Everyone is fighting to get to the escape pods before the planet goes boom, and Jor-Il and Lara kill anyone in their way. They put baby Kal-Il in the space pod saying he is the last chance at revenge against the being that destroyed the planet. They send him to Earth where he will rule over the humans. As the pod flies through space, lil baby Kal-Il hears recordings telling him that Kryptonite will power him and the Earth's son will weaken him. They also tell him to never lower himself to Earth women, and all the while the recordings also toss random insults calling him weak and pathetic. He is to hide among the humans until he's ready.

Not the warm and loving Ma and Pa Kent you remember.

Later on, in a farm house in evil-Smallville, Johnny and Martha Kent are fighting over money since the gold mines are closed and Martha shoots up whatever money they have left. They pull a knife on each other until suddenly the space pod crashes through the roof. They go outside to investigate and see the baby stepping out of the ship's remains and munching on some Kryptonite. Suddenly the baby uses his heat vision to blast Johnny's hand off. He tells them that they will be his parents now. This moment is the first memory Ultraman ever had.

The Kents didn't last long. They tried to escape when Ultraman was seven, but he didn't need them anymore and killed them and burned down the farm. As Ultraman set out to do what he was meant to do, he found people who tried to stop him, as well as people he'd use like Power Ring and people that tried to use him, like Superwoman. He then formed the Crime Syndicate and ruled Earth until 'he' came and devastated Earth like he did to Krypton. They Crime Syndicate had to escape to another world.

Ultraman hates the people of our Earth and how they protect their weak, sick and handicapped. This why they were able to take down other Justice Leagues so easily. He wants this Earth to be strongest it can be so it can be ready for another attack.

Owlman tells Alfred that he wants to talk to Dick Grayson, while Ultraman continues to search for more Kryptonite with the help of Grid. Grid informs Ultraman that Power Ring and Deathstorm are on their way to stop the Rogues, and Johnny Quick and Atomica are going around defeating other superheroes. He tells Ultraman about a group called the Doom Patrol that might need to be dealt with, but he goes towards the Daily Planet instead to see how weak this world really is.

Welcome to your worst nightmare Jimmy... Ultraman is even scarier than the Injustice Superman...

In the Daily Planet everyone is packing up and heading out. Jimmy Olsen doesn't believe Superman is really dead, and Lois Lane agrees. Just then, Ultraman arrives and lands in front of Jimmy. Jimmy asks him if he's Superman and Lois tells him he's not. Ultraman asks Olsen what he does at the Daily Planet, and he tells him he's a photographer. Ultraman grabs Jimmy and asks him if he takes pictures of Lois in exchange for favors. Jimmy says he takes pictures for the Daily Planet.

What kind of sicko is Jim in Ultraman's world? And how can he blackmail Lois when she's Superwoman and wouldn't have a problem just killing the guy if he tried anything.

Ultraman then crushes Jimmy's hand. As the young man falls  the ground, holding his broken hand in pain, he asks him where is the Jim that would fight back. Lois tells him to stop, but Ultraman grabs her by the face and throws her into a desk. Perry White and rest try to run to her aid, but Ultraman sends them flying back with his super breath (ultra breath?).

Ultraman grabs Olsen and he begs to leave everyone else out of this. Ultraman is annoyed that Olsen still cares about the others despite his broken hand. Ultraman then hears a sound coming from Olsen's watch, but he tells him that noone is coming. Lois Lane smashes a typewriter on the back of the villain, but of course it doesn't phase him. Ultraman says Lois Lane is the same name of Superwoman, but she is not as strong. He's been wanting to kill Superwoman for years but can't since it would leave him without a suitable mother for his child.... but he can do whatever he wants to this Lois Lane. In desperation she yells out for Superman, but he reminds her that he isn't coming... nobody is... Grid warns Ultraman that something is coming towards him, in reaction to Jimmy's watch signal.

Black Adam suddenly appears and smashes Ultraman out of the building. He knows the Crime Syndicate came to invade the Earth and he he will tear them limb from limb. He tries to break Ultraman's arm and is surprised he can't. Ultraman says he doesn't break so easy and punches him away. He's anxious to see how long it will take to kill him.

My Opinions:

This was an interesting read and basically shows us not just an evil hateful version of Earth, but also an evil selfish Krypton. It's bizzare to think of a whole world of sick, violent people without any sense of caring for your fellow man like that.... but then again, anyone born 'good' was probably killed in that world. Seeing how Ultraman is surprised we care for the sick, I guess that means the sick and handicapped are just left to their fate on their world. This origin story for Ultraman took everything we knew about Superman and twisted it. I mean the dude even powers up on Kryptonite and gets weaker when exposed to sunlight.

The whole scene with Jimmy, Lois and Ultraman was kinda scary since he could have killed them at any time. It really shows the unstoppable nightmare Superman would have been if he really was evil. The interesting thing is, Ultraman still has some sort of reasoning for his douchebaggery., though extremely twisted based on how he grew up. All he ever knew was that the strong survive and the weak deserve to die. His Krypton and Earth were both destroyed since they were too weak to stop that being that caused it. He plans to rule this new Earth to destroy the weak and make it strong enough to stand up to that being if it ever follows them to this dimension.

 The big surprise is seeing Black Adam of all people to who up. From what I know, Black Adam and Captain Marvel both have Superman-ish powers and abilities, except their lightning attacks which were considered magic, and thus a weakness for Superman, but this isn't Superman, so there's a chance he might be able to take him out. We'll see what happens.

I'm getting more and curious as what else is going to develop with this Forever Evil storyline. We'll have to see what happens next issue, since it seems the fight between Blasck Adam and Ultraman continue a whole longer.