The other breakout star of this issue, other than Steve Oliff’s colors (which are, of course, the other OTHER breakout star of the issue), is Emerald Knight, for obvious reasons. I know I was ragging on the art a little in the first issue, but over the course of this series, I’ve completely fallen in love with it. Kieran McKeown and Dexter Vines perfectly capture these characters’ inner conflict throughout the whole issue. You can see the pure anguish on his face as he’s trying to reconcile everything that’s happening in front of him with his incredibly distorted worldview. For him to see the only other Kryptonian, the only other family he has, getting beaten to a pulp, screaming about how she hates him… His whole worldview is absolutely destroyed. Ultraman has defined himself on being the sole Kryptonian in the universe for his entire life, and he knows that means he’s stronger and better than everyone else. He’s pushed away his family, furious at them for not telling him he was an alien. Many crime syndicates use murder, torture, assault, and Terrorism to keep themselves powerful and profitable. This is a Clark Kent that has grown up alone. Violence often accompanies organized crime. This isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a controversial take, and it’s a massive part of what makes this iteration of Earth-3’s Clark so special. Our Earth’s Clark Kent is defined by his humanity. This villainous quintet hailed from a world with an inverted history to Earth-1's. They were called Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring, respectively. Not only is it oddly touching for such an evil character, but the moment showcases an absolutely fascinating choice on Andy Schmidt’s part. The original Crime Syndicate of America consisted of evil versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern. This all comes to a head as he practically begs Kara not to fight, desperately clinging to the fact that he’s finally found another of his kind. Throughout his whole Kryptonian slugfest, we get the sense that he doesn’t really want to be fighting. That fight, by the way, is just the framework for some of the best characterization of Ultraman I think I’ve ever seen. A criminal organization can also be referred to as a gang, mafia, mob, 2 3 ring, 4 or syndicate 5 the network, subculture, and community of criminals involved in organized crime may be referred to as the underworld or gangland. The whole “one character’s perspective” thing was kind of half-dropped around issue 4, but we still do get her narration over the massive Ultra-fight we’re all really here for. It’s Atomica’s turn in the spotlight, as much as you can still hold this mini to that. Needless to say, I’m very pleasantly surprised. I came for Evil Justice League Shenaniganery™©®, and I walked out with a surprisingly good character study on what were previously the physical incarnations of a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain Justice League. CRIME SYNDICATE SERIESFrom the second this series was announced, I knew that, no matter how the actual quality turned out, I was going to have a blast.
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