Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
If righteousness and treachery can be seen as going hand in hand, then for the team that has usurped the positions and members of The Justice League, the havoc they are wrecking upon the East Coast cities of America is one that is out of control. They are on the verge of destroying all that is good in the alternative universe they have found, to some they may be death itself but to themselves the thought must be that they will be Forever Heroes.
With Superman, Batman and all the other members of the Justice League seemingly incapacitated, the likes of former friends such as Jimmy Olson and Lois Lane are in perhaps more trouble than they have ever been in their lives.
What is startlingly different about this particular graphic novel is the attention to detail given to characters that are distorted mirrors of the heroes known and loved by D.C. Comic fans. The back story of virtually every member of this dystopian nightmare team has been forged in fire and heat rather than in mutual admiration. It is one in which captures the imagination to the point where it seeps through and randomly takes apart what is already known about the D.C. universe and then places it into an expansion tube, one in which typifies what the New 52 titles were all about.
By adding in the likes of Ultraman, a superhero with the tact and diplomacy skills of a 18th Century pirate and with more anger issues than a tank on steroids and the beings who could possibly save the day in the Metal Men, this particular graphic novel has more sweet spots than a six foot Cadbury Flake filled with tiny marshmallows.
When it comes to the writing of Geoff Johns, there really are very few who can equal his turn of pace and the structure to which he brings to even the smallest detail of the story and with Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke adding such vibrant colour and definition to the continuing story, Forever Heroes is one graphic novel that never loses the interest of the reader for a single second.
Robust, forceful and handled with extreme care, Forever Heroes is an eye-pleasing delight.
Justice League Volume 5: Forever Heroes is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall