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Is It Good? Forever Evil #7 Review

Comic Books

Is It Good? Forever Evil #7 Review

Oh, hey. Everyone remembers Forever Evil, right?

Well even though most of the DC Universe has already moved on (as seen in Justice League United, Action Comics, etc.), we are finally getting the end of this storyline that was ironically supposed to push forward most of the storylines we’re seeing in DC titles now. We waited extra long for this finale: did this result in a stronger comic? Was the wait worth it? Is it good?

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Forever Evil #7 (DC Comics)


forever-evil-7-cover

It’s the end of the line. Alexander Luthor has broken free and is ready to kill anyone who gets in his way, absorbing any hero or villain’s power along the way to become the greatest superhero ever (I think he needs to check the definition on hero personally). More deaths, betrayals, and shocking twists are abound and not everyone is walking away from this alive.

To prepare for this final issue of the event, I reread the entire run up until now to refresh myself on all the details, characterization, and major plot points. That’s when I realized something: the Justice League tie-ins that Geoff Johns wrote are pretty much essential reading if you want to read this event, sort of like how Green Lantern was essential during “Blackest Night.” Sure, you could read the comic without those issues, but you need those issues to add extra characterization, backstory, and fill in a gap or two in the story (like Cyborg’s situation). It’s highly recommended to read those if you want the most out of this comic, since they elevate the overall experience quite a bit.

Enough about essential reading material though: how was the finale? To me, it was highly enjoyable with a few plot point missteps (which I can’t really discuss without spoiling anything). It’s a solid conclusion, wrapping up a lot of the story quite well and setting up for a lot of interesting choices with where the DC Universe will go from here (like with a lot of Johns’ events). There’s a lot of meat and content in the story with great character moments, enjoyable action scenes, character development and growth, and surprising revelations and twists. This comic will cost you five bucks due to amount of pages in it, but you’ll get more than your money’s worth.

forever-evil-7-hugs
Hugs all around folks!

The writing by Geoff Johns is solid. The character work is great and fits the characters; the scenes with a bit more weight and emotion to them did work for the most part; the dialogue and narration was good with no bad or awkward lines and the pacing was tight and quick. The only problem here is that there is some wasted potential in the issue. I can’t explain them without giving too much away, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the fact that some of the characters that died. I think that having some of them live could have opened the door to a few more storylines. Also, there was a moment where a character knew something that he/she couldn’t haven’t known because they were not there when the event in question happened, but that’s pretty much it.

The artwork by David Finch itself was fine and worked. Sure, some of the far shots of characters looked weird, there were some instances of poor musculature and body structure, and other minor things but the issue looked good overall. The characters were easily identifiable, the action well portrayed, layouts were easy to follow, a couple of the double page spreads looked very nice, and I really do like Finch’s version of Cyborg.

My final thoughts on the entire event? Forever Evil was good, one of Geoff Johns’ better events in fact. The characterization through the issue was good and great with developing Lex Luthor (still not very likeable, but he’s “better”), there were a lot of great moments and buildup that resulted in a pretty exciting conclusion, the writing was good, and while the artwork had its issuess as I mentioned, it did fit the tone of the entire series as a whole. The thing is though, it did have quite a few problems with it as well, like the decompression, the delays that hurt the momentum, and some wasted potential and bits that feel flat. Plus, you have to read another comic to fully get the most out of the story instead of just the event itself. If you were to leave out the Justice League issues, the comic would be a 7 or 7.5, but if you add them in, I’d easily give the entire event an 8.5.

Is It Good?

Forever Evil #7 is a very strong and fitting conclusion for the New 52’s first real major event. The writing was strong throughout; the characterization was great, the surprising moments piqued my interest and the artwork was more than fitting for this comic’s tone and feel. It had its problems for sure and some very annoying delays, but it came together in the end. Hopefully the next event, whenever it comes, can go over a bit smoother.

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