SPOILER WARNING, the following article contains major spoilers for Injustice 2 #44 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Mike S. Miller, Juan Albarran, Rex Lokus, J. Nanjan and Wes Abbott, on sale now.


While the Injustice games may be known for being ultraviolent slugfests between all of your favorite DC heroes and villains — as well as some guest stars too — the Injustice comics are actually some of the most thoughtful, well-crafted, heroic comics around right now. They still have ultraviolent slugfests between all your favorite DC heroes and villains, but the creators pretty much have free reigns to color outside of the lines established by the hit fighting franchise and focus on what characters not featured in the games are up to in a world where Superman rose to power as a dictator and was brought down by a Batman-led insurgency.

Injustice 2 the comic is able to give a spotlight to the likes of Booster Gold, Plastic Man and the Teen Titans, filling in the gap between the two games and jumping between different stories and protagonists in a way that feels comparable to the now-classic weekly series, 52.

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Recent issues of the weekly digital installments have shown the best the comic has to offer and while Kal-El may be locked away for his crimes, a new Superman has stepped up to lead the heroes of the DC Universe and remind its people what that crest truly stands for.

Phantoms

One of the biggest omissions of the Injustice games is the Teen Titans roster; outside of Cyborg and Raven, they just aren’t present. This was actually acknowledged in an Annual for tie-in comics to the first game, Injustice: Gods Among Us. Several of the Teen Titans were present in Metropolis when The Joker’s nuclear bomb exploded, wiping out the city. Kid Flash was killed in an instant and while Superboy tried to save Beast Boy, he wasn’t able to shield his friend from the impact of the blast. Faced with the news that The Joker had forced Superman to kill Lois Lane and that Superman has killed The Joker in response, Superboy held firm to the ideals Kal-El taught him even when Superman himself abandoned them, bringing him into conflict with his mentor.

When it became apparent that Superman couldn’t be stopped, Superboy attempted to trap him within the Phantom Zone. But even though he was backed by Red Robin, Starfire and Wonder Girl, it wasn’t enough to defeat the Man of Steel. A super-strong punch fractured Superboy’s ribs, which then pierced his heart, causing the Boy of Steel to bleed out internally. In order to save his life, Superman trapped him and the other surviving Teen Titans in the Phantom Zone, where they resided throughout the events of the first game -- until it came time for a Kryptonian breakout led by Batman and his crew.

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Batman used Plastic Man and his son Offspring’s super stretchy abilities as a tether to the real world, allowing Eel O’Brien to enter the Phantom Zone and track down the Teen Titans. While Wonder Girl, Starfire and Red Robin were able to escape, Superboy was forced to remain behind and wasn’t around when General Zod forced his way free on the heels of the Titans, killing Tim Drake as he escaped the Phantom Zone.

A run-in with Ra’s Al Ghul’s Amazo android led to the decapitation of Zod, allowing Batman to recruit the retired Doctor Mid-Nite to perform the necessary surgery to transplant the deceased despot’s heart into the ailing Superboy’s, saving Conner Kent’s life.

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As he healed in the Fortress of Solitude, kept company by Wonder Girl and his adopted parents The Kents, Ra’s Al Ghul unleashed Amazo on Dehli, one of the most populated cities on Earth. Though he was still recovering from surgery, Conner Kent couldn’t stand on the sidelines and decided to enter the fray, but not before The Kents could gift him with a Superman costume, to show the people of the world that the crest of the House of El still meant something.

The threat of Amazo and the sheer loss of life it causes led to old enemies putting aside their differences as The Flash and Wonder Woman — both allies of Superman during the days of The Regime — arrived to provide support and saw a new Trinity form in response to Amazo’s threat, with Conner Kent taking his mentor’s place. While he’s not been named as Superman in the comic, he certainly looks the part standing next to Batman and Wonder Woman. The only problem is that he’s very much not in the game which these comics are a prequel to, leaving his fate and his survival very much in doubt as the heroes attempt to stop Amazo’s path of destruction.