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We sit down with Tom Taylor, the master of vestigial limb slicing and universe spanning conflict.

Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Four #1

Writer: Brian Buccellato

Art: Bruno Redondo

Inks: Juan Albarrran

Colors: Rex Lokus

Publisher: DC Comics 

Since the series inception under writer Tom Taylor, Injustice Gods Among Us digital first book (based on the hit game by Mortal Kombat creator Netherrealm Studios) has been one of the overall best books in DC Comics line up. Now under the meticulous pen of current Detective Comics co-writer Brian Buccellato, Injustice methodically kicks off its Year Four story.

Chapter one is part epilogue along with being part set up as it deals with the aftermath of the destructive battle between Mr. Mxyzptlk and Trigon at the end of Year Three. Superman continues his crusade to save the human race from itself by his iron fist rule, Batman has gone into hiding as he plots his next idea to remove him from power, and all the while Ares schemes to return the worship of mortals to the gods instead of Earth’s metahuman pretenders. Since the series takes place five years before the events of the game, this volume is already hinting at some of the threads that are left to be tied together such as Damian’s transition to Nightwing and Batman’s plan to bring the heroes from the other dimension over.

Buccellato continues to show why he’s one of comics most underrated writers. His understanding of how these characters differ from the regular DCU books is put to use in showing how the cracks in Superman’s regime develop. Hal Jordan and Superman show an intolerance for each other you wouldn’t see anywhere else. His Damian Wayne has a different type of chip on his shoulder compared to the regular DC version. It’s almost like he blames Batman for the actions that led to his killing Dick Grayson and that makes him as far from the boy seeking his father’s approval as you can get.

The art teams seen before in previous issues will be returning to action in Year Four. Issue one features the line work of Bruno Redondo. Out of all the artist the series has seen, Redondo’s work is most representative of the visual world established by Netherrealm in the game.

While this opening isn’t new-reader friendly to those who haven’t read any of the Injustice books or played the game; it’s a great continuation of the events unfolded thus far. Year Four is a carefully paced opening that’s a prime example of the writer’s strengths. Buccellato has a habit of making his characters earn their big moments, which make those points even better reads.

When Amazon purchased leading digital comics provider Comixology and subsequently removed in-app purchases from Comixology on iOS devices to avoid paying Apple a 30% cut, the big question was whether Apple would notice and act or not. Motley Fool has a typical think piece on the matter here.

While Comixology absolutely put digital comics on the Apple map—CX was the #1 grossing non-game app on iPads, and Apple had definitely started chatting up some digital comics content providers—the total amount of money involved may not have been a painful loss to Apple. For instance, using back of the envelope math, Motley Fool guess that digital comics were a $75 million a year business, and Apple’s cut of that would be $22.5 million. Not exactly chump change, but really little more milk money for the oft inscrutable behemoth that is Apple.

However, a Beat correspondent just forwarded a promotional email from iBooks with the headline “Comics: Injustice Issues Free + Series Starters” which offers an iBook store deal on Injustice Among Us, which has been one of the top selling digital comics for months and months. As you can see from the screen shot, Apple is offering the first issues of both Injustice and Injustice Year Two as “jump on” issues. They also have special “starter” sections for Marvel, Dark Horse and IDW— all publishers with their own apps run via Comixology. Here’s the hype:

The DC Universe goes through a seismic shift after Superman faces a shocking tragedy. In this popular series, the last son of Krypton enforces peace on Earth by any means necessary, forcing the world’s heroes to decide if they’re with him — or against him.

Get the first issues of both Injustice and Injustice: Year Two free for a limited time.

That potential $22.5 million in revenue may not even be the biggest enticement for Apple to get into the game via iBooks, but rather the chance to stick it to rival Amazon. In the wake of the Comixology/Amazon deal, we hear publishers are looking for other e-outlets in at least a casual fashion, and Apple would make a pretty good replacement date for the tablet prom. And a war to see who could sell more digital comics between Amazon and Apple, would be pretty much a dream scenario for any medium.

Developing…