The New 52- Forever Evil # 7

By Mark Rodriguez

Lex Luthor leads a team of villains to defeat the Crime Syndicate an save the world. With the deaths of Power Ring and Johnny Quick, it seems the tide is on Lex's favor. To top it off, the one person that the Crime Syndicate were worried about has arrived and it's an alternate version of Lex Luthor with the powers of Shazam. Lex, Batman and Catowman try to rescue Nightwing who was strapped to a machine designed to explode if his heart stops. Bizzaro holds Batman and Catwoman back as Lex suffocates Nightwing. All hell breaks loose as we get into the over-sized conclusion.

The comic starts with Batman choking Lex while Catwoman tries to talk him out of it and Bizzaro leaps in to protect him. Lex activates an electrical discharge from his robot suit to knock Batman back.

Elsewhere Mazahs is unimpressed with Black Manta and Captain Cold being regular humans and flies off. Outside Ultraman realized what just happened.

Lex said he purposely made Dick flatline by making him swallow a cardioplegia pill that paralyzes the muscles around the heart. He then gives his heart a shot of adrenaline and Dick wakes up. Batman gets Dick out of the machine and hugs him tight. Bizzaro follows suit and hugs Lex too.

Just then Cyborg arrives, kicking down a dead and defeated Grid. Cyborg got his body back. All the explanations have to wait as Cyborg points out that Firestorm is kept in the sub level of the building and the rest of the Justice League is trapped inside him. Lex wishes Batman good luck and they exchange a handshake. Doing so, Lex stole Batman's Kryptonite Ring.

Ultraman and Deathstorm discuss how to deal with Alexander Luthor. They can use Superwoman's lasso of submission to force him to change back. They wonder if she's with Owlman.... But instead it's revealed that she is alongside Mazahs. He's the father of Lois' child. She tells Ultraman that she betrayed him because Lex is more powerful and she must protect her child at all costs.

Geez... so the child didn't belong to Ultraman or Owlman, but rather to Mazash... but they thought the child was theirs... so Super Woman has been rather busy.

Batman, Nightwing and Catwoman follow Cyborg who explains how he got back together and defeated Grid. Martian Manhunter is also trapped inside Firestorm and he managed to tell Cyborg that Firestorm's psychic bond can be broken by someone with a strong connection to Wonder Woman using the Lasso of Truth.

Mazahs and Ultraman fight it out in the sky. Lex rejoins the other villains who tell him that whoever is fighting Ultraman is another bad guy that needs to be killed.

Deathstorm attacks Superwoman but she ties him up with her rope of submission. Deathstorm is now under her command and Mazahs flies in to kill him, absorbing his power.

Cyborg explains that if they don't unlock Firestorm soon he'll explode and wipe out most of the Eastern sea border. Batman says to give him the lasso since he's known Wonder Woman for a long time. Catwoman wonders if that's the only strong connection he shares with her. Just then Owlman appears and lunges out for Nightwing.

Mazahs punches Deathstroke down as Captain Cold explains that he was a random tied up homeless man that became powerful when he yelled out MAZAHS. He then killed Johnny Quick and seemed to have gained his speed. He also said his name is Alexander Luthor. Lex looks at his doppelganger and gets socked in the mouth before he can even say anything.

Bizzaro attacks Mazahs and hits him with his fire breath. Mazahs realizes he has powers and drives his fist into his chest. Luthor screams as his evil (or even more evil) twin kills Bizzaro. Lex tends to him but it's too late. Cold tells him to leave the monster behind because Mazahs is coming back for them. Lex angrily says Bizzaro was HIS monster.

Lex tells Black Adam that he can call down his lightning powers and use the lightning rod that Batman gave him to direct it towards Mazahs. The only problem is Ultraman broke Black Adam's jaw a few issues back but Siniestro agrees to use his ring to realign his jaw for a moment.

Nightwing fights Owlman who tells them he's not there to fight on behalf of the Crime Syndicate, he wants them to win.

Siniestro attacks Mazahs and Superwoman with a giant mace and drives the lightning rod through his chest. Superwoman tries to kill Black Adam but he still manages to yell out SHAZAM. Lightning strikes hitting Mazahs as well as Superwoman. However, Mazahs is unaffected. He swoops down and attacks Lex, saying he knew who he was. He beats the crap out of Lex boasting about how much more powerful he is. Lex says he is still him and sounds just like him. He holds onto the lightning rod that is still jammed into Mazahs' chest and yells out MAZAHS.

Alexander is turned back to normal, and Lex covers his mouth before he can yell out again, and stabs him with a blade. As Alexander drops dead, Lex is hit from behind by a tree. Ultraman is still a menace, though Lex knows his weakness is the sun and hits him with a Solar Gun. Ultraman destroys it with his heat vision. Right before Ultraman can kill Lex, he's bombarded by sunlight. Siniestro and Black Adam pushed the moon out of the way so the sun can shine again.

Just then Batman manages to pull the Justice League and other heroes right out of Firestorm. Ultraman lays dying and suffering under the sun's harmful rays and begs for Luthor to kill him. Luthor taunts him with the Kryptonite Ring and says he'd rather let him live and suffer knowing he's the weakest being on the planet.

Atomica gets up from a pile of debris and asks for Johnny. Lex tells her he's dead already and then proceeds to step on her, literally squishing her like a bug.

As the heroes regroup, Superman is dying. Batman says before the heroes were trapped inside Firestorm, Atomica slipped a shard of Kryptonite in Superman's head. Stargirl asks if anyone can help him. Lex arrives and says he can. After some surgery, Superman wakes up to see that Lex has saved his life.

By next morning, even the Justice League had to admit that Lex and his band of villains have saved the world, and most of them got their records wiped clean. Siniestro and Black Adam fly off laughing evily. Black Manta attacked a random sailor and left Aquaman's trident behind, leaving the message that he's glad his nemesis isn't dead. Batman and Catwoman part ways. Later in the Batcave, Batman has a new mission for Dick Grayson.

 Lex is back to work and is paying to rebuild Metropolis. Ted Kord visits him and tells him he's ready to sell Kord Industries to him. Lex says he'll let him keep it since it is a family company and is free to offer advice. Kord says Lex is one of the good guys. 

Cyborg and Flash can't find traces of Element Woman and Vibe. They also don't know what the menace was that destroyed the world that the Crime Syndicate came from. Owlman is still at large. Ultraman is locked up and sobbing. Wonder Woman interrogates Superwoman. The evil Lois Lane Amazon smiles feeling her baby kicked since she predicted the birth of her child will bring forth a dark age. 

Luthor is creating another Superman clone, but he wants it to be like Bizzaro. Lex calls up his sister to pay her a visit. He also does research on Dick Grayson based on how deeply concerned Batman seemed to be about him... and determines that Bruce Wayne is Batman. 

Superman and Aquaman discuss the menace that destroyed the other dimension and determine it has to be the force that united the Justice League in the first place. Darkseid. But they are horribly wrong. In another dimension we see that another being that consumed it called the Anti-Monitor. And he's coming after Darkseid.

My Opinions- 

 This was an epic conclusion to the Forever Evil storyline. I like the general idea behind it. A threat that takes out the heroes, leaving the villains to save it because while they are evil and dangerous, it's their home too. Save the world today to be able to conquer it tomorrow. 

This leaves a lot of shake ups everywhere. Nightwing and the Teen Titans series are cancelled. Lex knows Bruce is Batman and insists on joining the Justice League since he did help save the world. Lots of changes left and right. 

As for this issue in particular, it was awesome. The epic battle between Siniestro and Black Adam and Mazahs and Ultraman was awesome. And I like seeing the bad guys take out the Crime Syndicate with the brutality that the heroes won't use. Plus it's just awesome seeing so many characters packed into one issue. 

I'm curious about some of these other guys and how they came about. How did Lex Luthor gain the powers of Shazam in their world, and did they have a Black Adam there? How is their Lois Lane an Amazon? What will happen when her child is born? Who will the Power Ring infect next? Is Owlman to be trusted as a hero or will he still be a danger since he came from a dimension of jerks and assholes? I'm curious as to what happens to him. And I still want him to someday run into the other Owlman, Lincoln March. 

Lex gets the most focus here as his ego gets maximum strokage as he led the attack that saved the world. Now he feels that he really is 'a good guy', but how long is that gonna last? After all, part of the reason he saved the world was to be able to rub that fact into Superman's face. 

Overall a great story from beginning to end. Even though I didn't buy them all, they were great supplements. Although the really important ones were probably the ones that explained how Cyborg regained his body defeated Grid. Oh well.    

I'm just ending this article on another example of the New 52 crap trying to cram all of Batman's history into 5 years. No way Harley was around at the time that Dick Grayson was the first Robin, and especially with her New 52 design. They didn't even create the character yet. I must have missed her appearances on the Adam West show or her scenes in the Micheal Keaton movies. I know it's stupid and nitpicky, but that kind of nonsense always pisses me off.