Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen
“Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Conclusion”
Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2020
Released March 18, 2020
Cover Price: $4.99
Estimated Issue Sales: 32,624
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Steve Epting
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Assistant Editor: Ben Meares
Editors: Alex Antone, Jamie S. Rich
Heroes: Beast Boy, Blue Beetle III, Booster Gold, Doctor Light IV, Donna Troy, Dove II, Hawk, Lobo, Miss Martian, Shazam, Steel IV, Supergirl V
Villains: Batman Who Laughs, Black Manta, Captain Cold, Klarion the Witch Boy, Lex Luthor, Oracle II, Solomon Grundy
Supporting: Commissioner Gordon, Mercy
Setting: Washington, DC, USA, 21st-century
Cover Description: Perpetua tears Lex Luthor apart. (No Booster Gold.)
Brief Synopsis: Lex Luthor brings the Batman Who Laughs to Perpetua for judgment.
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Cameo (Booster Gold makes a minor appearance)
Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit
This story has been reprinted in:
Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (2020)
Page 6, panel 1
Booster Gold, still under the control of the evil Batman Who Laughs, attacks Black Manta's Mecha Manta in front of the Hall of Justice. They are surrounded by other heroes and villains who are also fighting one another under under the influence of The Batman Who Laughs and Lex Luthor. (Who are the good guys here? Who cares. Superheroes and supervillains will use any excuse to punch one another. It's what they do.)
Page 13, panel 5
Everyone stops fighting once Luthor blocks the broadcast of Batman's dark-dimensional poison infection "energy." So I guess the good guys won. Whichever set they were.
Page 14, panel 3
Mercy, Lex Luthor's assistant, chastises the heroes for not appreciating that Lex Luthor saved them. Of course, this is the same Lex Luthor who accepted power from an alien queen in order to subjugate humanity to her wishes. So you have to do evil to do good, Mercy? Let's just say it's a mixed message.
Page 14, panel 4
Booster Gold says nothing as Lex Luthor, Mercy, and Batman escape. That's not unusual for this mini-series; he has remained completely mute for three straight issues.
Boosterrific Review: This story ends, insofar as Lex Luthor completes his quest to capture the Batman Who Laughs. But the end of this story is only the start of another in this seemingly never-ending "Year of the Villain" event. Unsatisfying.
Boosterrific Rating: Tarnished.
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