The Joker hates Nazis. He’s American, a homicidal maniac but not a traitor. The fact this was stated in Injustice: Year Zero Chapter Four just cements the digital series planting a flag. The Joker gets it, why don’t you? In the fourth chapter, Andre recounts the story of the amulet’s power and the damage it can do. He also talks of the heroes who had to battle to stop it and where it’s buried.

Tom Taylor delivers a new chapter in the story that’s a parable about power and fascism. In this prequel to the popular Injustice comics and video games, the story clearly has a stance on the fact that fascism is bad. It’s a subtle mirror to our current politics with a line drawn as to which side it falls on when it comes to fascism.

The issue itself is a lot of setup focusing on the mcguffin that this arc will revolve around and how powerful it can be if it were to fall into the wrong hands. It’s a perfectly fine chapter doing exactly what it needs to in introducing us to the stakes and what might happen if the Joker reaches his goal. There’s also some nice foreshadowing of the types of “titans” that it’ll take to stop him if he does.

But, Taylor makes sure to add some humor to it all too. As mentioned above, the back and forth between Andre recounting the story and the Joker taking his stand on Nazis is a brief moment of levity. It also just draws a line that Nazis suck and there’s no siding with them.

The art by Cian Tormey is pretty solid. Along with Rain Beredo on color and lettering by Wes Abbott the art captures the setting of World War II. There’s also a tighter focus on panels with a digital first release. We don’t get massive two page spreads and instead the digital standard is used and works pretty well. The characters look solid and the characters present all have their own bit of flair so they don’t look exactly like their main DC Universe counterparts.

Overall, Injustice: Year Zero Chapter Four and the first three chapters are a solid start to the series. We’re introduced to the main characters and the threat is set up in such a way that it feels like it’ll be an epic fight down the road. The comic also isn’t afraid of making some commentary about contemporary society and the state of politics. We’re in need of more stories that take a hard line that Nazis and fascism is bad and power corrupts. Injustice: Year Zero Chapter Four isn’t afraid to deliver exactly that.

Story: Tom Taylor Art: Cian Tormey
Color: Rain Beredo Letterer: Wes Abbott
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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