In Review: Infinity Man and the Forever People #6

The cover: Looking like something from a lost Toho movie, a gigantic Infinity Man is doing battle with an equally huge green tinged Darkseid on a cover subltitled “Terror of Mecha-Darkseid!” Looking closer at the gigantic emerald fighter one can see that there’s a figure in his head, one in his chest, and another in his belt buckle. Since this is a Godhead tie-in, and remembering what happened at the end of the last issue, it should be easy to deduce what’s going on. Excellent visual from Justice League 3000’s Howard Porter with plenty of the cars flying around on the ground and helicopters flying in the sky. The sensational greens and blues are by the always sensational Hi-Fi.  Overall grade: A

The story: “The Terror of Mecha-Darkseid” by Keith Giffen and Dan Didio opens with the New Gods dusting themselves off after the arrival of three Green Laterns: B’ox, B’dg, and Stel. The Forever People try to explain that they’re not their enemies, but the lanterns aren’t listening. The Mother Box begins to call them forward to touch it, prompting Red Lantern Guy Gardner to say, “I really hate New Gods.” The five touch the device and are transformed into the Infinity Man. He reaches down to help Gardner, who naturally explodes at anyone related to a New God, and vomits his rage upon him, prompting the Infinity Man to change it into something never seen before. This knocks Guy out, again, which causes the lanterns to go Power Ranger on the lone New God. The fight that follows is previewed by the cover and it goes all the places any reader would expect it to. The conclusion is never really in doubt for anyone that’s been following the Godhead saga, so that was a little disappointing. I was floored to see who gets some assistance on Page 17. This is going to have some major fallout for all of the Forever People. B’dg makes a good exit speech to the FP, and his disguise is one for the record books. The final page has a solid dramatic cliffhanger and will insert these characters into the after effects of Godhead. Fun story, but nothing spectacular. Overall grade: B 

The art: Tom Grummett and Daniel Hor do the pencils and Scott Hanna and Julio Ferreira the inks on this issue. This visuals are really good. It’s a compliment to these artists when I say it’s a little difficult to tell when the change in pencillers occurs because their styles are fairly similar. It’s also a compliment to Hanna and Ferreira for being able to make the switch between illustrators easier for readers to digest. I’m thinking that Grummett is responsible for the majority of the fight scenes between the lanterns and the Infinity Man, with Hor coming in to do the helicopter sequence and the final three pages. As a whole, this book looks good. There’s an impressive amount of detail in the Mecha-Darkseid and when it starts to tangle with the title character there’s lots of buildings and debris that goes flying. Guy Gardner is a somewhat tricky character for some artists who just can’t seem to get his beard and mustache right, but he looks excellent in this book. The standout for me was B’dg. It’s hard to make a chipmunk look threatening without going overly cartoony for such a serious story, but he looks great here. I really like the final page B’dg is on. Overall grade: A-

The colors: The California coastline is living up to its radiant skies and beautiful beaches with Hi-Fi coloring them. This book is the brightest title I’ve seen in a while. With the inclusion of two different types of lanterns throwing their energies about and the blues of the Infinity Man, this book is pleasant to look at just for the colors. It’s soothing. True, there are two giant titans smacking the tar out of each and falling into buildings, but check out the reflection coming of the Infinity Man, the gorgeous greens of Mecha-Darkseid, and the sunny yellow skies. This may not be the right thing to say for the coloring on an action book, but I’m going to say it: This is so pretty. Overall grade: A+

The letters: A battle this big needs some impressive sound effects and they are throughout this book by Travis Lanham, but he also provides Stel speak, dialogue, and Infinity Man speak. I’m thrilled to see that two of the characters got their own unique font to make them more alien for the reader. Overall grade: A

The final line: A return of the Infinity Man prompted by lantern attacks brings a Power Rangers’ stylized battle. Excellent visuals on an okay story. Overall grade: A-