Review by Frank Plowright

Pain of the Gods begins with the good, if tragic idea, of Superman not being able to save everyone. He’s rescuing people from a burning building when a weight needs lifting and a new hero offers to hold it up to prevent collapse while Superman evacuates everyone else. The never named new hero isn’t able to sustain the weight, and dies, and Superman has a hard time accepting the fatality. Ron Garney’s art brings out the chaos and danger of a building on fire, while Chuck Austen extrapolates Superman’s feelings and vulnerability well. He saved dozens from otherwise certain death, but the person he couldn’t save weighs heavily. So far, so good.

It’s surprising to see the second chapter featuring another burning building, but this time the Flash is unable to save everyone. In the third chapter Green Lantern can’t save a life, with no burning buildings involved, but with the variation that Superman’s on hand to point out he can’t save everyone. Thankfully there’s a change of pace in a fourth chapter focussing on Martian Manhunter, but Austen’s interpretation of his personality being distant and withdrawn is way off beam. Who better to process human emotion than a man able to read thoughts? The excuse of guilty thoughts being overwhelming doesn’t make much sense given his civilian identity bolthole as a police detective.

Wonder Woman’s moment of frailty comes when she’s only just able to beat a new foe, eventually battering her into submission. It’s a viable plot except when weighed against the remainder. Why is the only woman in the team, and a super strong one at that, the only one seen barely coping with the heroic activity? Garney’s art shows the brutality, but it’s becoming perfunctory.

Ostensibly featuring Batman, the final chapter is the best here for Austen finally getting around to a plot rather than belabouring the obvious that having team-mates you can confide in is part of being a Justice League member. The eventual plot is cleverly revealed, and it plays out convincingly. Unfortunately, though, Pain of the Gods is two issues of story stretched to six chapters by long fights, repetition and frequent use of spreads.