Love is in the air for Croc & Orca. But how long can their love last with Grodd at Gorilla Cities borders?
Injustice 2 #69
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Daniel Sampere & Juan Albarran
Cover Artist: Daniel Sampere
Cover Colors: Alejandro Sanchez
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letters: Wes Abbott
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
In his quest to save the planet from mankind, Ra’s Al Ghul forged an alliance with King Solovar and Gorilla City. Setting into motion a devastating chain of events, including the release of AMAZO, the deaths of several heroes, and the death of the United States president. With the aid of the Suicide Squad, they were able to prevent Gorilla Grodd’s uprising, put on a psychic dampener, and exile him from Gorilla City. But after a run-in with a Brainiac Drone, the psychic dampener has been destroyed. Leaving him primed and ready to start his revenge with his newly forged alliance with Brainiac…
What You’ll Find Out:
Having made contact with Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac delivers his orders. Find the Kryptonian but do not touch him and prepare the world for his impending arrival. Grodd agrees but will do so after he has reclaimed his home. After rallying his troops, they begin their march onto Gorilla City. That evening at Gorilla City, we find the Suicide Squad (Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Katana, and Man-Bat) investigating the sewers. Man-Bat, using his echolocation, is able to find their intended target in the path that lays before them.
It turns out, the person they were searching for was Killer Croc. They came to discuss Orca with him which puts the Croc into a very defensive mood. They reassure him that they’re glad for the pair’s happiness especially as members of the Suicide Squad. They spoke to King Solovar and after a lengthy explanation to the Croc, inform him the pair can be married.
Back with Grodd, we find he’s already made his way to Gorilla Cities borders where two sentries remain on watch. One is the child Ordover while the other is a somewhat veteran Tolifhar. Ordover sees Grodd which immediately prompts Tolifar to order his retreat. Choosing to stall Grodd while the young Ordover warns Solovar. Unfortunately, he is already in Grodd’s psychic grip and unable to move. Ordover is forced to watch as a spear soars through the air and kills Tolifhar moments before Grodd approaches. Saying that Tolifhar wouldn’t have followed his rule but Ordover was young and could. So Grodd asks if he’d submit to his rule while reminding him of his mind-reading ability. Once more we jump over, returning to Gorilla City where Croc tries to pop the question to Orca.
While they had the best intentions, Croc flees the Suicide Squads attempt at wingmanning and heads underwater with Orca. There he proposes to her in a beautiful dialogue-less page before surfacing happily. Confirming she accepted. Seeing this from afar, the Suicide Squad are happy for their teammate…in their own weird ways and the chapter ends.
What Just Happened?
We got a very juxtaposition styled chapter this time. Switching between the serious tone of Grodd’s impending invasion of Gorilla City and the comedic/romantic Suicide Squad proposal. One half leading straight into the Injustice 2 game while the other slightly off course but still connecting back to the game. Though both are connected like the cover. A war in the background with a wedding (and a surprisingly beautiful Orca) in the foreground.
As always, Brainiac and Grodd get great dramatic and sinister lighting no matter the time of day. But this remained sort of the B Plot to the chapter. The main focus being on the Suicide Squad and getting Croc to propose to Orca. This was very comedy-heavy which offset the grim Grodd plot. This also continues the trend of the Suicide Squad just being silly weirdos who happen to all be supervillains. Except for Katana…she’s kinda just there. Only one line by Captain Boomerang early on felt odd while everything else was silly in a good way. The thumbs up from Captain Boomerang & Deadshot being one of the highlights besides Man-Bats callback to being “constantly screaming silently” at the end.
Each panel drawn for Croc proposing to Orca was amazingly done. The dramatic lighting at the nighttime lake, the underwater lighting as fish swam by, and of course the happy return to the surface. It was a bit odd to go from a page with the pair both being in the center of the page to one where they are once again in the center of the page. However, if you’ve ever seen a proposal in real life it makes sense visually.
Rating: 8.5/10
Final Thought: Everything with the Suicide Squad is amusing and Croc/Orca are adorable. Mostly terrifying but just the way everything is done with the group and them is adorable. But the real star of this chapter is the title for the next issue. “The Event of the Year. The Wedding of Killer Croc and Orca!” is such a silly but fitting jab at all the weddings in 2018. Between Kitty/Colossus and Batman/Catwoman being promoted the same way, let’s hope they end up like Gambit/Rogue and get a happy ending.
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