The wedding you’ve been waiting for is there! Killer Croc & Orca tie the knot and hope to earn themselves a happy ending.
Injustice 2 #70
Writer: Tom Taylor
Penciller: Bruno Redondo
Inker: Juan Albarran
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Cover Art: Daniel Sampere
Cover Colors: Alejandro Sanchez
Publisher: DC Comics
Recap:
Love is in the air as Killer Croc proposes to fellow Suicide Squad member and mother of their future child, Orca. As they move towards having a happy ending, Brainiac forges a union of his own with Gorilla Grodd. The alien scientist frees Grodd of his psychic dampener so he can lay waste to Gorilla City, prepare the world for his arrival, and locate a certain Kryptonian…
Review:
The big day has come, Orca is preparing for her wedding day with the help of Cheetah, Katana, and Poison Ivy. Orca does a brief bit of exposition explaining she didn’t expect marriage was ever an option for her after having a bomb put in her head, forced to work for Ra’s, and then turned into a humanoid Killer Whale. Orca asks Ivy about her thoughts and Ivy surprisingly says she didn’t expect it either. Referencing that she married Harley in Vegas to an Elvis Impersonator. Katana asks one last time if Orca is ready and the marriage becomes official.
Before the loving couple leave, Deadshot jokingly brings up that Croc owes him. But this is for keeping them out of a traditional Gorilla marriage rather than because he was the one who pushed them into marrying in the first place. A nice indirect way of showing their friendship before he denies Crocs assertion that he isn’t so bad and sending the pair on their way once more. As Croc & Orca leave Gorilla City they find Ra’s Al Ghul holding the detonation device for each of the Suicide Squad members. Briefly showing the members who died early on in Injustice 2 as well as Harley Quinn (her bomb was disabled) and Captain Cold who is MIA currently. Ra’s assures them that he meant them no harm but Orca is skeptical at best. He explains he doesn’t know what the future holds and that humanity has always destroyed his spark of hope. How he lost his family, failed to protect the world, and let a number of species go truly extinct. But he has no intention of bringing them and their all-new mixed species baby into a potential war with Batman. Deactivating their bombs and telling them they deserve a happy ending. But Orca isn’t happy. Bringing up that they were enslaved and forced to live in fear for her and her babies life. That two Apex Predators aren’t going to just let someone who would normally be prey to them get away with what he’s done.
Croc then bites off Ra’s arm left arm as it still holds onto the Suicide Squads detonation device. Ra’s is left defenseless before the pair as he’s forced to the floor. Croc saying he tastes rotten after so many resurrections. Not that it’d stop Croc from eating him alive. But Ra’s is saved, for now, by the arrival of Gorilla Grodd who claims his severed arm and the Suicide Squads detonation device. Grodd tells them to leave as their family has no business here any longer and if he wanted he could kill both in seconds. But Croc is still worried about the remaining Squad members and prepares to fight for them. Apologizing to Orca but she stops the brawl with a third option. Rather than have anyone die, Grodd can use the detonation device to use them like pawns. Both Grodd and a begrudging Croc agree to this option and Orca hands Ra’s over. Their happy ending earned, she gives one last taunt and leaves. A one-armed Ra’s left at the mercy of Grodd and his army…
Final Thoughts
I almost feel bad for Ra’s…almost…While what he did was a really sweet gesture, Orca & Crocs reaction was very realistic and believable. They may walk and talk like a human but this chapter reminded us how monstrous they can be. Especially when working together and their target was a clearly unprepared human. It was a little thing to note but while Croc was shown to be the one ready to eat Ra’s, Orca was shown to be able to hold him up with one hand while pregnant. Her pregnancy also gets full display in this chapter. Before it was talked about and referenced but we can actually see a baby bump this time around. The pair is adorable together but this chapter almost went out of its way to show their animalistic side in both action and art. Orca having a particularly uncanny face with all her close-ups.
Injustice 2 traditionally has always made use of hard dark lines and shading but the use of it and shine really stand out this issue. The joy of both Croc & Orca being the main focus of the issue and both having unique textures that require this amount of detail and technique to not look odd. The attention to detail on the Suicide Squad members that were displayed was also a nice little touch. Now we have a wee bit of foreshadowing to Captain Colds appearance in the impending future. The moments before Ra loses his arm, the sudden shift to warm red and oranges as Croc makes his bite, and Ra’s quiet terror at his impending doom stand out in particular artistically.
Although it isn’t a bad issue, it did sort of fly by. Though it was nice to see the wedding actually last through the chapter.
Rating: 7/10
Join our Age of Social Media Network consisting of X-Men, Marvel, DC, Superhero and Action Movies, Anime, Indie Comics, and numerous fan pages. Interested in becoming a member? Join us by clicking here and pick your favorite group!