First Appearance: The Avengers (Mentioned Only)
At the beginning of time, Death was one of the Four Cosmic Entities that was responsible for the forging of the six singularities that would later become the Infinity Stones.
Taking the form of a woman, she had the power of possessing mortal's souls. She is the embodiment of decay and had the ability to manipulate space, time and reality. Yet her powers are not capable of killing those who have immortality.
Due to being seen as "vengeance" she is the enemy of Infinity and Eternity.
Thanos formed an attraction to Death and wishing to impress her, he murdered millions of people and destroyed half of the Universe with a simple clicking of his fingers.
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
In the temple of Morag's chamber, where the Orb had been kept hidden, the Ancient civilisation of the planet created a mural depicting the Four Comsic Entities forging the Infinity Stones. Death is shown to be in the top left hand corner opposite Infinity.
The Mural is shown again by Taneleer Tivan, whilst the Collector is explaining the origins of the Infinity Stones to Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot and Gamora.
First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy
A stone mural depicting the Four Cosmic Entities and the creation of the Infinity Stones- just after the creation of the Universe- from the energy that was expelled by the explosion, that was located in the ancient temple vault on the planet Morag (where the Orb had been hidden.)
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
When Star-Lord broke into the Temple Vault on Morag to retrieve the Orb for the Broker (although going behind Yondu's back- who had arranged the deal) he saw the mural etched onto the floor. During the fight with Korath the Pursuer, the Orb is knocked from his hand and hits the floor and rolls on top of the Mural.
While Taneleer explains the origins of the Infinity Stones, he shows Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket and Gamora a hologram of the mural (whether or not the picture is taken from the temple is unknown, but the mural is identical).
First Appearance: The Avengers (Mentioned only)
A group of four cosmic beings that lived before the Universe itself was even created; Death, Entropy, Infinity and Eternity were the forgers of "the six singularities" that would eventually become the Infinity Stones- The Energy of the creation of the Universe compacted into "six concentrated ingots."
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
Inside the Temple Vault on the planet Morag- where The Orb had been kept hidden- the ancient civilisation who created the structure etched a mural that depicted the four Cosmic Beings and the forging of the Stones.
When Taneleer Tivan was explaining the origin of the Infinity Stones to Rocket, Star-Lord, Gamora and Groot (before the Guardians of the Galaxy became an official team), he shows them a hologram of the same mural as well as several of the stones.
It is very rare thing to find a comic book series where the concept of good and evil has been turned on it's head: where the good guys have all but disappeared and it is up for those considered villains to fill in the void to defend the world against a threat even more viscous than them.
After the cliffhanger of Trinity War, the Crime Syndicate begin to make their claim on Earth with the mission to bring together the masses of Justice League enemies to form their own private army. But when Lex Luthor discovers that there is no Superman left to defend the world, the self declared last defense of Earth has to rise to the occasion and fill in for the hero he held in so much contempt for. Forming a team with a diverse range of villains who do not wish the world to be owned by the Syndicate, Luthor and a very driven Batman must take the battle to the Earth 3 doppelgangers if they don't tear themselves apart in the process. Yet the infighting in Luthor's Injustice League is nothing to compare with what we see between the Syndicate when a second Luthor steps on the scene and is revealed to be in partnership with one of them.
While the aftermath of this will stretch into the future and sets the scenario up for an even bigger event that we are witnessing now: the battle between the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid.
Yet like all story arcs you need to follow not only this title, but several others; including Justice League (2011) and Suicide Squad (2011). This follows the main throng, but you do miss an awful lot of both origin and side information from this title. That being said this series would encourage you to pick up it's spin-offs without much of a thought.
This another great story from Geoff Johns and David Finch, this title delves behind the simplistic role of "just a villain" and gives a beautiful depiction of the idea of a hero. What makes a hero? Is it someone who wears a costume and fights in the name of justice? Or is just those who want to make a difference? This title explores Lex Luthor's personality, taking away from the cold-hearted shrewdness and Machiavellian manipulation, you see in some powerful and emotive scenes that deep down he strives to protect those he loves.
Now the story and dialogue, which are well crafted and capture; dark humor, emotional (and believable) relationships between characters and tense battles are enhanced by some exceptional art work from Richard Friend. Friend's work depicts the brutality of conflict between these two power-house teams that is both bloody but tasteful in the way it kills off it's characters :)
If we are talking about relationships then there is no finer example than the relationship between Bizarro and Luthor. What started as a Victor Frankenstein/ and his "monster" (the creator and his creation) type of relationship grew into the desire for the former sacrificing himself to protect the latter when he was in danger. Luthor's outburst showed the attachment that had grown between them, which makes the sacrifice even more heart wrenching. The relationship was also the platform to allow Luthor's darkest secret, which made an equally turning point where we see a chink in Lex's Kryptonite Armour.
If I had to chose a favorite character in this title, it would have to be either Earth 3's Green Lantern opposite Power Ring or the clone of Superman with reverse powers- Bizarro. Power Ring is a rather weak and pitiful character, who was more a victim of his own weapon and the tool of the Syndicate to be used, rather than being completely evil. While Bizarro's sweet and innocent nature (only being "alive" for a minimum of a day) just makes his death even more heart breaking. He only has a few lines, but the words he does utter just add to the power of the character.
In conclusion the Forever Evil (2013) series is one of the best comics that have been published in DC's latest imprint (The New 52) and I would highly recommend it to those fans of the anti-hero.
(An individual issue by issue review and synopsis will follow shortly)
