Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #4 Review

Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the coldest of them all?

The Rogues are divided from Trickster and with Weather Wizard knocked out; they must face some of Batman’s most dangerous villains. Things escalate and sacrifices must be made.

Buccellato continues the weird road trip of the Rogues through Gotham and this issue doesn’t do justice to what poor Bruce has gone through in his years as the city’s Dark Knight.

Forever Evil Gotham has been a heavy focus this month as JLA, Arkham War and this book all include some of the same characters (thus making the timeline even more confusing).

Scott Hepburn and Andre Coelho distribute the art duties and both have their strengths and weaknesses, through Coelho comes out stronger.

SPOILERS FOLLOW……………………..

Mr Freeze and Clayface force a standoff with the Rogues (minus Captain Cold, Trickster and a knocked out Weather Wizard) over using Wizard to cast a permanent cold blanket over Gotham.

While Heatwave takes on Mr Freeze, Clayface is tasked with retrieving Weather Wizard. This proves difficult as Mirror Master aka Sam Scudder uses his mirror clone ability to make multiple clones of Weather Wizard while keeping the real one away from the battle.

Elsewhere, Trickster meets up with a raving Zsasz (half as menacing as he usually is) and is able to best him before the psychopath can plunge a knife through his back.

Giving up on finding the real Wizard, Clayface transforms into a bull and pins down Heatwave. This forces Sam to reveal himself. He is summarily frozen by Mr Freeze before Weather Wizard regains consciousness and frees his comrades.

The stakes are raised as Black Mask and his team come to collect the bounty on the Rogues and with the fight seemingly lost, Sam gives up hope. Just in the nick of time, Trickster arrives with a Arkham Prison Van and they try to escape. Heatwave stays behind to fend off the pursuers.

With Wizard using the winds and Trickster’s array of tricks, the van is able to jump off the destroyed bridge onto the other side.

But just as they heave a sigh of relief, the Royal Flush Gang appears and tells them to surrender as they have a comatose Lisa Snart (Captain Cold’s sister and Mirror Master’s girlfriend) aka Glidder in their custody.

The main highlight of the issue was Heatwave’s acceptance of the Rogues code ‘never leave anyone behind’ and Mirror Master learning that captaining this team was almost impossible and sometimes sacrifices has to be made. The humor was still ever present and kept this book balanced.

SPOILERS END………………………

While the main Rogues continue to be great in the character department and showcasing their abilities, the ancillary antagonists are treated rather badly. The humor still remains solid though.

The art becomes erratic sometimes and the characters are disproportionate sometimes.

So, I give it 7.0 out of 10

+Some good moments from the Mirror Master-Heatwave combo

+Awesome display of the Rogues powers

+Plot moves forward nicely

-Art is erratic

-Improper use of Batman's Rogues gallery