The art is overworked and relentlessly dark, every page filled to bursting. It's painfully embarrassing that the only two female characters featured in the book are relegated to such awful stereotypes. Catwoman is Batman's glorified "arm candy," while Superwoman is apparently sleeping with three of the primary Crime Syndicate villains Ultraman (alternate-reality Superman), Owlman (alternate-reality Batman), and Alexander Luthor (alternate-reality Shazam) all of whom think she might be having their baby. Bizarrely, despite the large number of characters, only two women get anything resembling legitimate page time. Johns delivers a few cool superhero moments, but they're not nearly enough to overcome the story's gimmicky-ness and its lack of emotional resonance. Soon after they arrive, the group mysteriously (and unbelievably) gets rid of most of the heroes on Earth, leaving it to unlikely bad guys like Lex Luthor and Black Adam teaming up with Batman to save the world. This collects a seven-issue "event" that finds the Crime Syndicate alternate-reality "evil" versions of the Justice League taking over our world.
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