[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Writer: John Semper Jr.
Pencils: Allan Jefferson and Will Conrad
Summary
Cyborg is still trapped in an alternate reality where machines have taken over the planet! Thanks to a virus, all organic life on Earth has been transformed, and only Cyborg can stop it! However a few things are the same in this alternate universe and once Cyborg finds out who’s masterminding the destruction of Earth, the truth will shake him to his core!
Positives
John Semper Jr. continues his story of Cyborg struggling to free this parallel universe from the clutches of–Cyborg? That’s right–Semper Jr. hit us with the “evil version” of Cyborg and I actually enjoyed the read. This evil Cyborg felt betrayed by his Dad after the accident that disfigured his body. Once his father built him, Cyborg betrayed his parents and, with the outbreak of the virus, planned to control all of mankind. Semper Jr. makes this relatable to our Cyborg by recognizing that he’s felt the same frustrations and doubt about his own father–but he always assumed he was wrong. Semper Jr. basically gives Cyborg at chance to do battle with the dark reflection within himself.
Negatives
My only complaint is the explanation of the “digital universe” as it’s called. I’m definitely not going to explain it here, but once it’s explained in the book it felt so complicated! I literally had to reread the page just to try to understand what Cyborg was talking about. It seems that this virus has a chance to spread across this digital universe and kill every program or machine it comes across and Cyborg is the only one who can even stop it.
Verdict
John Semper Jr. really gave us a good read with this issue and it explains the previous issues perfectly. It seems that in each past issue where Cyborg was teleported somewhere that it was for a purpose and not a malfunction. It was this digital universe that was calling out to Cyborg for help, and those malfunctions were really preparing him for the battle against his evil self. I’m looking forward to the next issue where we have a seemingly mind controlled Variant who will be facing Cyborg next!
