First Look: Forever Evil #4

Things are about to get crazy in the DC universe, because Batman has a yellow ring of fear.

Back in the pre-New 52, one of those Sinestro Corps rings once tried to recruit Batman because of his ability to instill great fear, but it didn't last more than a panel. Here and now, it looks like it's about to get a lot more involved.

Here's DC's blurb about it: "Batman must deal with the guilt of Nightwing’s identity being revealed. And even if Dick Grayson returns from the Crime Syndicate alive, will his life be forever ruined now that his deepest secret is out? Meanwhile, Batman and Catwoman come face-to-face with Lex Luthor and his growing army in the halls of Wayne Enterprises. But what are these two teams doing there? And how does Bruce Wayne have a yellow ring?! Are Batman and Luthor fighting for the same thing or against one another?"

And here's what Geoff Johns has to say about the next phase in the story.

“If the Crime Syndicate attacks — how would the villains react if they actually won? If the villains won, and they won in this way, would everyone go along with it? I don't think they would, because everyone wants something different. At first glance, Lex wants to be as beloved and respected as Superman, though there is a far greater secret in his life that pushes him to strive for success in everything he does, which we’ll learn more about as the series progresses. Lex Luthor is the main character of the whole thing, and that becomes more and more clear as we move forward. In particular with issue #4. So, like Lex, we're exploring these villains and contrasting them against one another and asking — what would it take to put them in the role of good guy?”

“There's a lot of fun to be had between Lex and Bizarro. There's fun to be had between Batman and Catwoman, and when those characters collide. Some of the Syndicate members, as twisted as they are, they've been fun to write. Power Ring — trying to conceive a character that was everything that Green Lantern usually wasn't, and amplifying that. There's a mythology with his ring that we're going to dive into that explores a very different look at what a Green Lantern could be — if it's somebody that's based on a weak will, and a weak sense of self. We see that with Power Ring and how he's behaving, and we'll see more of that as we reveal more about him, and the source of the ring.”

Check out this preview of Forever Evil #4.