This. This is what I miss about reading comics on a more regular basis.

Since deciding to dip my toe back into the sequential arts, I've read some good books and some not-so-good books. But nothing compared to this.

I'd heard a thing or two about the Injustice: Gods Among Us series, enough that my interest was piqued and I wanted to give it a try. When I stopped at a local bookshop, however, they only had volumes 3 and 4, and this prequel.

Well, I didn't want to jump into the story at a midpoint, but a prequel seemed like a logical place to start. And this one is a doozy.

The book begins by establishing the good-natured rapport between the members of the Justice League of America and its older counterpart, the Justice Society of America. There's a lot of good character-building here, and in a few panels, you get to know these versions of DC's iconic heroes and the people around them.

You also feel the genuine admiration members of the JLA have for their JSA forebears. And you legitimately feel their horror when bad things start happening to them.

Through a flashback, you learn how Carter and Shiera Hall (Hawkman and Hawkwoman) discovered an ancient artifact in Egypt in 1942, one containing vast chaotic powers. And you witness the role it played during World War II, how it came to be lost again, and how its secret location was revealed in modern times to the most chaotic of villains, the Joker. Once he gets his hands on it and discovers its potential, he uses it to torment Batman by targeting Batman's heroes.

This is a desperate story, filled with heroic actions and awful outcomes. Heroes fall. And Superman, who proves even more resilient than the gods of chaos could predict, inadvertently gives Joker an insight into his personal weakness ... which will lead into Year One and the rest of the Injustice: Gods Among Us series.

I am blown away by the power of the storytelling here. Kudos to Tom Taylor for crafting such an epic tale! And it's matched by exceptional art by Roge Antonio and Cian Tormey; these are definitive versions of characters who have been drawn countless times, in a variety of ways.

I cannot wait to read more of this series. This is what makes comics so good.