Forever Evil
Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the first issue an 8.0 out of 10, saying "Regardless of your thoughts on "Trinity War", "Forever Evil" #1 is a solid start to DC's first real event comic of the New 52. It sees [Geoff] Johns diving headlong into a realm that he's succeeded in so often in the past." Schedeen wished that the Crime Syndicate had been featured more "to establish what makes this new take on the Crime Syndicate unique and why they're a greater threat now than they were the many times the Justice League clashed with them in decades past." Newsarama's Richard Gray was more critical, giving the issue a 7 out of 10. Gray felt that Johns trod a very thin line of overloading the story with too many villains and felt it was "immediately evident that reading this book in isolation of what has come before is almost impossible." He concluded that this event "has a familiar feeling to it, and it’s almost like starting over after coming so close to something that felt like a conclusion to two years worth of questions." Meagan Demore of Comic Book Resources gave the issue 3.5 stars out of 5, saying, "In its chilling first issue, "Forever Evil" delivers a solid story rife with Geoff Johns' effective character use and David Finch's stunning artwork. Although the book suffers from confusing timelines and episodic material, its debut shows promise through some exceptionally notable moments and strong visual command. "Forever Evil" #1 paves the way for an interesting new epoch at DC Comics with a concept that will hopefully be just as effective in the tie-ins as it was here."
Forever Evil
Issue 25 received a 9.3 out of 10 from Schedeen. He said the "Owlman-centric story makes for the strongest "Forever Evil" tie-in so far," adding that Johns, who "already cleverly subverted the Batman origin once with Flashpoint's Batman... winds up combining a few elements of [that character and Scott Snyder's recent take on the rise of Earth-1's Owlman], firmly establishing this Owlman as different from either character." Gray gave the issue a 6 out of 10, feeling a bit different from Schedeen, saying, "Ultimately, the issue doesn’t bring us any closer to finding out what the current status of the "real" Justice League is, nor does it further the plans and schemes of the Crime Syndicate, save for the last few pages. It does, however, remain a solid piece of standalone storytelling, which would be terrific if we could take it as such. However, as part of a bigger piece of the arc, it certainly doesn’t feel like essential reading." Zawisza gave the issue 3.5 stars out of 5, saying, that despite an art team change, and the fact that the issue would be better served being titled "Forever Evil" #3.5, Johns' tells "an engaging and entertaining tale of the origin" of Owlman.