The New 52
In addition to "Villains Month", a seven-issue limited series titled "Forever Evil", by Geoff Johns and David Finch, launched in September 2013 and focused on the Crime Syndicate, an evil version of the Justice League from Earth-3 in the Multiverse, as they attempt to take over Prime Earth in the Justice Leagues' defeat at the end of "Trinity War". The "Forever Evil" event ran in other titles starting in October 2013, including three 6-issue tie-in books that launched: "Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion" by Brian Buccellato and Patrick Zircher; "Forever Evil: Arkham War" by Peter Tomasi, Scot Eaton and Jaime Mendoza; and "Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S." by Matt Kindt and Manuel Garcia. Other tie-in titles included: "Teen Titans", "Suicide Squad", "Justice League", "Justice League of America" and the "Forever Evil: Blight" storyline in "Constantine", "Justice League Dark", "Trinity of Sin: Pandora", and "Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger". "Forever Evil" #1 was also reprinted in a director's cut one-shot in October 2013.
Forever Evil
Newsarama's Richard Gray gave the first issue an 8 out of 10. He felt "Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion" "is a welcome shift away from the main event with a focus on a smaller group of villains who just don’t want to play ball with the big bad" and "has instantly become one of the most engaging aspects of the “Forever Evil” event." IGN's Melissa Grey gave the issue an 8.7 out of 10, saying, "writer Brian Buccellato has hit precisely the tone he needed to in order to emphasize the moral shades of gray the Rogues occupy." Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources gave the issue 3 stars out of 5, saying, "tied into the main "Forever Evil" series, this story is strong enough to stand on its own, but would have benefited from consistent art," a sentiment seen from all.