Justice League Dark #20

(w) Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes
(a) Mikel Janin and Vicente Cifuentes


** SPOILERS ABOUND **


Last month's "WTF" edict demanded that each title in the 'New 52' drop some big revelation or surprise somewhere in their April issue. For the most part, writers were able to organically integrate this concept into their current narrative. But for some, it felt very forced. Like Earth 2 #11's inclusion of Mister Miracle even though he wasn't actually part of the story at all. Or how the revelation that Eclipso was behind the scheme to destroy House Amethyst in Sword of Sorcery #7 was a surprise to no one who actually read the series. 

Justice League Dark #19 guest starred not only Swamp Thing -- which made sense, as Swampy is a Dark-themed character -- but also The Flash. Unfortunately, it was all of a one-page spread. This was an instance where the "WTF" moment felt very forced, like editorial knew Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes were gearing up to use Flash in Justice League Dark #20, and just wanted to make #19 all the more attention-grabbing, just for sales. But that's all just my own beef with DC higher management.

Justice League Dark #20 is a fantastic issue. I wasn't expecting it not to be, as Lemire and Fawkes have been delivering amazing issue after amazing issue for months now. I'm always just a bit skeptical of guest appearances that seem too good to be true; like Flash working with the JLD.

Barry Allen is unique in the 'New 52' as one of the only characters who is written so consistently across every title he's featured in -- the Flash is always his good-natured, generous, laid-back self, whichever book you're reading. That's rare these days as many writers simply use guest appearances as a plot device instead of deriving real character relationships from the experience. Barry isn't there just to be fast: He provides a significantly different perspective on how to be a hero. Even after John Constantine berates him in front of everyone else, he still stands up for the surly mage when his compatriots turn against him.

If you're not reading Justice League Dark, you should be. I know that's a cliche thing to say in comic book reviews, but hear me out. It checks off a lot of boxes on the "who would like this?" list. It's a supernatural series (1). It includes well-known heroes like Constantine, Deadman, and Zatanna (2). It's consistently one of the best titles DC publishes each month (3). It's an integral part of this summer's "Trinity War" crossover (4). Mikel Janin's artwork is superb (5). That's five good reasons to read this book.

GRADE

9/10

The Week in Revue (Mar 27-Apr 2, 2013)

------- Spotlight

Guardians of the Galaxy #1
(w) Brian Michael Bendis     (a) Steve McNiven
THE GUARDIANS RETURN TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!

------- DC Reviews

Batman Incorporated #9

(w) Grant Morrison     (a) Chris Burnham

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MOMENTS AFTER THE DEATH OF DAMIAN WAYNE?

The Flash #18

(w) Brian Buccellato     (a) Marcio Takara

THE TRICKSTER ACCUSED OF MURDER? AND A SPECIAL CROSSOVER WITH...DIAL H!

Justice League Dark #18

(w) Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes     (a) Mikel Janin

THE CONCLUSION TO "THE DEATH OF MAGIC!"


---------- mini reviews
Aquaman #18

(w) Geoff Johns     (a) Paul Pelletier

"DEATH OF A KING" BEGINS HERE! A NEW ARC IN THIS ACCLAIMED SERIES!

Superman #18

(w) Scott Lobdell     (a) Kenneth Rocafort

H.I.V.E. MAKES IT'S NEW 52 DEBUT AS THEY TRY TO TAKE OVER METROPOLIS!

Teen Titans #18

(w) Scott Lobdell     (a) Eddy Barrows

FALLOUT FROM "DEATH OF THE FAMILY" AND THE DEATH OF DAMIAN WAYNE! GUEST STARRING THE SUICIDE SQUAD!

------- Marvel Reviews

Age of Ultron #3 of 10

(w) Brian Michael Bendis     (a) Bryan Hitch

MARVEL'S POST-APOCALYPTIC EVENT CONTINUES!

Uncanny Avengers #5

(w) Rick Remender     (a) Olivier Coipel
WONDER MAN, WASP, AND SUNFIRE JOIN THE UNCANNY AVENGERS!

Young Avengers #3

(w) Kieron Gillen     (a) Jaime McKelvie

MORE AMAZINGNESS FROM GILLEN AND MCKELVIE ON THE LANDMARK SERIES!

---------- mini reviews

Fantastic Four #5AU

(w) Matt Fraction     (a) Andre Araujo

AN "AGE OF ULTRON" TIE-IN ISSUE!

The Superior Spider-Man #6AU

(w) Christos Gage     (a) Dexter Soy

AN "AGE OF ULTRON" TIE-IN ISSUE!

Justice League #18

(w) Geoff Johns     (a) Jesus Saiz

Geoff Johns is taking the same route Cartoon Network's Justice League did in 2004 by expanding the roster of the League in anticipation of bigger, more ferocious enemies in the future. Honestly, it would have been nice to see more of the core team's adventures and interpersonal relationships before diving into team expansion. Sure, this is Justice League #18 and the 'New 52' has been around for close to two years, but in the modern age of decompressed storytelling, 18 issues has only produced a handful of conflicts that the League has faced. 

Back in the day, 18 issues could have been 18 different stories, a different approach to team building, but one that offered a more robust look at how said team works as a unit. Today, it's still somewhat unclear how the core League members truly work together, how their personalities play off each other, and how that affects their behavior. Johns has done an excellent job delivering character development where possible, but it's still frustrating to see new members coming in at this point. And that's not even mentioning Justice League of America, which also sees Johns bringing lesser known characters into the spotlight. It's just a geyser of new characters, it seems.


** SPOILERS AHEAD! **


Justice League #18 is an exciting issue because we get to see so many faces in one issue. With Hal Jordan out of the picture for the time being, and the near-destruction of Boston in "Throne of Atlantis", Batman and Cyborg decide it's time to reveal the Grid, a circumstantial database of all the world's superheroes. I say circumstantial because the entire Grid was a side-effect of the persistent flow of information into Cyborg's always-connected mainframe. Since he's basically a living supercomputer, Cyborg shares the curse of overabundance with Superman -- they're both continuously aware of almost everything around them. The difference is that Clark hears everyone while Victor processes digital information terabytes at a time. Thus, over the five years of the League's existence, Cyborg inadvertently collected all the known information on every superhero on Earth.

But it's just that: only the known information. Justice League #18 not only showcases established heroes like Black Canary, Zatanna, Firestorm, and Nightwing in a new light, but also gives minor and new characters a chance to shine with a chance at membership in the planet's most exclusive hero club. While the current members of the League all understand the where they are and what the stakes are going forward, most of the invited candidates have no idea what they're in for. It's this juxtaposition that provides a nervous tension that simmers throughout the issue. Even Nightwing and Batman's short interaction reflects their relationship post-"Death of the Family". And how could it not be awkward? Six of the most powerful beings on the planet are judging and choosing new colleagues to patrol everything, not just a city or neighborhood beat.

There's no escaping the fact that Justice League #18 is a good old-fashioned prelude issue. There's so much being set up from beginning to end that it's hard to squeeze a story-proper out of an issue like this. Fortunately, Geoff Johns stands up to the task and makes the entire affair feel completely fluid and natural. My bias for the structure of character development aside, JL #18 hits all the right marks. At the end of the day, it's really hard not to like seeing so many familiar (and some unfamiliar) faces in one issue.

GRADE

7.5/10

EARTH 2 #4

STORY: James Robinson
ART: Nicola and Trevor Scott

Months before it's debut, James Robinson explained how Earth 2 wasn't just going to be a Justice Society book, how it's title was deliberate in how he wanted to create a whole new world, not just another team series. With fans bursting at the seams for 'New 52' versions of their favorite JSA team members, Robinson could have simply taken the easy route and put the Justice Society together in a similar fashion to how Geoff Johns did so over on Justice League. In that case, Johns needed to quickly establish the team in order to keep up with this new universe's continuity. Luckily, Robinson has a bit more breathing room which allows him to move Earth 2 at a more deliberate pace.

Earth 2 #4 is the first major 'wonders' encounter since Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman sacrificed themselves to defeat an Apokolyptan invasion five years prior (see Earth 2 #1). Solomon Grundy - Earth 2's avatar of the Grey, a facsimile of the Rot over in Animal Man and Swamp Thing -  is rampaging through Washington D.C. and killing everything in his path while demanding to face the Jade Knight. As this Earth's avatar of the Green, Alan Scott feels Grundy's power, knowing it's something he must face. Similarly, Hawkgirl's heightened senses show her that the decay suddenly upon her and Jay Garrick at the end of last issue is coming from America (they're in Poland, remember?) By issue's middle, Hawkgirl and Flash are facing off against Grundy, who seems none too pleased that Green Lantern hasn't shown up.

Many, many critics feel that Green Lantern and Solomon Grundy's connections to the Green and the Rot Grey are too similar to the Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder's work with these concepts over in the regular old DCU. In their perspective, Robinson is retreading ground and Lemire and Snyder are covering amply. What these journalists fail to see is how important the Red/Green/Rot connections are to each world. As it stands, DC is looking to make this 'New 52' universe inarguably cohesive, a task it stands to accomplish if it can keep writers reigned in when it comes to rewriting history or resurrecting characters, as well as making sure that the events in one book can affect those in another. So while Earth 2 is technically set in another universe, it's the closest parallel dimension to 'New Earth', which allows for the high possibility that they share common elements. The best part is that Robinson is taking already amazing story elements and twisting them just enough to make Earth 2 unique.

Also, AL PRATT!

Yes, the Atom (Smasher) makes his hardened military 'New 52' debut. While little is actually revealed in the way of expository explanation, a glimpse into the recent past shows a young Pratt unable to control his powers being taken in by the government. Flash back to Al Pratt the human weapon. After the Apokolyps invasion and the end of the Age of Wonders, the world's governments created an international army to make sure Earth would be ready if any alien threat were to come after the planet again. One of these countermeasures apparently includes recruiting Wonders. By the time Pratt is air-dropped into the hot zone, Green Lantern is putting the smack down on the regenerative Grundy who is more amused by Scott's actions than threatened.

While I'm a fan of James Robinson's Earth 2 thus far, it was definitely time for a flashy battle to showcase the characters he'd been building up for three issues so far. And yes, it's a little far-fetched that two characters simply 'felt' the evil of Grundy and therefore were able to find him, but the means of getting to a massive fight in Washington D.C. between Solomon Grundy and Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and the Atom are completely justifiable. Plus, a few panels near the end hint at Hawkgirl's (Kendra's?!?!?) connection to Al Pratt and the agency he works for. Earth 2 just gets better and better each month! Even my complaints about Nicola and Trevor Scott's art last issue have been resolved - the lines are cleaner, the faces are bust better, and the that first panel where Alan uppercuts Grundy is astounding.

Robinson recently promised Wildcat coming soon to the pages of Earth 2, along with Doctor Fate and a slew of others. In such a unique position, Robinson is doing everything he can to make the heroes of Earth 2 just as epic and amazing as their New Earth counterparts. In most ways, he's succeeding (I'm looking at you, Hal Jordan).

GRADE

A