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Review: Justice League #43

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jl043In the past several years at DC Comics, Geoff Johns undeniably has been behind some of the biggest successes.  Although the big event crossovers that he has led have tended to focus around the Green Lantern Corps during his run on those titles, with the relaunch of DC into the new 52 his interest has lain with the Justice League and its main collection of DC’s most popular and most powerful heroes.  That having been said though, that while Johns’ work has led to some of the best 5-star epic story lines, that they are not necessarily always extremely original.  After all, when his formula works it doesn’t need too much to make it work elsewhere as long as the players and the stories underneath are different.  Such is the case with Justice League, with such an impressive collection of characters to work with that have been assembled in this book, it makes sense to throw them all together in a way which will be for a big flashy story.  So far Darkseid War has worked at that, especially with the twist ending at the end of the previous issue with Batman taking over the role of Metron.

This issue plays out a bit differently, although it fits into the same kind of Geoff Johns formula.  Batman as Metron discusses the virtue of the Mobius Chair and whether he should sit in it at all.  At the same time the heroes are hesitant about the arrival of both the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid, as they have to prepare for the worst scenario that they could conceive of.  Elsewhere Superman and Lex are continued to be forced to work together as they have to struggle for survival in their own corner of Apokolips.  Although the issue starts slowly, there is the promise of a lot of action as the issue comes to a close, as pretty much every major player in this story arc gets thrown into some kind of battle.

There might be those who read this and recognize some of the hallmarks of a Geoff Johns epic story.  After a big plot twist at the end of the previous issue, it seems as though Johns could not resist doing the same here, although the effect is less impressive.  At the same time, there is a good reason that Johns keeps getting handed the reins to such ambitious projects and this issue is proof of his abilities.  Such an issue as this almost has to exist as there needs to be some setup for what is to come, and this issue might therefore seem to be a bit more low key to others which have come before, but also most certainly those that will follow.  At the very least, although there are fewer fireworks here, it is easy to see where this fits in the bigger picture of the story arc, especially as Johns takes the times to devote a bit of effort to characterization even in the midst of this big show.  In the end, it all works, even if it we have seen some of the same before.

Story: Geoff Johns Art: Jason Fabok
Story: 8.6 Art: 8.6 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Justice League #42

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jl042Epic comic book stories will often have a pretty predictable formula, and especially when it comes to Geoff Johns.  Although the stories obviously change, there is nonetheless common developments among them.  For instance, the introductory issue for the Darkseid War promised something epic, and the first issue was action packed and yet also promised more action for the second issue.  This being formulaic though, the second issue did not really deliver on that promise from the previous issue, but rather instead there is some of what should actually be expected, plot developments that are unforeseen.  If one looks back on some of the bigger Johns’ crossovers and story arcs, it is the same, but then again he has created some of the biggest and best epic stories in the past ten years, so evidently it is a formula that does not need to be tinkered with too much.

Grail has brought the war to Earth and the Justice League, and although seemingly very much out matched Wonder Woman stands alone against them after her colleagues have been beaten.  Superman aids Luthor’s recovery, while Darkseid makes plans for how to break the two of them, and on Earth, Mister Miracle and Myrina Black make plans to both start and stop the war, through the only way that she knows how, an alliance with the Anti-Monitor.  All of this is further confused when Metron shows up and intercedes against the plans of others, although this has an unexpected outcome.

There will likely be those who think that this issue is weaker compared to those that led into it.  In a sense it is, because this story arc is based on big epic moves, and this issue doesn’t really contain any.  What it does provide though are the plot elements required for this story arc to become something pretty amazing.  In other words, there are no “wow” moments here, but it is setting them up, and in a pretty impressive way.

Story: Geoff Johns Art: Jason Fabok
Story: 8.7 Art: 8.7 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Justice League #40

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jl040At its roots there can be said to be no better team book in comics than the Justice League.  As the hero team which more or less spawned every other hero team, either as a reaction or counter-reaction, the League was the first to define the application of superpowered individuals together, and its approach to the medium is seminal.  Although it was later passed by other team books (X-Men and Avengers) there is something about the group that speaks to a greater story.  As has been said before, DC is the realm of the myths, whereas Marvel is the realm of the everyday.  This means that Marvel stories can be more approachable, but when DC throws everything it has at its heroes, the greater stories result.  Throw in the fact that series writer Geoff Johns often does best when he goes big, and this is the setup for what could be one of the more memorable stories in the team’s history, and definitely one that has been begging to be told since the New 52 relaunch.

Such is the setup for the upcoming Darkseid War, but this issue does not take the expected turn towards a super throwdown.  Instead it focuses on an unlikely conduit for the development of the story, the enigmatic Metron.  He is perhaps never shown to be more enticing than he is here, shown as a ttrue observer, acting only in the case of events which could cause him to lose the ability to observe.  Such has been the case before when he brokered the infamous peace between the Highfather and Darkseid, resulting in the exchange of Orion and Mister Miracle, and such would seem to be the case here as he intervenes on behalf of Earth and the oncoming battle with an unexpected foe.  In the process he revisits some of the notable events of DC Comics history, the best of the best of the crossovers, referencing Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, and Flashpoint (and the not so great Convergence.)  In so doing he sets the stage and makes some interesting revelations about the fate of Earth and those that threaten it.

Simply put, those is Johns doing what he does best.  While he might occasionally stumble with presenting approachable characters, there is no one better at putting together a big story like this among comics big two.  He pulled it off numerous times on his run on Green Lantern, and Flashpoint was a decent enough entry in the sequence of the universe changing crossovers.  It is a shame that Covergence is getting all of the focus at the moment and that something like this was not approached instead (as it would have been easy to change to the plot of Convergence to fit this plot.)  As it stands this is a near perfect lead in to the Darkseid War, and one that should get the fans excited for what is to come.

Story: Geoff Johns Art: Kevin Maguire, Phil Jimenez, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins, Jason Fabok, Jim Lee
Story: 9.6 Art: 9.6 Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy