Wednesday 11 September 2013

Justice League Dark #22 Review

Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Mikel Janin

This has been one of the more surprising series I've read, as it's been amazing, and I have loved every issue since Jeff Lemire took over. I have however been more interested in the crossover that it's a part of, Trinity War, and am happy to see the Justice League Dark finally have a proper role in it.

Plot


As Wonder Woman goes to the Justice League Dark for help, Phantom Stranger warns the other Justice League members to stop her, whilst the Question (Vic Sage) tries to help Superman.

Review


This was an amazing issue, and a great continuation from the last issue, which was slightly slow. Jeff Lemire has done a superb job with this issue, balancing it perfectly, by having enough action to keep it entertaining, and exciting, whilst also making some shocking changes to keep the story dynamic, interesting, and even more exciting. Lemire has also done a great job of adding more mystery to the story, making me question even more about what is actually behind this, and what will happen next. He also added a lot of tension, and drama, and although this issue didn't have as much excitement as the first part, it was just as exciting due to the changes made.

Mikel Janin once again amazes me with his great artwork, as although he's always done a great job of drawing the JLD, I wasn't sure if he could keep the same level of quality when it comes to adding more characters. I however should have never doubted him, as his art was amazing, and he did a great job with all the characters, and I'm sure he'd do a great job on any Justice League title. His art was so fabulously detailed, with a nice crispness to it, as well as a very dynamic layout, which adds more drama to the story. Janin also did a great job of the small pieces of action in this issue, and overall made everything look spectacular, and intense.

Finally all of the Trinity of Sin have been shown in this series, with Phantom Stranger making his first appearance in this issue. The whole Trinity of Sin involvement was one of the key things that I was looking forward to with this series, as although Pandora is a fairly new character, I have always been interested in the Question, and Phantom Stranger, and although the later has had his own series for about a year, it's nice to see him in a story that I'm reading, as was seeing the Question in the New 52 for the first. I also found his presence in this issue to add more depth, and mystique to it, and also questioned why the JL had no problem trusting him.

This issue would continue Wonder Woman wanting the JLD's help, with every on bar John Constantine being happy to help. The conversation between Wonder Woman, and the JLD (Constantine in particular) was also interesting, and very entertaining, with tons of mood, and drama. I also stated the reasoning that the JLD were introduced last issue, which was looking for the missing Madame Xanadu, and although it was kind of obvious it was confirmed in this issue. It was also nice to see what actually happened to Xanadu, and the events shown just leave even more questions to be answered, keeping my interest.

Probably the most interesting event in this issue would be when the remaining Justice League members (from both teams), intercepted the JLD, leaving each team to decide what side they were on, forming two teams sharing members of each group. I found this very interspersing, and besides the tension it adds, it also leaves the question of what will come out of this. Another thing that I enjoyed about this entire situation was the interaction that everyone had with each other, but the one that appealed to me the most was between Constantine, and Zatanna, as I loved their interaction in the past, and have missed it since she left the JLD.

Final Verdict


This was a fantastic issue, and an fantastic continuation to the crossover. It may not have had as much action as the first part, but it made up in excitement with fabulous confrontations, and entertaining interactions. It also had a lot of drama, and mystery to it, with tons of depth as well, keeping me very interested in the further development of the story. Due to all this I'd highly recommend this issue, as well as the rest of the event, and hope that it has converted some off you into JLD fans.

Rating: 5/5

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