Justice League embarks on Darkseid War in Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns, art by Jason Fabok,
This is a doozy. Justice League #41 opens grimly with a double murder of a couple by Kanto and Lashina as they search for someone named Myrina Black. We next see Mr. Miracle, Scott Free himself maneuvering through Apokolips and tells of his plans to foil Darkeid’s own retaliation 
against Earth. Meanwhile on Earth The Justice League investigates the murder and tries to trace the Boom Tube activity through Cyborg. Diana narrates so it’s refreshing to see her get some attention. Meanwhile Superman and Lex discuss Neutron and his move from A.R.G.U.S. to Lexcorp. Neutron is not doing well medically.
Meanwhile Scott finds information left by Himon and files on Myrna Black, but as he does Darkseid appears himself and attacks. He manages to escape with his Mother Boxx however and we are brought back to the Justice League, where they find out that Kanto and Lashina are on a killing spree of all women named Myrina Black in the United States. Jessica Cruz states her ring, which is rather unpredicable has gone strangely quiet. Suddenly from within Barry, Grail uses him (from his mouth in particular) as a portal and pops out. It’s not pretty and he doesn’t look….too great after. Grail attacks. Meanwhile an injured Scott is boom tubed to the nearest location of Lashina and Kanto’s murdering spree. They attack. We are then sent back to the Justice League where after Grail attacks Cyborg it’s revealed Cyborg’s Apokolipsian upgrades have started to regrow his body. Shazam gets her away from Cyborg but she retaliates and stabs him through with her blade. Wonder Woman’s lasso won’t work on Grail and her intercom gets cut off, as reported by Lena whilst Superman and Lex argue over Lex implenting his new armor to battle the disturbance. Superman denounces his involvement and says he doesn’t want him on the League any longer and Lex says he has no say, when suddenly he is shot by Lena. Grail continues her beat down of the League and uses Jessica’s ring to unleash “shadows” and summons The Destroyer himself The Anti-Monitor. Meanwhile the evil Justice Lords all react in their cells, sensing something. Lena uses a mother boxx (for Darkseid!) and zaps Lex and Superman to an unknown locale. Meanwhile Scott asks his to steal 
Lakshina and Kanto’s coordinate lists and boom tube him out of there. He does and he comes face to face with a giant griffin and the Amazon Myrina Black herself.
POSITIVES
Phew that’s a mouthful. This issue was jammed packed with content it’s actually rather impressive how much Johns managed to fit in and it be rather clear and not seem too weighted. Morrison in contrast jams in a lot of content but does it often rather abstractly so it often feels rather choppy. Not so here. It’s nice to have some clear continuity and pacing. I like the use of Scott as well, I can’t wait to see Barda should she show up, because Barda is a favorite. I really hope modern artists show her as being much taller as Scott because they used to be quite different sizes and builds and lately that difference has shrunken if not made Scott taller. Anyway, I really liked the investigation of the murders that the League was doing. I enjoy detective work and I enjoyed the small humanizing comments they made during the search of the house. Billy admitting he’s never seen a dead body before was a great touch (but hasn’t he seen….wait….okay I’ll run with it), after all he is…a boy.The art is still bold and weighty and the coloring and effects used in Apokolips are very pretty.
NEGATIVES
Grail is…how can I put this…yikes. She’s grim dark to meet all grim dark. She’s she-Lobo. Literally. 
She design and her overpowered maelstrom of havoc and possible murder (please don’t die Billy) is so Lobo-esque that it’s almost hard to take her seriously. The strange balance of realism and scifi that sort of defined the Amazo Virus arc has been completely thrown out the window for flat out guns barreled violent comics of the early 90s just with better art and it sort of has turned me off, but I cannot argue that Johns is good at certain elements of writing. The sheer mass of what occurs script-wise in this issue is again, really impressive and vaguely cinematic. It’s good, just….a bit much.
VERDICT
Stinging iodine Batman this is violent. I really would like something fresher than this “radical” extreme out of nowhere “daughter” to Darkseid pontificating everywhere which feels a bit…done. I’ve seen this before. It’s a trope. I’ve liked what Johns can do, I feel this is a bit heavy handed. The dynamic coloring and effects give this a flashy look though so I cannot deny the hard work that went into this issue.
