[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Stephen Byrne
Summary
The Ray has quit the Justice League of America! Taking some time off in his hometown city of Vanity, Ray comes across a dangerous sect of worshippers known as the Sons of Earth who’ve taken some police officers hostage! Can Ray save the hostages even with all of the chaos that’s going on in his personal life?
Positives
Steve Orlando basically shows us the inside relationships of the Justice League of America in this issue. Xenos and Ray have a falling out over Xenos’ dedication to the League, while Ray has become disheartened by the teammates falling out with each other. It’s clear the Ray truly is the heart of this team and wants to see the League reach it’s greatest potential. However with Batman gone on his own solo mission, the League is slowly coming apart. Frost and Ryan Choi, aka The Atom, are even having problems as Frost considers returning to Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad. Ryan, of course, is trying to talk her out of it, but Frost is slowly realizing that the League isn’t where she belongs–however I hope she’s wrong.
Negatives
My only complaint with this issue is about the Sons of Earth themselves. Thanks to the introduction of a new hero known as Aztek, Ray faces off against these foes and defeats them, but we know very little about who they are or where they come from. Ray’s city has been overrun with these zealots for weeks and Aztek provides us with some history about them, though not enough. Hopefully Ray will encounter these members at some point in the future, especially since they seem to be linked to Aztek in some way.
Verdict
Overall Justice League of America #21 was a good read. Orlando gives us plenty of action, a great story between characters, and I liked the introduction of Aztek as well. I’m hoping that we see another team up between Aztek and Ray again at some point as Orlando did a great job of having them work together to defeat the Sons of Earth. Although Ray has taken some time off from the League, hopefully Orlando has him come back soon.
