[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colors: Alejandro Sanchez
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Did you read the write-up on issue #5? Do you really think anything’s gotten better for the Justice League in the past two weeks? Still Force? Still a thing! Ultraviolet Galaxy Lantern? Keeps attacking! Sinestro? Total garbage! Lex Luthor and Joker? Beating everyone to the Source Wall piece. If that happens? You don’t wanna know.
Positives
There’s a lot to unpack in this story, but it’s well worth the effort. The Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman are trapped, being kept motionless by the Still Force. Cyborg and John Stewart are holding off an attack by Sinestro’s attack on the Hall of Justice, while Ultraviolet Lantern sun Umbrax converts the Earth’s population into Ultraviolet Lanterns. And while all this is going on, Lex Luthor and the Joker are controlling Superman and Martian Manhunter from inside their brains.
Snyder offers a little insight to the Joker. The narration offers a few different possible origins for the Joker, then undercuts the speculation with the observation, “The best jokes have many setups. The punch line is what matters.” Where the Joker came from is irrelevant, it’s what he is now and what he is doing that matter. The Joker has always been a character that lives in the moment. His particular brand of insanity can shift from one day to the next, and Batman has to deal with however it manifests.
Speaking of Batman, his fight with Luthor is very entertaining. Some writers write Batman as humourless, but Batman does drop a number of snarky comments as he battles Luthor. When Luthor expresses surprise that Batman would dare to bring a piece of Kryptonite into Superman’s body, saying “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”, Batman replies to this cliché with “You do. So here I am. Hi.”
The League comes up with an interesting strategy for overcoming the forces they are facing. When it appears that resisting them is making these forces stronger, they try the opposite tactic by giving into the forces, and attempting to make use of them. So, the Martian Manhunter to counteract Umbrax, while the Flash submits to the Still Force, and John Stewart attempts to get the new Ultraviolet Lanterns to accept their dark feelings and turn them into strength.
And how can John get to all of them in time to do so? Well, it looks like we finally have an answer to why the Flash would need a Flashmobile.
I’m not sure what it portends for next issue, but their combined efforts manage to have a surprising effect. It appears that the Earth itself transforms into a White Lantern. Will this development give the League enough leverage to defeat thwart the Legion of Doom, or is there more to Luthor’s plan that has yet to be revealed.
Negatives
As I said, there’s a lot to unpack in this story. So readers who just want a light entertaining story might be disappointed. This story requires you to read it carefully and to think. Unfortunately, I think this might cause problems with some of the younger readers. However, this is much less of a drawback nowadays, as DC’s audience has long since shifted towards an older audience.
However, it also means that a title like this doesn’t make a very good jumping-on point for new readers. Giving a new reader a book like this would be essentially throwing them in at the deep end.
Verdict
While this may not be a great selection for a new or younger reader, it still is a great story for fans that enjoy sinking their teeth into a deeper story, especially if they like adventures on a huge, cosmic scale. This title has definitely brought DC’s premier team back to the forefront of DC’s lineup.
