Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #33
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV
Artists: Bruno Redondo, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran
Colours: Hi-Fi
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Justice League #33: “The Justice Doom War” part four! Apex Lex Luthor is in ascendance, and he’s taking out the remaining members of the Justice League in the present just as his Legion of Doom is beating down the time-traveling heroes in both the past and the future. Batman, Superman and the rest of our heroes may have just figured out how Kamandi’s timeline works when terrible Hypertime quakes rattle their existence, threatening to strand them far from their own time. Meanwhile, the Flash, Green Lantern and the Justice Society take another leap through time, heading for…ancient Atlantis?
Positives
The Justice League has one chance to defeat Perpetua, which depends on precise timing. However, Hawkgirl endangers this by letting her anger get the best of her. In her anger, she unleashes the power of her Nth metal wings prematurely, so that she can get revenge on Lex Luthor for ending Martian Manhunter’s existence. Will the League still be able to pull off their plan, or has Hawkgirl handed the ultimate victory over to the force of Doom?
The World Forger, Monitor, and Anti-Monitor are shown merging into a single powerful being, the Ultra-Monitor. This gestalt being rivals Perpetua’s power, and thus might be the most powerful being in the Multiverse. I can’t help but wonder if the brothers are permanently merged and if he might prove a potential threat in the future. The brothers are aligned with the League for the moment, but whose to say they will remain so after Perpetua has been defeated.
Once again, the high point of the issue is getting to see the Justice Society in their prime. The JSA has been absent from the DCU for too long, and I hope we’ll get their proper return to the present-day DC Universe in the near future.
I especially like the indications that the Justice Society heroes feel a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. They are shown at an early point in their career, and they are being hit with a lot of new information in a very short time. It is understandable that they might be feeling a little out of their depth. But, true to form, the Justice Society doesn’t shy away from any threat, no matter how intimidating it may be.
Positives Cont.
I especially like the exchange between Green Lantern John Stewart and his Golden Age predecessor. Even though this is a young Alan Scott, he still offers sage wisdom to John, as an echo, or foreshadowing, of how the JSA members will act as mentors to their JLA counterparts.
And once again, Snyder and Tynion expand the massive cast of characters in the story. They bring in two more teams. One is a new team from the past and aligned with Doom. The other is a familiar team from the future and aligned with Justice.
Vandal Savage’s Legionnaire’s Club looks intriguing. Although this is a past version of Savage, I knew that we had not seen the last of him. We aren’t introduced to his team, but based on appearance alone, they look like quite the formidable group of villains.
The other is yet another incarnation of the Justice League, the Justice League Beyond from the future timeline of Batman Beyond. Without a doubt, these heroes will prove a powerful addition to the forces of Justice.
Negatives
While the huge cast gives us a chance to see the return of many old favourites and fascinating new characters, this is getting to be a very crowded book. This means that a lot of these characters aren’t getting much individual focus.
Seeing the JSA present makes me wish we could have gotten a team-up focusing on just the two teams. It would be nice if we could see the full lineup of both teams getting to interact. The same is true for the Justice League Beyond. Hopefully, after the dust settles, we might finally get to see these team-up stories.
Verdict
Just when you think the story must be reaching its climax, Snyder and Tynion manage to throw in some new development to take the story up to yet another level. They set out to give us the ultimate high-stakes event possible and have thus far been successful in doing so. Justice League is 2019’s must read title.