Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE: LAST RIDE #6
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Miguel Mendonca
Colours: Enrica Angiolini
Letters: AndWorld Design
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Justice League: Last Ride #6: The Justice League is stranded on an Apokolips that’s deadlier than ever, with Earth in its crosshairs! And while the League battles with hordes and the clock, they’re presented with the ultimate quandary-protect the galaxy’s most ruthless bounty hunter Lobo, sacrifice him, or do something…more unspeakable! Even worse, they must do all of this while dealing with a traitor in their midst! Will they be too late, since all roads lead…to Darkseid?
Positives
In Justice League: Last Ride #6, the true villain is revealed, as Darkseid returns from the dead. I had a feeling that the League hadn’t seen the last of the malevolent New God, but when Hal and Batman uncovered a lab full of cloned Darkseid bodies, that confirmed it. However, what is surprising is how Darkseid defeated death.
Darkseid’s mind had survived by possessing Hal, and he enacted a plan that set up the events of this series. Darkseid’s plan was designed to restore himself and Apokolips – and also to take revenge on the Justice League. And now the League has to contend with a Green Lantern-powered Darkseid. I wondered why Hal changed his costume when no one else had. In retrospect, I can see that it was a subtle hint that something was off about Hal, but it makes sense now.
I was rather amused by the tactic employed by Batman to increase their chances of winning the fight against Darkseid. Realizing that Lobo’s capture and trial were merely a ruse, Batman opts to hire the bounty hunter to help them face the horde of enemies arrayed against the League. Batman, prepared for any eventuality, reveals that he has two million Thanagarian credits to pay Lobo with – with the stipulation of no killing.
Positives Cont.
However, Darkseid isn’t the only one to return from the dead in this issue. As it appears that along with the population of Apokolips, Darkseid has also revived the essence of Martian Manhunter. The issue ends with J’onn manifesting in the form of Green Lantern energy. J’onn warns Darkseid, “You may have outrun death…but as long as we exist…you will not outrun Justice.
With Lobo and J’onn fighting with them, this gives the League some hope of success, but the odds are still against them. And given that Zdarsky’s series is set in a possible future timeline, there’s no assurance that they are going to win – or that any of them are even going to survive. But with one issue left, we don’t have to wait much longer to find out how this story ends.
Miguel Mendonca’s art continues to impress me. All the characters are perfectly depicted. And he is doing a stellar job of conveying the sheer power being wielded in what may be the League’s last battle. A battle on this scale requires a supremely talented artist, and Mendonca has risen to that challenge.
Negatives
The only complaint I have is that Zdarsky and Mendonca’s series is only a limited miniseries. I really wish they were the creative team on the ongoing Justice League title.
Verdict
In Justice League: Last Ride #6, Chip Zdarsky has brilliantly set his story for next month’s conclusion. I have no doubts that Zdarsky can provide a suitably epic ending to this brilliant story. I can hardly wait to see how what he’s got planned.
