Justice League #3 – Scott Snyder, Writer; Jorge Jimenez, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: As Scott Snyder continues to unfold his epic Justice League run, this is easily the most action-driven issue yet. That’s both a plus and a minus – it’s spectacular, but it also feels like the fastest read and the least consequential story yet. This is a direct sequel from what we saw unfold in Metal and No Justice, as the new powers leaking from beyond the Source Wall start to wreak havoc on both heroes and villains alike. When we last left off, John Stewart had been exposed to the Ultraviolet Lantern spectrum, and emerged from it changed for the worse. A brief flashback shows Sinestro as a young explorer, before he ever inherited a Lantern ring, and it adds a new level of backstory – no wonder he’s always chasing after forbidden powers. This is what he’s been driven to do ever since he was young. The fight with the corrupted John looks great, but I kind of wish we were given more of what the Ultraviolet Spectrum does besides “It turns you evil”.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team, including Superman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, and Hawkgirl, are investigating the mysterious Totality. Superman and Martian Manhunter are inside the strange new environment, which reminds me a bit of what we saw in the mutation-horror thriller Annihilation earlier this year, while Batman and Hawkgirl are busy shrunken in their immune systems trying to protect them from mutation. It’s a fun dynamic with shades of classic movies like Fantastic Voyage. Snyder’s clearly having fun with genre-movie elements in this issue, but I think the thing I missed was, for the most part, the villains. Snyder’s Luthor is exactly the right kind of evil mastermind, and the new dynamic of the Legion of Doom has been great so far. They only appear briefly this issue, though, with Sinestro showing up at the end to provide some exposition. This is still a very strong issue, as easily my favorite traditional Justice League run in years continues to unfold. Snyder is revealing a long game here, and I’m definitely along for the ride, even if it dipped a bit from last issue for me.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
