Justice League Odyssey #20 – Dan Abnett, Writer; Cliff Richards, Artist; Rain Beredo, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Ever since it turned Starfire, Azrael, and maybe Cyborg into agents of Darkseid and stranded Jessica Cruz with a new team of misfits, villains, and murder kitties, this title has really found its groove. That continues with this tense issue that pushes the battle against Darkseid to a crucible. Starfire and Azrael have invaded, with Starfire seemingly being killed and Azrael pushed Jessica to her limit as she desperately tries to remind him of who he was before the corruption. It fails, and Jessica is forced to realize that her new allies do not value the lives of her old ones in the larger battle. With Epoch ready to rewrite time in order to erase Darkseid’s victory, Jessica comes up with a much riskier plan to save the day – use his time travel abilities to send a message to her old team in the path, keeping them from ever being tricked into helping Darkseid assemble Sepulkore.
This plot starts off light, with the characters hacking Gamma Knife’s sarcastic drone to serve as their beacon. But it turns surprisingly dark when Jessica finds herself back at the beginning of the series – only to find that none of her teammates can hear her due to a glitch in the frequency. Watching her desperately try to reach them is one of the most affecting scenes of the issue, but it turns out that it wasn’t only human ears listening. Jessica’s been working to reach Cyborg since he was transformed, and this issue has one last twist up its sleeve. But it seems like the final showdown is about to begin, as Darkseid arrives with an army in tow on the last page. Needs more Dex-Starr almost destroying the timeline due to cat instincts, but this series is turning into something pretty compelling. I do get the feeling it’s nearing the end of its run, just because of the pace of the story.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
