DC This Week Roundup – Endings and Dreams

Justice League #52 – Jeff Loveness, Writer; Robson Rocha, Penciller; Daniel Henriques, Inker; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist

Ray – 8/10

Ray: It’s always a hard task to follow up on a classic story, but Jeff Loveness does an effective job with his Black Mercy-centric Justice League horror tale. When we last left off, the League encountered a planet of the parasitic plant that aggressively trapped them. But it’s only one Leaguer who this issue focuses on – Batman, as he deals with a vision of his mother trying to convince him to walk away from being Batman. It’s kind of insidious, because the things she says have a glimmer of truth to them. We get some visions of the possible futures of Batman, along with ones we already know, but the issue goes rather fast and the explanation for their escape is pretty casual. What does work, though? A great segment at the end that has Batman and Superman talking out their experiences with Black Mercy and how Batman can best make his parents’ loss matter. Loveness knows his DC characters and I’d love to see him get a longer run soon.

The Terrifics #30 – Gene Luen Yang, Writer; Sergio Davila, Penciller; Vicente Cifuentes, Inker; Protobunker, Colorist

Ray – 8/10

Ray: Under both Jeff Lemire and Gene Luen Yang, this has been one of DC’s most inventive and clever books. But with this final issue, we see the pressure of ending the series bog the issue down a little bit. With only 22 pages to wrap things up, there is a lot to do as the heroes have to survive an attack in space and keep the evil Sebastian Stagg from taking over Terrifitech. To his credit, Yang manages to get an enormous amount of story into this issue, and most of the heroes get some good moments, especially Phantom Girl and Metamorpho. But around the time Parasite heads start raining down from the sky and hijacking people, it starts to feel a little frantic. Much of the resolution happens off screen, obviously a concession to the reality of the limited run. If it had been allowed to breathe a little more, it could have been great. As it is, I’d love to see Yang put on a bigger book soon – he’s one of DC’s best talents between this run and Superman Smashes the Klan.

The Dreaming: Waking Hours #2 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Nick Robles, Artist; Mat Lopes, Colorist

Ray – 8.5/10

Ray: A fascinating, much more personal look at the world of the Dreaming continues to unfold in this new series by G. Willow Wilson and Nick Robles. The story of a denizen of the Dreaming and a human who switch places, the tale of the young woman who is trapped in a Escher-esque house with the task of unraveling Shakespeare’s true identity is pretty intriguing. However, it’s the story of Ruin that really sells this book. The Nightmare who fell in love with someone in the human world is a compelling lead, and his supporting characters – including a fallen angel and a transgender sorceress – are an appealingly diverse bunch as they try to take care of the human protagonist’s baby. It’s a little slow-moving, but it has one big advantage over the previous run. It’s incredibly human and gets you into the heads of its main character, making it an excellent entry point for the world of the Dreaming.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.