Justice League Infinity #4 – JM DeMatteis, James Tucker, Writers; Ethen Beavers, Artist; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: The strangest issue of the series so far is also a testament to its quality, because only a book with a top-tier creative team would have been able to pull this off without being pure cringe. Most of the team barely appears this issue, heading into the multiverse in a dangerous spaceship trip, barely held together by J’onn J’onnz’ psychic energy. There’s a great moment between J’onn and Bruce this issue, but this is really Diana’s spotlight. We last saw her being taken by the strange multiversal energy caused by Amazo, and winding up in a mysterious reality populated by Darkseid—and it seems, only him. The post-apocalyptic world was destroyed by the anti-life equation long ago, leaving Darkseid as the only living thing left—and deeply regretting his choices. This is essentially a redemption arc for this Darkseid, casting him as a tragic figure who got what he always wanted and lost everything.
But how it plays out is…strange. Did you ever imagine a Darkseid/Wonder Woman Beauty and the Beast pastiche would be written? Flashbacks show that after the great Earth/Apokalips war, Wonder Woman sought peace and came to Apokalips as an ambassador. There, she opened Darkseid’s eyes and heart—but he never forgot his ultimate goal, and eventually unlocked the anti-life equation with tragic consequences. Despite the very strange concept, Diana is written well here, at first distrusting this strange Darkseid before beginning to believe him. The series definitely knows it’s DCAU lore, calling back to multiple classic episodes, and delivers a strong emotional catharsis before the twist ending that brings in some major new players. It’s not anything I expected to read when opening this, but the two players in this issue are both strongly written and surprisingly compelling.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
