Review – Justice League #71: Fate’s Last Stand

Justice League #71 – Brian Michael Bendis/Ram V, Writer; Phil Hester/Eric Gapstur, Sumit Kumar, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist

Ray – 8/10

Ray: Brian Michael Bendis’ Justice League run is coming to an end in a few months, and it’s hard to say what the main thrust of it has been. That continues this issue, as the heroes go up against the Royal Flush Gang, which has managed to steal the Fortress of Solitude. It’s caused a lot of problems, but it’s also not a real threat—at least not on purpose. The gang is more terrified by what they’ve accomplished than anything, and a series of massive splash pages show just how much cleaning up of massive threats the heroes have to do. Besides that, the heroes involved in Checkmate debate what to do with Daemon Rose, Lois’ younger brother, and the reveal of how the League has been funded during this period has an intriguing twist. Bendis’ biggest strength during this arc has been dialogue, and having newbies like Naomi and wild cards like Black Adam on the team add some interesting wrinkles.

But the real strength of this issue comes in the backup, which is the conclusion of Justice League Dark by Ram V and Sumit Kumar. This has been several years in the making, since not long after the Rebirth era, and V took over for James Tynion IV. The arc before this was action-packed, so V smartly takes this final chapter after the defeat of Merlin to give us some great character moments. Khalid Nassour is now the official new Doctor Fate, having taken up the banner for his mentor Kent Nelson, and stands alone in the Tower of Fate in a stunning two-page spread. But before he brings the curtain down, he visits each of his former teammates one last time to tie up some plot threads. The Zatanna page is probably the most impressive, and the Detective Chimp one the most emotional. Between this and The Swamp Thing, V has done some amazing things for the darker corners of the DCU.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.