Justice League 2022 Annual #1 – Brian Michael Bendis, Writer; Sanford Greene, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Bendis is wrapping up his run on Justice League shortly, but he does have an oversized annual before he goes—and he’s got Bitter Root co-creator Sanford Greene on art to back him up on this issue. Greene is clearly the big draw here, with fun and kinetic art that’s incredibly expressive with a huge cast of characters. The plot is chaotic, more so than Bendis’ stories usually are. It all starts with a surprise party for Diana’s return, only for it to be interrupted by OMAC in search of Hawkgirl. This leads to a much bigger time-travel jaunt involving characters from around the DCU, including most pivotal the time-lord Epoch—in more than one form. There are a lot of plot elements in this issue, and that means a lot of Bendis-style exposition needed to explain everything. But there are also a lot of little details dropped through the issue, particularly about Naomi and Black Adam, that make this one of the most enjoyable issues of the run in a while – just in time for the finale, and another issue this week.
Justice League #72 – Brian Michael Bendis, Writer; Szymon Kudranski, Emanuela Lupacchino/Wade Von Grawbadger, Artists; Hi-Fi, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: The final arc of Bendis’ Justice League kicks off with what feels much more like a Justice League Dark story, as Szymon Kudranski illustrates the tale of Zatanna, Fate and Xanadu all being haunted by the same terrifying vision of a powerful enemy—but that enemy may be Black Adam, pulling in the main League. It doesn’t take long to reveal that the true source of the threat is Xanadoth, the original Lord of Chaos, who has returned from an extended entombment. But she has a particular host in mind—and doesn’t intend to take no for an answer no matter how much Black Adam resists. This is a large-scale story, but it has some surprisingly nice quiet moments when we see the entire Justice League at a charity fair to boost their public image. The balance between the large-scale action and the small-scale character bits is what makes this run work, but with only two issues left it feels like this arc might need a speedrun.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
