Justice League Incarnate #5 – Joshua Williamson/Dennis Culver, Writers; Andrei Bressan, Jesus Merino, Artists; Hi-Fi, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: When this miniseries began, it felt like a strange little epilogue to the Infinite Frontier story, with a more oddball team including President Superman and Captain Carrot. But as it went on, it became clear that something much bigger was going on. The appearance of the Great Darkness, an obscure but massively powerful villain, revealed a shared history going back to the very first Crisis. Now the heroes—minus Thomas Wayne, who died for what might be fourth or fifth time in this miniseries—are forced to rely on Darkseid to turn back the tide. This doesn’t go too well, as Darkseid soon finds himself just another pawn of the Great Darkness. This leads to a crazy rush to escape a doomed world, a surprise promotion for reluctant ally Orion—and a journey into another world to rescue the vanished Barry Allen. Remember when that was the focus of this series? It’s a little odd that Barry hasn’t played a role here for a while.
But when he shows up again, it’s fascinating. He’s stuck on a world where everything seems perfect—Wallace is a little boy who worships him, his mother is alive, and everyone smiles all the time. Adding to the effect, this segment is colored in a way that calls back to classic 1950s comics. And that’s where we first meet our next big DC villain—Pariah, the mysterious relic from Crisis on Infinite Earths. He makes for a creepy presence, one who’s building a massive army to march on the DCU. His motivation seems oddly similar to Superboy Prime so far, right down to the retro aesthetic, but I’m sure Josh Williamson has some fascinating things planned for the character down the line. Overall, this final issue seems a little hurried at times, likely due to having to do so much to set up the next chapter. But Williamson is probably the top guy for DC lore right now, and he’s done more than enough to get me stoked for Dark Crisis.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
