Justice League Unlimited #4 – Mark Waid, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The terror cult known as Inferno has been escalating since the first issue, but now their biggest attack yet begins – targeting a huge part of the global forest infrastructure and seemingly neutralizing Swamp Thing in the process. With the heroes battling a supernatural forest fire that’s raging out of control, they’re losing ground by the minute – so Mister Terrific seeks out an unusual ally in Tefe Holland. The daughter of the previous Swamp Thing, Tefe is a civilian – and not particularly happy to be pulled into Justice League nonsense. I have to say, I’m surprised by just how good this book and Waid’s work in particular is at including former Vertigo heroes and making them feel like part of the DCU. The plots neatly incorporate supernatural elements that call back to those classic 1980s and 90s stories without needing the more mature-readers content that often characterized those books.
The visuals by Dan Mora here are excellent – chaotic, but never incoherent like busy action scenes can sometimes be. The return of Swamp Thing to the fray is a brilliant visual, and it’s great to see some of the characters that Snyder and Soule created in cameos. Tefe Holland added a great burst of sarcastic energy to the book, even though it seems like she won’t be returning to the roster per her own issues. I was also a very big fan of the segment involving Batman tracking down J’onn, who has retreated from the team due to losing his telepathy as a result of Amanda Waller’s schemes. The conversation with them is a great look at both characters, and Waid has set up a ton of interesting subplots here. Next issue promises to reveal who’s behind Inferno – and maybe, how they got Air Wave on board to collaborate with them. Team books are always a little scattered, but this is a great one.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
