Justice League Unlimited #19 – Mark Waid, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The concept of villain amnesty was one of the most interesting developments to come out of the DCU since DC KO, a top-secret project to allow villains who wanted to work against Darkseid’s larger plot to join the Justice League under strict conditions. Or at least, it was top-secret – until Lex Luthor leaked it to the press, tired of not getting recognition for his heroics. That’s set the public into a fury, assuming that the worst of the worst is getting a free pass – and villains like Neutron and Felix Faust assuming the same thing, trying to pull off high-level crimes while claiming amnesty. Even some heroes, primarily Superboy, disagree with the decision and think the League’s lost the plot. But while the heroes try to save their reputation and defend their decisions (with even one of Batman’s closet friends not giving him the benefit of the doubt), Luthor sees nothing but opportunity here.
The thing about Luthor is he’s always motivated by exactly one thing – whatever works best for his benefit. He’s genuinely committed to the program because it gives him access to the halls of power, so he and Starro are more than happy to take the lead against this issue’s supervillain threat. And when the opportunity presents itself, Luthor pulls off a PR coup that not only leaves him smelling like a rose, but sets the villain amnesty program into stone in a way that benefits him most of all. At the same time, there’s a plot involving Guy Gardner and Mr. Terrific as they attempt to secure the DCU’s new power-bank backup containing a way to restore the superpowers of anyone who loses them, but their mission to Oa winds up getting interrupted by an alien crash-landing on a primordial world. This series balances a cast of dozens and does it incredibly well with some great old-school flair.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
