Justice League: Dream Girls #2 – Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, Steven Underwood, Morgan Hampton, Writers; Brandt&Stein, Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund, Vincent Cecil, Stephen Sadowski, Joe Quinones, Alitha Martinez, Artists; Dearbhla Kelly, Trish Mulvihill, Hi-Fi, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The first Pride miniseries to come out of DC instead of a single one-shot, this is definitely living up to the hype so far. Not only does it star the two most prominent trans heroines in comics, but it’s bringing in just about all the major queer heroes at DC for a big adventure centering on Galaxy and Dreamer. While they’re trapped in a dream world, the other Justice Leaguers are debating what to do with them. Dreamer is obviously a wanted woman, and Galaxy is seen as an incredibly powerful wild card. Jessica Cruz and Green Arrow both take the opposite sides and nearly come to blows over it, with the debate becoming deeply personal for both of them – likely due to past trauma.
However, that’s nothing compared to what’s going on inside the dreamscape. As Dreamer and Galaxy are catapulted from one reality to another, with dramatically shifting art styles featuring some of the best in the business – Hard-Traveling Heroes! Blue and Gold! Wild West Shootouts! – we get to the root of who’s causing this. The Key continues to stalk them, manipulating them, but he might not be powerful enough to mastermind this. I have to congratulate the creative team for being willing to go deep and uncomfortable with some of the conversations here, letting the despair Dreamer is feeling really play out and showing us some of the darkest thoughts that someone battling to be seen as a person might feel.
The Jo Mullein backup by Underwood, Hampton, and Martinez is strong as well, working as a prologue to the current battle for the emotional entities. Jo is using the Lanterns’ “Holodeck” of sorts to exorcise some of her personal demons, revisiting her past and raising the ire of some of the other Lantern Corps, who want their turn. Jo hasn’t had a spotlight in the main continuity in a while, so this is well overdue and a good addition to the mythos.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
