Justice League Unlimited #20 – Mark Waid, Writer; Dan Mora, Fico Ossio, Artists; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The villain amnesty program has delivered great results for the Justice League so far, despite Luthor’s machinations revealing it to the public and causing no shortage of uproar. But all good things come to an end, and the different worldviews of heroes and villains collide as the League deals with the return of Brainiac Queen. The pawn of Amanda Waller, who views the tyrant as her mother, has revived and seemingly absorbed Air Wave while he’s in his non-corporeal form. That kid has really been going through it since this title began. Batman wants to break through to Brainiac Queen, see if they can help her remember that Waller manipulated her – and above all, he wants Luthor kept out of this, as he knows the temptation will be far too much for him. But Luthor gets what Luthor wants, and he’s bringing along a surprise guest to help with his plans.
This book has had a lot of great deep cuts, so the addition of Warp as a tool Luthor wants to use is an excellent pull. Things go sideways in a hurry, and by the end, Brainiac Queen isn’t just back – she’s heavily powered up. The B-plot is just as compelling, finding Guy Gardner and his mission stranded on an alien planet after a crash caused by another alien vessel. The aliens turn out to be fairly reasonable, but there’s just one problem – Guy’s ship was carrying the Justice League power bank to its safe hiding place, and now it’s been detonated on this alien world – meaning that hundreds of thousands of alien organisms are now holding backups of the Justice League’s powers, creating incredibly dangerous super-wildlife. Both plots perfectly sum up how to do a team book when you can’t exactly do status quo changing stories for main characters – just tell a big, crazy adventure where anything goes.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
