With the threat of danger lurking in the background, the good guys take a little time out for some awkward romantic entanglements.
What They Say:
Madame Xanadu continues guiding the world’s darkest heroes in their struggle against evil. But will John Constantine, Zatanna, Shade the Changing Man and the others join forces in time to defeat the dangerous Enchantress before she destroys the world as we know it?
The Review:
One of the books that hit all the right notes for me in its launch issue was Justice League Dark. And after reading that, I went back to the Madame Xanadu series from a few years ago and fell even more in love with the cast. With a Vertigo feeling yet connected to the mainstream DC Comics world, Justice League Dark gave me exactly what I was looking for and hoping for. The book went big as it went along and we got a good feel for the kind of insanity that was about to come from whatever it is that the Enchantress has gotten herself involved with this time. While that book focused on the cast in general but also with Superman, Cyborg and Wonder Woman, this one takes a very different approach to it.
The bookends aspect of it is definitely appealing as it involves Zatanna finding the results of what’s happened so far as the tentacle-like aspect of it unfurls over a portion of the city. It’s disturbing looking, much as we saw differently in the first issue, and Zatanna understands the dangers of it all too well and knows that she’s going to need to call on others to help deal with it. Others like her who are damaged and broken in a way that allows them to go the distance to deal with someone like the Enchantress in this state. Zatanna has long been a favorite of mine, whether in fishnets or in her leather biker outfit here, and her approach to dealing with the Enchantress works well as she wants to understand it while making sure to protect herself. The bookends aspect of her story helps to tie everything together, as well as a neat little disconnected moment with Constantine in the middle that deals with the larger storyline but from another angle that isn’t quite clear yet.
What’s within these bookends though, well, that’s what got me hooked deeper into the series because it wants to deal with character material early on. While I admit that I want to see more big set pieces within a series like this, I also want to see the characters and where it wants to go with the “mature” darker side. And it doesn’t disappoint as it focuses on Dawn Granger and Boston Brand. I’m curious how well it connects to the Hawk & Dove book, but it’s great to see how Boston is trying to go further with his relationship with her that developed during Brightest Day, and to make it something physical. The two definitely have gotten close and really connected but it can’t be consummated because he is, well, Deadman and has no body of his own. His attempts to fix that are amusing but show his lack of thinking things through when it comes to the real world. Their relationship is one that I really want to see followed through on, but I also like the obliviousness of Boston when he tries to go for the “male fantasy” angle further on when a different possibility enters the picture. I can see why this would frustrate people with how it plays out, but I loved it.
Digital Notes:
This comiXology edition of Justice League Dark comes with the main cover as released with the print edition and no other extras.
In Summary:
Justice League Dark continues to be one of my most anticipated titles of the monthly books I get and this one just reinforces it. The main storyline isn’t exactly pushed to the side but rather looked at from different angles before it all picks up again. I was surprised to see the book deal with Boston and Dawn so quickly, but I liked what it brought into play and gave us a chance to look at relationships among the power and supernatural. Constantine gets a nice plug here as well though he’s again just a very small part of the storyline so far that will hopefully be expanded sooner rather than later. Add in Zatanna and what she brings to the table along with a neat little moment with Madame Xanadu to hint at more of what’s to come and there’s a lot of very good elements here. It hasn’t come together, but the individual pieces are thoroughly enjoyable.
Grade: B+
