Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #45
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist and Cover: Francis Manapul
Colors: Francis Manapul with Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
There have been no quiet moments in the “Darkseid War”. Last issue had a surprise death when Darkseid himself bit the big one. How can one have a war when the person it was named after is dead? Easy! Just turn various members of the Justice League into Gods, that’s how. And that’s not counting their current God, Wonder Woman.
What I Liked
DC should have never put Francis Manapul on Justice League cause now I don’t want him to ever leave! And this is coming from someone who has been loving Jason Fabok’s work. I’ve been a fan of Manapul since his run on The Flash. The man is an artistic genius. His combination of line work and coloring brings a unique look to each comic he touches. I think it is the colors that truly makes everything stand out. What Manapul’s art lacks from in-depth backgrounds, he more than makes up for it with expressive coloring.
Geoff Johns takes this issue to setup new status quos for Flash, Superman, Batman (really setup in previous issues), Shazam, and Lex Luthor. All are bestowed titles of various Gods. The Flash gets some juicy screen time as Black Racer, the man/God that killed Darkseid. Superman as the God of Strength might be my favorite. He knows he’s the Alpha Male and has no problem letting Luthor know it.
What I Didn’t Like
While I praised the colors earlier, there were points when they overpowered an image. The best example of this was showing Darkseid with energy pouring out of the wound in his body. The powerful colors help show how much energy was stored in Darkseid, but it made it hard to make out the form of his body in one two-page spread.
More time needs to be given to Grail and the Anti-Monitor. We learned part of Grail’s origin at the beginning of the “Darkseid War”, but not much since.
Timdogg
#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE
