[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artists: Alvaro Martinez Bueno & Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Summary
“The Witching Hour” part three! Everything the Justice League Dark thought they knew about Wonder Woman and Hecate has proven to be wrong…and the Parliament of Trees is about to pay the price! Hecate knows this world isn’t strong enough to resist the Otherkind, so she’s going to burn it down and replace it with a world of her own…starting with that ancient grove!
Positives
The cover by Riley Rossmo is very cool. It’s very stylized and creepy. I like it a lot.
The interior art is also quite good. This team conveys the scope and power of the conflict in an effective manner. It’s detailed well and provides thrilling action.
Ari Bard and I collaborated on this review. He felt that the inclusion of Black Orchid was an ingenious choice to play into this story. It gives Swamp Thing more of a personal stake in the events which works.
Additionally, the issue effectively raises the stakes. The team is separated by three different circumstances that pretty much leaves Constantine and Zatanna on their own.
I feel like the dialogue is a lot better in this issue than it was in the last issue of Wonder Woman. The voices are much more distinctive. Constantine especially feels more in line with his usual personality.
Negatives
While the narration is better than the previous issues, the beginning is still front loaded with it. Most of it is exposition to explain what has been happening. I understand why but it’s still tedious. I wish DC would just have a recap page like Marvel books so writers didn’t have to resort is huge blocks of narration to catch readers up.
Verdict
This is a very good issue. It takes the story in a natural direction that continues to raises the stakes and has a lot of fun with it. The over the top action is enjoyable paired with good art. It’s a little slow at first with the long recap but it quickly picks up and is a very enjoyable read.
