Review: Justice League Dark #23
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Ram V & James Tynion IV
Artist: Kyle Holtz
Colorist: June Chung
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
“The Parliament of Life” concludes-as the world burns! The villain at the dark heart of the war between the parliaments stands revealed as Anton Arcane! Zatanna lies wounded, her destiny now in jeopardy. Doctor Fate, Wonder Woman, and Animal Man must form an uneasy alliance with Abigail Arcane and the Floronic Man to protect humanity’s fate. Betrayals and twists abound, with repercussions for the very future of the Justice League Dark!
Positives
Yanick Paquette and Nathan Fairbairn’s cover is solid. I love the background and the characters are well drawn.
I also like the interior art. June Chung’s colors are great. The whole style of the book works; it has a cool mood.
I love the creativity of this book. The whole mythology that goes into it is insane but I love it. There’s a fun energy to everything. And the ending is very cool; a character returns and I enjoyed that aspect of the story.
Negatives
I wish there was more of a team dynamic. This is a really cool group of characters to put together but they don’t get to do much. The issue focuses on Constantine and his plan. And I love Constantine but this isn’t a Constantine book. I hope future stories give the other members more to do.
I am giving the book the benefit of the doubt because future issues could still address it but this story started with the idea that the team had to operate differently. There was an interesting discussion towards the beginning, mostly coming from Zatanna, about the validity of their methods. And that pretty much disappeared once the craziness started. And, ultimately, nothing changes. What saves the day is a crazy Constantine plan where he puts everyone in danger through lies and manipulation. It comes across as strange to me to start the story that way only for it to not go anywhere. Although, like I said, the writers could still deal with it in the future.
This is a major nitpick but Wonder Woman is wearing high heels. I thought that had been taken out of her costume in favor of the wedges. It’s not a big deal; I just thought it was weird.
Verdict
I thought this was a solid issue. It looks good and it has an engaging style and tone. But Constantine takes up too much of the issue for me. And I feel like the story kind of got lost in the chaos. But it’s an enjoyable read.
