Review: Justice League #36

Darkseid, Steppenwolf, Braniac, and the Legion of Doom are among the Justice League“s fiercest enemies. This time they don“t face aliens, or metahumans, or evil versions of themselves. This time they face”¦us. The “ordinary”“ citizens of the planet who want what“s best for the world. In “Justice League vs the People”“, the League and especially Batman, must face some of the toughest questions, and accusations thrown at them.

Thinking through life“s tough questions makes for an extremely interesting story. This arc seems to be about this very topic. More specifically it“s about the League and the amount of authority it has or shouldn“t have. In some regards, the story actually reminded me of “Marvel“s Civil War”“. (Am I allowed to say that in a DC review?) No, not the part about heroes fighting each other. The part where the world questions the amount of authority that superheroes should have. While it“s clear which side us geeks take, legitimate questions are asked.

Right off the bat, pretty harsh accusations are thrown at the Justice League. As the questions continue, you begin to see where the people are coming from. Batman really has to take the team in a new direction. How will this direction, affect the team? How will it affect the DC Universe? Time will tell, but for now, I“m intrigued.

This issue also tackles the topic of teamwork. Not all of the Justice League seem to be on the same page, which offers some camaraderie challenges. It also doesn“t help that the fearless leader (Batman) is going through a lot. To top it all off Aquaman is put in a situation where he must decide between the Justice League or his ocean kingdom. Moral dilemmas seem to be the theme of this issue.

To top it all off there is a pretender dressing as Batman and murdering the ones who bring up their problems with the Justice League. This doesn“t help the public opinion of Batman or the League. The pretender is on the list of the many problems that the Justice League are dealing with.

To be honest, I wasn“t originally on board with Priest“s “Justice League vs the People”“ story. I wasn“t thrilled with the story or the art. I now realize that those two issues were setting up for an awesome story. This issue of Justice League was a success in my eyes. I liked a lot of the small details that went into the issue. The careful thought and planning that went into this story are quite impressive. Priest shows great creativity with this particular story. He raised some really interesting questions and supplied legitimate moral dilemmas.

Everything in this issue seemed to be on point. For whatever reason, even the art seemed to improve. While I was mainly entertained by the story of this comic book, I appreciated the consistency shown in the artist, Pete Woods. I was able to recognize characters (besides our well-known heroes) thanks to Woods“ figures maintaining the same appearance. A seemingly simple task that some comic artists still haven“t figured out.

With these ingredients, it had a recipe for success, and I really hope the story continues in this direction. Out of all the many threats, the Justice League have faced, none may be as scary as”¦the people.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Christopher Priest (A/CA) Pete Woods