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Justice League Dark (2011)
Justice League Dark, Volume 1: In the Dark
A new type of super-team must come together when supernatural forces threaten the DC Universe: Justice League Dark!
The witch known as The Enchantress has gone mad, unleashing a wave of chaos that not even the combined powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg can stop. Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, Mindwarp and John Constantine may be our only hope - but how can we put our trust in beings whose very presence makes ordinary people break out in a cold sweat?
Critically acclaimed writer Peter Milligan brings together an unorthodox team for the most unnatural threats. With stunning art by up and coming star Mikel Janín!
Collecting: Justice League Dark 1-6
The witch known as The Enchantress has gone mad, unleashing a wave of chaos that not even the combined powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg can stop. Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, Mindwarp and John Constantine may be our only hope - but how can we put our trust in beings whose very presence makes ordinary people break out in a cold sweat?
Critically acclaimed writer Peter Milligan brings together an unorthodox team for the most unnatural threats. With stunning art by up and coming star Mikel Janín!
Collecting: Justice League Dark 1-6
144 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2012
90 people are currently reading
2379 people want to read
About the author
Peter Milligan
1,297 books388 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews
September 6, 2017
And I've got no defense for it
The heat is too intense for it
What good would common sense for it do
'Cause it's witchcraft, wicked witchcraft
And although, I know, it's strictly taboo
Witchcraft – written by Coleman and Leigh
Yeah, this is Superman’s lament and by extension others in the Justice League as well.
Got magic? We got a problem! The Enchantress is voodooing some nasty stuff and Supes is way over his head.
Busted by a swarm of witches teeth? The ignominy!
Well, where’s Batman?
Batman all tied up but I think he digs it from his time doing the horizontal Batusi with Cat Woman.
So it’s magical peril and who better to battle a magic threat than a squad of DC’s supernatural heroes.
This is a strange bunch, who collectively wouldn’t be able to replace a lightbulb as a unit, but somehow need to work together for the common good/humanity/yada yada yada and “Babe, could ya hit a home run for me tomorrow.”
Constantine, because he’s an ass, and Deadman, because he has some freaky powers and gets the lion’s share of page time, consequently stand out from the others.
Zatana is sadly watered down and underdressed from her pre-New 52 persona and Madam Xanadu, is a sieve and predicts the future.
And there’s some Australian dude who has out of body powers.
Bottom Line: Because this is one of those prospective-groups-you-have-to-get-to-know-as-individuals-first books, there’s a lot of bouncing around between characters, which not only slows the pacing, but quickly establishes a reader pecking order for which characters are interesting and which aren’t (see above). I’ll continue reading, only because my pal, Anne, said so…
It’s Shade (the hero I forgot to mention), his amazing technicolor coat/vest and his make believe girlfriend.
I guess the pay-per-view hotel porn was on the fritz...
Sing along with me: “Imaginary lovers, never turn you down…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIc8k...
The heat is too intense for it
What good would common sense for it do
'Cause it's witchcraft, wicked witchcraft
And although, I know, it's strictly taboo
Witchcraft – written by Coleman and Leigh
Yeah, this is Superman’s lament and by extension others in the Justice League as well.
Got magic? We got a problem! The Enchantress is voodooing some nasty stuff and Supes is way over his head.
Busted by a swarm of witches teeth? The ignominy!
Well, where’s Batman?
Batman all tied up but I think he digs it from his time doing the horizontal Batusi with Cat Woman.
So it’s magical peril and who better to battle a magic threat than a squad of DC’s supernatural heroes.
This is a strange bunch, who collectively wouldn’t be able to replace a lightbulb as a unit, but somehow need to work together for the common good/humanity/yada yada yada and “Babe, could ya hit a home run for me tomorrow.”
Constantine, because he’s an ass, and Deadman, because he has some freaky powers and gets the lion’s share of page time, consequently stand out from the others.
Zatana is sadly watered down and underdressed from her pre-New 52 persona and Madam Xanadu, is a sieve and predicts the future.
And there’s some Australian dude who has out of body powers.
Bottom Line: Because this is one of those prospective-groups-you-have-to-get-to-know-as-individuals-first books, there’s a lot of bouncing around between characters, which not only slows the pacing, but quickly establishes a reader pecking order for which characters are interesting and which aren’t (see above). I’ll continue reading, only because my pal, Anne, said so…
It’s Shade (the hero I forgot to mention), his amazing technicolor coat/vest and his make believe girlfriend.
I guess the pay-per-view hotel porn was on the fritz...
Sing along with me: “Imaginary lovers, never turn you down…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIc8k...
May 12, 2015
This was interesting, but I think it could have been much better if a few things had been explained up front.
Ok. A lot of things.
I'm slightly annoyed with this so-called reboot, because there seems to be quite a bit of back story missing from the characters. If it's a continuation of older stories, then at least give those of us who haven't heard of these guys something to go on. I'd never heard of Shade the Changing Man before, so whatever the deal was with his meta-vest completely blew over my head. Same thing with Mindwarp. Who the #@!* is that guy!?
Zatana and John Constantine were both familiar, but I don't know enough about either one of them to claim that I'm an expert on what's been happening to those characters.
And the last time I read anything with Deadman was back when Brightest Day came out.
As far as Enchantress goes...well, that one was just confusing. See, the only Enchantress I was familiar with was the one from the Marvel universe. Remember her? She fights Thor and wears a green outfit, right? So when I see this chick named Enchantress wearing a green costume my first thought was something like, Isn't this a DC title?, and my second thought was something like, Didn't she used to be a blonde? My third thought was pretty much just, ??????
June Moone was another one I'd never heard of, and I just assumed she was a throwaway character. Evidently not. Out of frustration, I ended up Googling her origins, and found out that Enchantress and June Moone are actually the sameish person.
Huh. That was a pertinent nugget of information that would have been fairly useful to know.
And Madam Xanadu? She comes from Vertigo, so....yeah, I knew nothing at all about her either.
Hmmm.
Yes, a wee bit more information to start off with would have been nice.
The story itself wasn't half bad, so maybe now that I know a little more about the characters the next volume won't be so hard to understand.
Ok. A lot of things.
I'm slightly annoyed with this so-called reboot, because there seems to be quite a bit of back story missing from the characters. If it's a continuation of older stories, then at least give those of us who haven't heard of these guys something to go on. I'd never heard of Shade the Changing Man before, so whatever the deal was with his meta-vest completely blew over my head. Same thing with Mindwarp. Who the #@!* is that guy!?
Zatana and John Constantine were both familiar, but I don't know enough about either one of them to claim that I'm an expert on what's been happening to those characters.
And the last time I read anything with Deadman was back when Brightest Day came out.
As far as Enchantress goes...well, that one was just confusing. See, the only Enchantress I was familiar with was the one from the Marvel universe. Remember her? She fights Thor and wears a green outfit, right? So when I see this chick named Enchantress wearing a green costume my first thought was something like, Isn't this a DC title?, and my second thought was something like, Didn't she used to be a blonde? My third thought was pretty much just, ??????
June Moone was another one I'd never heard of, and I just assumed she was a throwaway character. Evidently not. Out of frustration, I ended up Googling her origins, and found out that Enchantress and June Moone are actually the sameish person.
Huh. That was a pertinent nugget of information that would have been fairly useful to know.
And Madam Xanadu? She comes from Vertigo, so....yeah, I knew nothing at all about her either.
Hmmm.
Yes, a wee bit more information to start off with would have been nice.
The story itself wasn't half bad, so maybe now that I know a little more about the characters the next volume won't be so hard to understand.
February 7, 2019
Hmm, what to say about this volume? I can tell they wanted it to feel super fast paced and to have lots of action and excitement. They made that so much of a goal that they left holes in the story and plot to keep it from being slow and it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.
I know Madame Xanadu from a story I read of hers. I like her. I know John Constantine from the movie and I don't like him. I know Zantana from Smallville and I also read her story. I like her. The others are completely new characters I know nothing about. The technacolor Dreamcoat dude was kinda interesting.
Madame Xanadu is trying to make some sort of team, but the whole book it doesn't work very well. I liked this alright, but they needed an editor or something. It was also kind of a mess, but I like all the strange characters and I like the crazy powers they all have. They are the 'dark' Justice league.
I want to see if this gets any better so I will read the next one. At least it's somewhat interesting. It could have been so much better though.
I know Madame Xanadu from a story I read of hers. I like her. I know John Constantine from the movie and I don't like him. I know Zantana from Smallville and I also read her story. I like her. The others are completely new characters I know nothing about. The technacolor Dreamcoat dude was kinda interesting.
Madame Xanadu is trying to make some sort of team, but the whole book it doesn't work very well. I liked this alright, but they needed an editor or something. It was also kind of a mess, but I like all the strange characters and I like the crazy powers they all have. They are the 'dark' Justice league.
I want to see if this gets any better so I will read the next one. At least it's somewhat interesting. It could have been so much better though.
February 26, 2019
Man... I really expected this to be better.
What’s it about?
A group of horror/supernatural stuff themed superheroes team up... or do they? This book is gonna be slightly hard to review because it mostly just gets readers ready for the rest of a series I think.
Pros:
The art is fucking amazing! Oh my gosh, there’s a lot of cool imagery and excellent use of colors throughout.
The horror stuff is pretty well done. Lots of weird stuff and creepiness.
Cons:
The story is not very good. It’s not terrible, it’s just so unoriginal. A villain is gonna do a bunch of fucked up, world ending shit so a group of unlikely heroes have to come together. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main things comic readers have read multiple times but will accept if the book offers anything to make it more interesting which this doesn’t really do.
This book is boring. I would at least expect action scenes in this book but that ain’t here.
Remember how I mentioned this book being unoriginal? Well, because of that it’s very predictable.
The dialogue comes across as a bit cheesy and annoying, especially since this isn’t even meant to be a bit more cheesy, it’s meant to be a typical serious(ish) superhero comic.
I didn’t like the ending.
Why I’m conflicted on the characters:
I didn’t put the characters in pros or cons because I honestly can’t tell if I like them. Let’s go over them.
Enchantress- Guess I’m gonna start with the villain. Could be interesting if more well written I think. In this she just sorta does evil stuff because she’s the villain, no real personality or motive.
Shade- Just boring and a bit confusing. That was a full dislike.
Zatanna- On one hand she is sorta bad-ass and has some pretty cool powers making her an interesting character but on the other hand is sorta bitchy making me not like her. I would say she’s mostly interesting (though was better in the old Justice League cartoons I watched as a kid).
(Not sure if I’d be scared or aroused in that situation. I think the answer is yes)
Constantine is interesting even if he’s a bit of a snarky asshole but that’s kinda how he always is (hell, look at my reviews, I’m often a snarky asshole myself so can’t really complain). His snark and dialogue seemed to be toned down being a non-Vertigo DC comic so I didn’t like that.
Deadman is pretty cool. Not much else to say about him except I would read more comics about him. Oh, and June is sorta meh. Kind of a bland love interest for him.
Madame Xanadu isn’t particularly great. She basically just seems like Doctor Strange with boobs (and a little window for them, guess she took fashion advice from Power Girl).
So yeah, don’t really know which category they would go in. Some aren’t interesting, others have quite a bit of potential and some I honestly don’t know if I like them or not. Hard to say.
Overall:
I expected to enjoy this as a fan of superheroes and supernatural horror but it’s kinda weak. I don’t think I would quite say it’s horrible but I am glad to be done reading it.
The art is good and it has some solid creepy horror but the story is something we’ve all seen many times, except this time with very little action and some cheesy dialogue.
I think I would have preferred something more original or at least exciting.
2/5
What’s it about?
A group of horror/supernatural stuff themed superheroes team up... or do they? This book is gonna be slightly hard to review because it mostly just gets readers ready for the rest of a series I think.
Pros:
The art is fucking amazing! Oh my gosh, there’s a lot of cool imagery and excellent use of colors throughout.
The horror stuff is pretty well done. Lots of weird stuff and creepiness.
Cons:
The story is not very good. It’s not terrible, it’s just so unoriginal. A villain is gonna do a bunch of fucked up, world ending shit so a group of unlikely heroes have to come together. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main things comic readers have read multiple times but will accept if the book offers anything to make it more interesting which this doesn’t really do.
This book is boring. I would at least expect action scenes in this book but that ain’t here.
Remember how I mentioned this book being unoriginal? Well, because of that it’s very predictable.
The dialogue comes across as a bit cheesy and annoying, especially since this isn’t even meant to be a bit more cheesy, it’s meant to be a typical serious(ish) superhero comic.
I didn’t like the ending.
Why I’m conflicted on the characters:
I didn’t put the characters in pros or cons because I honestly can’t tell if I like them. Let’s go over them.
Enchantress- Guess I’m gonna start with the villain. Could be interesting if more well written I think. In this she just sorta does evil stuff because she’s the villain, no real personality or motive.
Shade- Just boring and a bit confusing. That was a full dislike.
Zatanna- On one hand she is sorta bad-ass and has some pretty cool powers making her an interesting character but on the other hand is sorta bitchy making me not like her. I would say she’s mostly interesting (though was better in the old Justice League cartoons I watched as a kid).
(Not sure if I’d be scared or aroused in that situation. I think the answer is yes)
Constantine is interesting even if he’s a bit of a snarky asshole but that’s kinda how he always is (hell, look at my reviews, I’m often a snarky asshole myself so can’t really complain). His snark and dialogue seemed to be toned down being a non-Vertigo DC comic so I didn’t like that.
Deadman is pretty cool. Not much else to say about him except I would read more comics about him. Oh, and June is sorta meh. Kind of a bland love interest for him.
Madame Xanadu isn’t particularly great. She basically just seems like Doctor Strange with boobs (and a little window for them, guess she took fashion advice from Power Girl).
So yeah, don’t really know which category they would go in. Some aren’t interesting, others have quite a bit of potential and some I honestly don’t know if I like them or not. Hard to say.
Overall:
I expected to enjoy this as a fan of superheroes and supernatural horror but it’s kinda weak. I don’t think I would quite say it’s horrible but I am glad to be done reading it.
The art is good and it has some solid creepy horror but the story is something we’ve all seen many times, except this time with very little action and some cheesy dialogue.
I think I would have preferred something more original or at least exciting.
2/5
April 23, 2013
What a wasted premise. I like the idea of a team of heroes focusing on magical threats. (And let's just drop the Justice League part. That's pure branding, and has nothing to do with the reality of the book.) It's certainly an interesting cast of characters, most of whome will probably be unfamiliar to many readers. I'm ok with that, I like when good characters get rescued from oblvion. (52, anyone?) But they just aren't given all the help they need here.
Like from a good storyline, instead of a weak, rambling, overly long one. Or character development, which this cast desperately needs. We have here John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Shade, Madame Xanadu, and Enchantress. Who is totally not the same as Marvel's Thor villainness, despite the shared name and fondness for green. Some of these characters will be familiar enough (Constantine and Zatanna, probably, and maybe Deadman because of his role in Brightest Day) but the other three are rather more niche. It would have been nice if Milligan had recognized that and given us some cohesive background on each character as part of their introductions, but no.
I also don't appreciate how Milligan handled Deadman's relationship with Dove. It had been one of the highlights of Brightest Day, handled astonishingly well for a comics romance born in the middle of a crossover event. And Milligan wastes no time in torpedoing it by making Deadman a creepy sleaze. It's like he hated the idea of a relationship between them and wanted to make sure it was killed as dead as dead can be. Yuck.
I have no complaints about the art, or the character design. I just wish that the story was stronger, and that the characters had been handled better. Good idea, bad execution.
Like from a good storyline, instead of a weak, rambling, overly long one. Or character development, which this cast desperately needs. We have here John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Shade, Madame Xanadu, and Enchantress. Who is totally not the same as Marvel's Thor villainness, despite the shared name and fondness for green. Some of these characters will be familiar enough (Constantine and Zatanna, probably, and maybe Deadman because of his role in Brightest Day) but the other three are rather more niche. It would have been nice if Milligan had recognized that and given us some cohesive background on each character as part of their introductions, but no.
I also don't appreciate how Milligan handled Deadman's relationship with Dove. It had been one of the highlights of Brightest Day, handled astonishingly well for a comics romance born in the middle of a crossover event. And Milligan wastes no time in torpedoing it by making Deadman a creepy sleaze. It's like he hated the idea of a relationship between them and wanted to make sure it was killed as dead as dead can be. Yuck.
I have no complaints about the art, or the character design. I just wish that the story was stronger, and that the characters had been handled better. Good idea, bad execution.
September 27, 2018
"Do you really think it will be that easy, Zatanna? When Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg all failed [against magic]?" - Batman, as the 'doubting Thomas'
"Easy? No. But possible, because this is my territory. Spells, hocus-pocus, demons. It's meat and drink to me . . . Ah, that's got him thinking." - Zatanna
Zatanna strikes out to lead an ad hoc and oddball mystical team (comprised of Deadman, John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, and Shade the Changing Man) to take on the troublemaking Enchantress. It was kind of fun and different, and I want to check out their further adventures.
3.5 stars
"Easy? No. But possible, because this is my territory. Spells, hocus-pocus, demons. It's meat and drink to me . . . Ah, that's got him thinking." - Zatanna
Zatanna strikes out to lead an ad hoc and oddball mystical team (comprised of Deadman, John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, and Shade the Changing Man) to take on the troublemaking Enchantress. It was kind of fun and different, and I want to check out their further adventures.
3.5 stars
October 1, 2021
Madame Xanadu is having terrible visions and so she forms a team to take care of it or forces them to be a team and then we follow her splitting enchantress from June and the problem it causes and how it brings Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Shade into the fold and its interesting the way its done. The follow up of the romance between Deadman and June was interesting and we see them having terrible visions and attacked by grotesque parasitic beings and its warnings of things to come so they have to team up and defeat these threats!
Its a unique volume and the way its done is a bit confusing at first but once you read it further you see the scope of the book and its excellent and its really well written plus I love how Zatanna and June are in the book and then the hint of the next volume is really well done and the art is excellent and its so creepy and beautiful at the same time. A perfect start to JLD!
Its a unique volume and the way its done is a bit confusing at first but once you read it further you see the scope of the book and its excellent and its really well written plus I love how Zatanna and June are in the book and then the hint of the next volume is really well done and the art is excellent and its so creepy and beautiful at the same time. A perfect start to JLD!
December 20, 2012
It's becoming a cliché with the "New 52" but if you're picking this up thinking because the title has been rebooted that you're going to get introduced to the characters as if they're new, think again. This series introduces a whole slew of Vertigo characters without explaining who they are, what they do, etc. Some characters might be familiar like John Constantine the Hellblazer whose 2005 Keanu Reeves movie adaptation was terrible but popular, while readers of Batman might recognise Zatanna. Otherwise the rest of the group aren't exactly household names. Deadman was an acrobat who was murdered and is some sort of ghost who can enter peoples' bodies? Madame Xanadu is a mystic, Enchantress is an... enchantress. Shade and Mindwarp? No clue. One of them has a magic technicolour dreamcoat but doesn't launch into song.
So the thin storyline is that Madame Xanadu has seen the future (while on a dangerous amount of drugs. It'd be funny if at the end she woke up in a hospital bed and "it was all a dream...?") and the future is red - with blood! Nooooooooooo! But wait - it can be saved. If only these arbitrary strangers get together to form a team of magical beings to defeat these upcoming and unknowable threats. They could be called Magical Hero Squad! What's that - my special reviewing phone? Oh, hello DC Marketing. Yes, I understand, nobody thinks "Magical Hero Squad" is a good title for a squad of magical heroes. Justice League? But that makes no sense. Yes it does have brand name recognition. But... right, adding "Dark" on the end would differentiate it but still doesn't really make sense... How about "I Dream of Zatanna"? Hello?
So a group of magic people who celebrate Hallowe'en every day are thrown together and called "Justice League Dark", even though nobody in the book calls them that, and told to fight evil magic to save the world by a drugged up fortune teller. The story is quite patchy and weak, none of the characters are particularly well written except Constantine who was the one character I wanted to read more of. Deadman is kind of sleazy throughout and has the most FAB-ulous outfit, all it's missing are some sequins and he's all set for Mardi Gras. Zatanna is underwritten too, the personality given her by Paul Dini is disappointingly absent in this book.
"In the Dark" is an ironic title as without prior knowledge of the characters, new readers (like me) will be left "in the dark" as to what the hell is going on. Interesting characters, semi-coherent plot, decent writing and art - it should work but at best this title is very average. I think Peter Milligan/DC should've looked to adopt the approach Grant Morrison took with his "Seven Soldiers of Victory" series. Take an issue for each character, establish their backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and then send them on their way to join the others in a future issue. "Seven Soldiers" was similarly supernatural, featuring quirky, little known characters, hell it even had Zatanna, not to mention a better title than "Justice League Dark" - DC should've had this "rebooted" instead. I might check back to see where Jeff Lemire - who replaced Peter Milligan - takes the series, but there are better "New 52" titles to pick up before coming to this. Check out Snyder's "Batman", Morrison's "Action Comics", and Johns' "Aquaman" and non-Dark "Justice League" for better reads.
So the thin storyline is that Madame Xanadu has seen the future (while on a dangerous amount of drugs. It'd be funny if at the end she woke up in a hospital bed and "it was all a dream...?") and the future is red - with blood! Nooooooooooo! But wait - it can be saved. If only these arbitrary strangers get together to form a team of magical beings to defeat these upcoming and unknowable threats. They could be called Magical Hero Squad! What's that - my special reviewing phone? Oh, hello DC Marketing. Yes, I understand, nobody thinks "Magical Hero Squad" is a good title for a squad of magical heroes. Justice League? But that makes no sense. Yes it does have brand name recognition. But... right, adding "Dark" on the end would differentiate it but still doesn't really make sense... How about "I Dream of Zatanna"? Hello?
So a group of magic people who celebrate Hallowe'en every day are thrown together and called "Justice League Dark", even though nobody in the book calls them that, and told to fight evil magic to save the world by a drugged up fortune teller. The story is quite patchy and weak, none of the characters are particularly well written except Constantine who was the one character I wanted to read more of. Deadman is kind of sleazy throughout and has the most FAB-ulous outfit, all it's missing are some sequins and he's all set for Mardi Gras. Zatanna is underwritten too, the personality given her by Paul Dini is disappointingly absent in this book.
"In the Dark" is an ironic title as without prior knowledge of the characters, new readers (like me) will be left "in the dark" as to what the hell is going on. Interesting characters, semi-coherent plot, decent writing and art - it should work but at best this title is very average. I think Peter Milligan/DC should've looked to adopt the approach Grant Morrison took with his "Seven Soldiers of Victory" series. Take an issue for each character, establish their backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and then send them on their way to join the others in a future issue. "Seven Soldiers" was similarly supernatural, featuring quirky, little known characters, hell it even had Zatanna, not to mention a better title than "Justice League Dark" - DC should've had this "rebooted" instead. I might check back to see where Jeff Lemire - who replaced Peter Milligan - takes the series, but there are better "New 52" titles to pick up before coming to this. Check out Snyder's "Batman", Morrison's "Action Comics", and Johns' "Aquaman" and non-Dark "Justice League" for better reads.
December 6, 2025
Earth’s mightiest… paranormal experts? Magic users? Supernatural heroes? I’m not sure what to call them, but the DC comic series Justice League Dark brings together a motley crew of the weirdest and most obscure superheroes from DC’s golden age and Vertigo titles to fight all the supernatural threats that those other better-known spandex-clad heroes can’t.
I’m unfamiliar with the vast history of the Justice League of America comic books, my only source of knowledge being from those shitty movies and the old “Super-Friends” cartoon. (That was like Justice League, right?)
JL Dark is a new title in the DC New 52, which was an attempt by DC to reboot the whole universe of heroes. Many titles were lost. Some older titles stayed the same. A few older titles that had gone by the wayside got a second chance. Some fans were happy. Some weren’t. It’s the age-old dilemma.
Anyhoo, writer Peter Milligan and artist Mikel Janin have done a pretty decent job on this series, at least based on my first impression in Volume 1, “In the Dark”.
I’m still unsure about the whole New 52 thing, especially with some of my fave titles from yester-year (“John Constantine, Hellblazer” and “Swamp Thing”, to name two) getting a whole new revamp. Some of us don’t like our classics being messed with, especially when it comes to horror. Let’s just say: “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Poltergeist”, and “Psycho” didn’t need remakes, and the remakes that were made, sucked.
That said, I kind of got into the JLD, which unites Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Madame Xanadu, Shade the Changing Man, and Mindwarp. (Of that group, I knew two of them, was kind of familiar with one other, and hadn’t a clue about the others.)
The plot: The Enchantress, a powerful witch, has been wreaking havoc across the country. She wants a girl named June Moone for some reason. Madame Xanadu has foreseen a dark future and has gathered the motley group of afore-mentioned weirdos together because they may be the only ones that can stop the Enchantress.
Things go bump in the night. Heads explode. Monsters pop out of the ground. Other stuff happens.
Entertaining stuff, for sure, but I refuse to go all in right away. I’ll see how much I dig volume two, and then we’ll talk…
I’m unfamiliar with the vast history of the Justice League of America comic books, my only source of knowledge being from those shitty movies and the old “Super-Friends” cartoon. (That was like Justice League, right?)
JL Dark is a new title in the DC New 52, which was an attempt by DC to reboot the whole universe of heroes. Many titles were lost. Some older titles stayed the same. A few older titles that had gone by the wayside got a second chance. Some fans were happy. Some weren’t. It’s the age-old dilemma.
Anyhoo, writer Peter Milligan and artist Mikel Janin have done a pretty decent job on this series, at least based on my first impression in Volume 1, “In the Dark”.
I’m still unsure about the whole New 52 thing, especially with some of my fave titles from yester-year (“John Constantine, Hellblazer” and “Swamp Thing”, to name two) getting a whole new revamp. Some of us don’t like our classics being messed with, especially when it comes to horror. Let’s just say: “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Poltergeist”, and “Psycho” didn’t need remakes, and the remakes that were made, sucked.
That said, I kind of got into the JLD, which unites Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Madame Xanadu, Shade the Changing Man, and Mindwarp. (Of that group, I knew two of them, was kind of familiar with one other, and hadn’t a clue about the others.)
The plot: The Enchantress, a powerful witch, has been wreaking havoc across the country. She wants a girl named June Moone for some reason. Madame Xanadu has foreseen a dark future and has gathered the motley group of afore-mentioned weirdos together because they may be the only ones that can stop the Enchantress.
Things go bump in the night. Heads explode. Monsters pop out of the ground. Other stuff happens.
Entertaining stuff, for sure, but I refuse to go all in right away. I’ll see how much I dig volume two, and then we’ll talk…
April 1, 2025
This was kind of fun. The art is very, very good; it has a creepy vibe, it has excellent coloring, and some of the action scenes are quite striking. The story is okay, but pretty confusing. There should have been a lot more detail in introducing the characters. Some of them are quite familiar, but some were entirely new to me, and I wondered where they came from. I think they should have dumped the whole Justice League attempt-at-connection and done a supernatural team-up. There's a tooth attack that's pretty unusual.
January 27, 2021
Dark, weird, psychedelic, sexy, bloody perfect.
February 2, 2025
3.5 stars I had seen the Justice League Dark movies, and I really enjoyed the first one. I like Constantine and Zatanna. Deadman is growing on me even. The Artwork by Mikel Janin was good. All that being said, this was interesting, but it didn't really wow me.
September 16, 2015
Maybe I'm rating this higher than I should, but I can honestly say it's one of the better "New 52" books I've read. Mainly because it has a coherent story-line! Halle-freaking-lujah! It's pretty horrible when you're so grateful you can follow the plot that you don't necessarily care if you know any character back-story. What I know about these guys could fit in a thimble -- I was proud I recognized Deadman from the Justice League cartoon though! -- but I at least recognized almost all of their names (even if Shade and his weirdo ghostish friend, whose name I now DON'T remember were totally foreign to me).
Eh, whatever at this point. I'd rather get to know them, with a story that is interesting and mostly makes sense, than know everything about them and have a dicey plot-line, characters that have been butchered in ways I can (unfortunately) list off for you, and artwork I don't even like more than half of the time. If it had been one of my first New 52 books, maybe I wouldn't have liked it as much. At this point, I'm like "Ooohhh, magic! And a plot I can understand enough to enjoy/have fun with! Shiny, me likey!" It probably doesn't help that I'm a sucker for magic/occult stories, especially with pretty pictures.....eh, the constant diet of crap is making me soft in the head.
Eh, whatever at this point. I'd rather get to know them, with a story that is interesting and mostly makes sense, than know everything about them and have a dicey plot-line, characters that have been butchered in ways I can (unfortunately) list off for you, and artwork I don't even like more than half of the time. If it had been one of my first New 52 books, maybe I wouldn't have liked it as much. At this point, I'm like "Ooohhh, magic! And a plot I can understand enough to enjoy/have fun with! Shiny, me likey!" It probably doesn't help that I'm a sucker for magic/occult stories, especially with pretty pictures.....eh, the constant diet of crap is making me soft in the head.
February 21, 2015
In this first volume of Justice League Dark, Madame Xanadu uses her powers against the Enchantress in order to assemble a diverse team of heroes from the mystical corners of the DCU. John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Shade, and Time Warp all team up to defeat Madame X's machinations and set up an uneasy alliance.
Peter Milligan's script has a good number of eerie moments, from a maelstrom of teeth flying through the air slashing Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg, to various icky monsters and ghoulish manifestations of the witch inside the Enchantress. Without the art of Mikel Janin, however, none of these things would have had the power they present on the printed page. Janin's art is realistic but not without his own personal touch. I really do love his art, and the coloring is also very fit for the book.
The mystical side of the DCU contains my favorite heroes of all, and I'll be glad to see them pop up here as this book progresses.
3.5 stars out of five.
Peter Milligan's script has a good number of eerie moments, from a maelstrom of teeth flying through the air slashing Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg, to various icky monsters and ghoulish manifestations of the witch inside the Enchantress. Without the art of Mikel Janin, however, none of these things would have had the power they present on the printed page. Janin's art is realistic but not without his own personal touch. I really do love his art, and the coloring is also very fit for the book.
The mystical side of the DCU contains my favorite heroes of all, and I'll be glad to see them pop up here as this book progresses.
3.5 stars out of five.
January 3, 2016
The magic using superheroes are a bunch of misfits but only their group can handle magical problems. Make sense? Clear as mud.
A few things aren't explained and other sections have some plot holes.
That said, this is a great start to try something new rather than the usual derivative fluff.
Awesome artwork or close to it.
OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus (just makes 4 stars)
A few things aren't explained and other sections have some plot holes.
That said, this is a great start to try something new rather than the usual derivative fluff.
Awesome artwork or close to it.
OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus (just makes 4 stars)
July 10, 2014
The short of it: This is weird!
For a supernatural fiction-attracted person like myself, the idea of a Justice League sub-group with members who are all gifted in the magical/supernatural arena was too awesome to resist. It has some pretty weighty DC magical members, such as John Constantine, Zatanna (one of my new favorites), Madame Xanadu, and Deadman. Add some new to me character like Shade The Changing Man and Mindwarp, and you have an interesting cast of characters. Madame Xanadu is a powerful seer who foretells the end of the world, unless this specific group of people can work together long enough to set things right. That is much more difficult than it seems, with differing agendas and levels of commitment on offer. Not to mention a very powerful, very dangerous adversary, Enchantress, who has lost her human host and is going on a rampage.
Yeah, this was weird. I think the thing I liked the most was the ensemble cast. The storyline didn't really capture my interest. It was pretty gruesome and just plain kooky. Overall, made the book hard to follow. Also, some characters had stronger roles than others. I think that lacking backstory on some of the characters left a few question marks for me. I consulted the DC Comics Wikia and that definitely helped.
Of course, I'm not done reading this series. It's sort of a mediocre start, but I can see some promise. Plus, I just love Zatanna and I do have a sort of thing for that rogue John Constantine.
It's a three star rating for me.
For a supernatural fiction-attracted person like myself, the idea of a Justice League sub-group with members who are all gifted in the magical/supernatural arena was too awesome to resist. It has some pretty weighty DC magical members, such as John Constantine, Zatanna (one of my new favorites), Madame Xanadu, and Deadman. Add some new to me character like Shade The Changing Man and Mindwarp, and you have an interesting cast of characters. Madame Xanadu is a powerful seer who foretells the end of the world, unless this specific group of people can work together long enough to set things right. That is much more difficult than it seems, with differing agendas and levels of commitment on offer. Not to mention a very powerful, very dangerous adversary, Enchantress, who has lost her human host and is going on a rampage.
Yeah, this was weird. I think the thing I liked the most was the ensemble cast. The storyline didn't really capture my interest. It was pretty gruesome and just plain kooky. Overall, made the book hard to follow. Also, some characters had stronger roles than others. I think that lacking backstory on some of the characters left a few question marks for me. I consulted the DC Comics Wikia and that definitely helped.
Of course, I'm not done reading this series. It's sort of a mediocre start, but I can see some promise. Plus, I just love Zatanna and I do have a sort of thing for that rogue John Constantine.
It's a three star rating for me.
September 5, 2018
Like the idea, just feel it wasn't executed well.
For those of us who don't know all of the characters involved, there isn't much written to get you up to speed. A couple characters you have no idea what they can do or what drives them, making it hard to care what happens to them.
Milligan does a decent job of giving the threat an "occult" feel, being creepy without dropping straight into horror (which doesn't interest me at all). However, the weight of the evil and danger to the world just wasn't expanded upon enough.
Art was pretty good, although it seemed to vary in quality/style slightly, possibly from inking. Sook's cover art was fantastic.
Love how each member is "messed up" and they just don't get along and that needs to be played up in future volumes.
For those of us who don't know all of the characters involved, there isn't much written to get you up to speed. A couple characters you have no idea what they can do or what drives them, making it hard to care what happens to them.
Milligan does a decent job of giving the threat an "occult" feel, being creepy without dropping straight into horror (which doesn't interest me at all). However, the weight of the evil and danger to the world just wasn't expanded upon enough.
Art was pretty good, although it seemed to vary in quality/style slightly, possibly from inking. Sook's cover art was fantastic.
Love how each member is "messed up" and they just don't get along and that needs to be played up in future volumes.
January 9, 2014
I like the concept behind this book – a team of weirdos and misfits band together to deal with the more supernatural problems plaguing the DC Universe. In this story arc, the team assembles for the first time when a witch known as the Enchantress starts raising hell. Interestingly, Peter Milligan doesn’t really dive into who the different characters are until the third issue. This has the benefit of dropping readers right into the action, but if you’re not familiar with the various principals (like me), the first third of this volume is going to be a little confusing. Once Milligan establishes who is who and what each member brings to the team, things pick up a bit and a fun, if not mind-blowing, story plays out.
Two things about this collection stood out for me. The first is John Constantine: the foul-mouthed, cigarette smoking, British anti-hero that was my favorite character in the book. Constantine was the only member of the group that I had ever heard of going in, and he is consistently entertaining. The second is the artwork, which I thought was very strong. Mikel Janin and Ryan Sook manage a nice blend of psychedelic and creepy that fits the story well and really stands out at times.
Overall this was a fun if slightly forgettable read. Solid story, very nice artwork, and a great character in John Constantine. 3 stars
Two things about this collection stood out for me. The first is John Constantine: the foul-mouthed, cigarette smoking, British anti-hero that was my favorite character in the book. Constantine was the only member of the group that I had ever heard of going in, and he is consistently entertaining. The second is the artwork, which I thought was very strong. Mikel Janin and Ryan Sook manage a nice blend of psychedelic and creepy that fits the story well and really stands out at times.
Overall this was a fun if slightly forgettable read. Solid story, very nice artwork, and a great character in John Constantine. 3 stars
April 25, 2018
Oof, is this ever a big steaming pile. For the first 5 issues, I found myself utterly confused by basically every single thing happening. Milligan tries to do about 10,000 things at once, none of them well, and also seems to think everyone is going to know everything about every one of these rando B-listers, since he seems to go out of his way to avoid any sort of character backstories or explanations. Pretty weird for a book that's supposedly part of a company-wide relaunch!
This is basically a 6-issue long setup for why the Justice League Dark (which they have yet to call themselves) is getting together. Something something the world will end, something something magic powers. It's useless and vague and utterly cliche. And of course, just to rub salt on this confusing wound, Milligan makes sure every member of this team HATES each other. It creates a lot of forced, fake conflict that wouldn't exist if they had a well-defined enemy or objective. I don't want to watch a team that hates each other! Why is this such a trend?
So, in terms of the actual "story," Enchantress (who?) has gone insane and split into some sort of "bad" and "good" versions of herself, and they're all going apeshit and destroying things for no reason we are ever told. Just because she's crazy, I guess. Cool.
Then, all of our heroes start feeling the effects of her insanity themselves, for some reason. They all go crazy. Some of them go very crazy. Some of them go a little crazy. Why they are going crazy is unclear, and why it's worse for some of them is even more unclear. Eventually, though, they just kind of stop going crazy and start... doing stuff. I have no idea what any of it accomplishes. I don't know why they're doing anything. They're just doing stuff.
I mean, the climax of this nonsense is meant to be a big coming-together moment for all of these magic people, but... it isn't. It pretends to be that, but in reality, the only person who actually does anything to save anyone is Constantine. After having watched the other 5 idiots flail around, making no progress, and then watching Constantine step up and single-handedly save the day, I'm like, why do we need a team. Constantine could've done it all himself!
It is legit terrible superhero team writing. I mean, I honestly don't even really know who the team is. That's how vague everything is. I mean, I think it's Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna, Deadman, and Shade the Changing Man (no idea who he is or what his stupid vest does), but there's also somebody named Mindwarp they keep referencing who might be on the team? Also maybe Enchantress? Unclear.
Oh, and as one little extra nugget: in the opening scene of this book, a bunch of the normal Justice League (Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg) are taken out by Enchantress. And then we never see them again, even after the day is saved. So, I guess for all intents and purposes, they're dead! Oh well. RIP Justice League.
I'd give this book a hard pass no matter what. Jeff Lemire takes over in the next volume, which I'm looking forward to giving a shot, and since this is an utter nothing story that establishes no future narrative, you can safely skip it before trying Lemire's stuff. Hopefully it's better, but it can't be worse.
This is basically a 6-issue long setup for why the Justice League Dark (which they have yet to call themselves) is getting together. Something something the world will end, something something magic powers. It's useless and vague and utterly cliche. And of course, just to rub salt on this confusing wound, Milligan makes sure every member of this team HATES each other. It creates a lot of forced, fake conflict that wouldn't exist if they had a well-defined enemy or objective. I don't want to watch a team that hates each other! Why is this such a trend?
So, in terms of the actual "story," Enchantress (who?) has gone insane and split into some sort of "bad" and "good" versions of herself, and they're all going apeshit and destroying things for no reason we are ever told. Just because she's crazy, I guess. Cool.
Then, all of our heroes start feeling the effects of her insanity themselves, for some reason. They all go crazy. Some of them go very crazy. Some of them go a little crazy. Why they are going crazy is unclear, and why it's worse for some of them is even more unclear. Eventually, though, they just kind of stop going crazy and start... doing stuff. I have no idea what any of it accomplishes. I don't know why they're doing anything. They're just doing stuff.
I mean, the climax of this nonsense is meant to be a big coming-together moment for all of these magic people, but... it isn't. It pretends to be that, but in reality, the only person who actually does anything to save anyone is Constantine. After having watched the other 5 idiots flail around, making no progress, and then watching Constantine step up and single-handedly save the day, I'm like, why do we need a team. Constantine could've done it all himself!
It is legit terrible superhero team writing. I mean, I honestly don't even really know who the team is. That's how vague everything is. I mean, I think it's Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna, Deadman, and Shade the Changing Man (no idea who he is or what his stupid vest does), but there's also somebody named Mindwarp they keep referencing who might be on the team? Also maybe Enchantress? Unclear.
Oh, and as one little extra nugget: in the opening scene of this book, a bunch of the normal Justice League (Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg) are taken out by Enchantress. And then we never see them again, even after the day is saved. So, I guess for all intents and purposes, they're dead! Oh well. RIP Justice League.
I'd give this book a hard pass no matter what. Jeff Lemire takes over in the next volume, which I'm looking forward to giving a shot, and since this is an utter nothing story that establishes no future narrative, you can safely skip it before trying Lemire's stuff. Hopefully it's better, but it can't be worse.
April 2, 2017
Whoops, wrong review...
Please Stand By.
Good new origin story. Might be going for the big gun villain rather early, but not many beyond Darkseid could have kept Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern on the ropes at the same time.
There is a brief postlude (???) introducing threads eventually woven into the Justice League: Trinity War storyline, but that won't come along until issues #22–23 of Justice League.
Please Stand By.
Good new origin story. Might be going for the big gun villain rather early, but not many beyond Darkseid could have kept Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern on the ropes at the same time.
There is a brief postlude (???) introducing threads eventually woven into the Justice League: Trinity War storyline, but that won't come along until issues #22–23 of Justice League.
September 12, 2021
Convoluted nonsense. I want my money back.
February 28, 2019
OK, first of all, the reason I picked this up was because I thought it tied in to the mysterious epilogues in the Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Justice League:
Umm, nope. Different set of supernatural characters. Deadman, John Constantine, Zatanna, Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu.
The story had its good points, and so did the art, although I had a problem with the over-reliance on modelling and photo reference here. It's a shortcut to looking great which gives itself away at key moments:
It was OK. I will read the next installment at some point.
Umm, nope. Different set of supernatural characters. Deadman, John Constantine, Zatanna, Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu.
The story had its good points, and so did the art, although I had a problem with the over-reliance on modelling and photo reference here. It's a shortcut to looking great which gives itself away at key moments:
It was OK. I will read the next installment at some point.
October 30, 2022
Nicely done, although not knowing back history the story has its moments where their can be some confusion. This of course can be to entice the reader to move on to the series. The artwork is well done.
September 8, 2012
This has some redeeming quality's
-It is very pretty
-It has some awesome Vertigo characters in it
....
Then again, this has a lot more horrible quality's to it.
-It focuses on grandiose displays of how magic in dangerous, so you have a lot of bizarre disasters but not much substance to it.
-These awesome characters are not so awesome here.
Madame Xandu spends her time doped up on massive amounts of drugs and it is repeatedly said she suffers unimaginable visions without drugs. So one day she separates the good half of Enchantress who then becomes unstable and starts destroying everything...
John Constantine spends most of his time on his behind on the ground, because somebody is always hitting him...I really liked him in his own series, here he doubles as a free boxing bag.
Shade has this really funny suit. Its like a trench coat, only in all colors of the rainbow with leopard spots. Very manly, that coat. LOL! And his powers manifests so he emits these sparkly leopard spots that glow....Did I mention he also talks to his suit? It helps him by conjuring his ex-girlfriend over and over again....
And then there is this Mindwarp dude who spends his time wandering in some mental parallel world being all tough and having lots of angsty thoughts.
All these characters are just thrown together, with no introduction, character development and motives are at minimum, instead you get yet another huge magical disaster...
I recommend this for your 10 year old kid.
-It is very pretty
-It has some awesome Vertigo characters in it
....
Then again, this has a lot more horrible quality's to it.
-It focuses on grandiose displays of how magic in dangerous, so you have a lot of bizarre disasters but not much substance to it.
-These awesome characters are not so awesome here.
Madame Xandu spends her time doped up on massive amounts of drugs and it is repeatedly said she suffers unimaginable visions without drugs. So one day she separates the good half of Enchantress who then becomes unstable and starts destroying everything...
John Constantine spends most of his time on his behind on the ground, because somebody is always hitting him...I really liked him in his own series, here he doubles as a free boxing bag.
Shade has this really funny suit. Its like a trench coat, only in all colors of the rainbow with leopard spots. Very manly, that coat. LOL! And his powers manifests so he emits these sparkly leopard spots that glow....Did I mention he also talks to his suit? It helps him by conjuring his ex-girlfriend over and over again....
And then there is this Mindwarp dude who spends his time wandering in some mental parallel world being all tough and having lots of angsty thoughts.
All these characters are just thrown together, with no introduction, character development and motives are at minimum, instead you get yet another huge magical disaster...
I recommend this for your 10 year old kid.
November 11, 2017
Really the only reason I rated this 3 stars instead of 4 is because it's very much an introduction / assembling the team volume and while that's all good and fun it's also not really that compelling. But it's definitely necessary, especially for people like me who have little to no knowledge of most of these characters. They all seem like grade A human disasters though so I'm anticipating this series being a lot of fun. Also Madame Xanadu had the most ridiculous boob window in her dress and I'm so glad she changed in the last issue. I was pretending she held them in place with magic but even I can only suspend my disbelief for so long in the matter of male comic book artists having no idea how boobs work.
September 4, 2024
This is the book I chose for the 2016 popsugar challenge. Graphic novel.
5 stars
Very good comic. The Justice League team of dark magic users was very cool. Zatanna, Shade, John Constantine, and Deadman. Ali Madame Xanadu. The Enchantress was very creepy. Hope the team will be able to work together and stop the vampires. Or at least stop Cain.
Re read: 09/04/2024
5 stars
Very good comic. The Justice League team of dark magic users was very cool. Zatanna, Shade, John Constantine, and Deadman. Ali Madame Xanadu. The Enchantress was very creepy. Hope the team will be able to work together and stop the vampires. Or at least stop Cain.
Re read: 09/04/2024
October 3, 2012
The jury is still out on this book for me. It's either going to be really good or really awful, because introductory story and artwork were pretty decent.
June 5, 2013
wonderwoman, cyborg and superman in a cloud of rotten teeth. that's all I have to say.
October 2, 2019
I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. The recent DC reboots are terrible, proven time and again across multiple books. This is not the exception.
I really like Constantine. When handled properly he is an amazing character. Here he’s merely okay, and Deadman feels indistinguishable from him. I don’t have any attachment to the other characters here, which is generally a huge bonus when it comes to reboots/reimagings/reinterpretations, but I kept feeling there was something missing. That something, of course, is their backstory, which is assumed by the writer that you’ll know. But I don’t, so it feels like plot holes are opening everywhere as a result.
Between Marvel’s constant crossovers and DC’s interminable reboots, it’s a wonder anyone reads stuff from the Big Two any more. This is why I only use the library for the newer stuff, and why I focus more on books outside these ecosystems.
The art’s solid here, though. Not that it does any good.
I really like Constantine. When handled properly he is an amazing character. Here he’s merely okay, and Deadman feels indistinguishable from him. I don’t have any attachment to the other characters here, which is generally a huge bonus when it comes to reboots/reimagings/reinterpretations, but I kept feeling there was something missing. That something, of course, is their backstory, which is assumed by the writer that you’ll know. But I don’t, so it feels like plot holes are opening everywhere as a result.
Between Marvel’s constant crossovers and DC’s interminable reboots, it’s a wonder anyone reads stuff from the Big Two any more. This is why I only use the library for the newer stuff, and why I focus more on books outside these ecosystems.
The art’s solid here, though. Not that it does any good.
September 26, 2021
This ooening volume is decent, with a good set up for having these characters come together and strong art. The writing is pretty good as well but it does feel a tad rushed.
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