The first act of The Darkseid War ended with a shock. Darkseid’s death was a moment of such titanic significance, that it’s almost impossible to see where Geoff Johns could take events next. With Acts Two and Three, the tale branches off into theme. The latter theme surrounds Darkseid’s daughter Grail, and the Anti-Monitor, but thankfully that can be mostly left out for Act Two. During Justice League (vol 2) 43-44, some members of the Justice League began to absorb or develop new powers, transforming them into an even higher plane of gods. For example, Batman placed himself on the Mobius Chair to become a master or all-knowledge, while Superman has become overcharged with the white-hour heat of Apokolips’s core. While Act Two is very boringly titled After Death, I prefer the alterative title – The Power of the Gods – since this is what the middle of the story focuses on.
Act Two includes only two core issues of the main run, those being Justice League (vol 2) 45-46, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Francis Manapul. However, between those two issues, DC published six one-offs, each one of which explore a character from the Justice League and their new godly powers. Written, pencilled, and inked by a diverse group of creators, the six stories delve into the new worlds, warts and all, of Batman, the Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, and Lex Luthor. These tales act as a bridge between the beginning and conclusion of Act Two, published between December 2015 and February 2016.
The meat of Act Two lies not in the core issues of Justice League, but the tie-ins. That said, Justice League (vol 2) 45 does continue the trend of the same old heroes, but with strange new powers. With Darkseid’s death, the world is at a standstill. The heroes don’t know what to do next, but all they can do is witness the shock transformation of some of their own. The Flash – during the fight between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor – has amalgamated with the Black Racer, while on Apokolips, this new Superman no longer cares for morals as he leaves Lex Luthor to die on the planet. It’s here where the heroes begin to part ways for their own stories. Batman heads to Gotham, while Hal Jordan must report back to Oa as Darkseid’s now-abandoned Parademons are in need of new strength. Also, Captain Marvel’s connection to Shazam is cut off, meaning that he is now in communication with other gods. But the main focus must return to Lex Luthor. He is taken prisoner by an Apokolips tribe called the Forgotten People. These fundamentalists believe that upon Darkseid’s death, a hero from Metropolis will come to claim the world’s throne. Of course, they were expecting Superman. Instead, they get Lex Luthor. I like that touch, but what I don’t like is how the Forgotten People transform Lex Luthor into a thinner-looking new Darkseid. Sure, it makes sense for Luthor to remain evil, I feel it’s disappointing and a bit bland if they make him into a godly villain who is evil just for the sake of it. But who knows, perhaps the creative team of Luthor’s own one-off could prove me wrong!
So, as I said, the core issues here don’t add much to the main plot. Justice League (vol 2) 45 mainly sets up the one-offs. Now, these aren’t essential to Geoff Johns’s run. In fact, if you really want this story over and done with, then missing out these stories won’t exactly be much of a problem. But since the Justice League’s side of the story is far more interesting to me than all the detail surrounding Grail, I thought I’d look into these tales here as well.
To kick off The Power of the Gods saga, we have Batman’s one-off. I thought it was a stroke of genius for Geoff Johns to place Batman in that chair. Along with exaggerating his key attributes like intelligence, the Mobius Chair has made the Dark Knight a master of crime-fighting in his very own Gotham City. Written by Batman regular Peter Tomasi, it depicts Batman floating over the city as he anticipates where crimes are taking place. In an instant, he can teleport to any criminal he likes, but this power does create some good drama. It begins with a brilliant scene between the Dark Knight and his old friend Commissioner Gordon, ‘old’ being the operative word. With his telepathy, Batman is now locking up people for thought-crime, and Gordon is becoming tired of Batman’s boosted arrogance. The real joy in this story comes with Batman’s newfound brutality. The Dark Knight has always been rougher and darker than the other Justice Leaguers, but this story takes it to the next level. For example, Batman teleports four gun-wielding gangsters deep in Antarctica, only to leave them there forever. Batman does this soundly by combining such brutal punishment with cold logic. This new Batman does not get emotional very much at all. Even anger, once that driving force within Bruce Wayne, takes a backseat. The one time his pure rage is unleashed is when Batman – rather predictably – comes face-to-face with Joe Chill once again. The man who killed his parents brings out deep rage, but instead of killing Joe Chill after all these years, he pledges to haunt him and make his remaining time on Earth a misery. What Tomasi does so well here is to build on the fantastic changes already made by Johns. The use of characters like Joe Chill and Commissioner Gordon are used to reflect the changes in Batman’s personality, and overall, it makes for a memorable and fast-paced one-off. Sure, some may be disappointed that Tomasi didn’t explore more of the Three Jokers side of events here (it is mentioned at the end of the one-off), but a story of that magnitude will have to wait. Fernando Pasarin and Matt Ryan are good artists for this story. It looks very similar to Jason Fabok’s work, but perhaps lacks the same memorability. All-in-all, it’s a basic story in many ways, but it’s made memorable by this new Batman.
Next up is the Flash. Rob Williams basically writes an internal dialogue between the Flash and the Black Racer, and a battle for supremacy. Along with lots of running, this story is pretty low on plot. Williams does depend heavily on the tragedy of Barry Allen’s life, particularly the death of his mother which proved a key part of 2011’s Flashpoint. The Flash’s romance with Iris West does play a role as Barry must seemingly come to terms with the death of his old personality and make way for this new deathly one.
In the end, the Flash does beat the Black Racer and doesn’t submit totally to its strength, meaning that Barry Allen remains an amalgamation of goodness and evil. However, it’s difficult to work out throughout the story which scenes are literal and metaphorical. The Flash’s confrontations with death are visually impressive moments, but they are suggested to be just mental images. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. This story lacks the same memorability of the Batman story, and more to the point, Geoff Johns doesn’t add anything new to the Flash or the Black Racer in subsequent Justice League (vol 2) issues. Overall, artist Jesus Merino may conjure some nice images and storytelling moments – even if it does veer a bit too close to Howard Porter level for my liking – but there is little here which leaves an impact.
Superman is next in line, and after he received those new powers and abandoned Lex Luthor on Apokolips, we’re treated to a different kind of Superman who will surely star in an interesting story. Written by Francis Manapul, this solar flame-powered Man of Steel basically still has the same powers we all know him to have. He can fly into space. He can tear through buildings at lightning speed. And he can still take out nearly every supervillain you can think of. The big change here comes with Superman’s personality. Manapul writes a great moment when Superman is in a restaurant, and for the first time ever, Superman is not trying to be decent or down-to-earth. In fact, the opposite is happening. He looks down on humanity – those who used to be friends are now looked on in contempt. One of those is obviously Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent’s most-trusted pal. The relationship written here between Superman and Jimmy Olsen is tragic, especially since the latter knows the Man of Steel for being an undeniably strong force for good. Jimmy cannot come to terms with this change, and he tries constantly to bring Superman back to reality. In the end, Superman has a moment of self-awareness. After trapping most citizens of Metropolis in some weird alien goo substance (which isn’t discussed or explained at all) just to shut them up, Superman has a moment of self-awareness. He quickly reverses his actions, and while he is no closer to the Superman we’ve come to expect and love, that glimmer of hope survives. Manapul writes a very basic story here, made good by a different kind of Superman, and made better by a twist at the end and a return to hope. But I’m not entirely convinced that this story explored the new Superman as much as it should of. Manapul did very well to look at the emotional side of the Man of Steel, but what about any new powers. It does literally feel as if Superman has got the same powers as before, and that is a bit of a shame. Look at the dramatic change for Batman and the Flash. Superman’s transformation could have been even more interesting if, say, his new powers were too strong to control, or something similar. Either way, Bong Dazo provides some decent and colourful art for an enjoyable, but pretty bland story.
Geoff Johns very cleverly wrote Green Lantern out of the story in the previous Justice League issue. With Darkseid’s death, his Parademons now head towards the nearest and strongest power, which in this case just so happens to be Oa. Every Green Lantern in the universe is contaminated and its down to Hal Jordan to rescue his old allies. While most of this story is a spatial fight between one lone Green Lantern and an army of the possessed, it is hugely enhanced by two aspects. Firstly, the use of dialogue in fight scenes is sparing – this adds weight to the words of Hal Jordan as he fights for his life. Too much dialogue would be unrealistic and silly. Secondly, and definitely more interestingly, the writing makes much of Hal Jordan’s idea of faith. Throughout scenes of Hal’s childhood are shown and how faith helped him overcome the trauma of his parents’ death. The writing doesn’t force it down the reader’s throat, and I love the way its weaved into the story as Hal Jordan’s faith in the Green Lantern Corps leads to their victory at the end. Combining a simple plot with such creative ideas cannot be done by many writers. It is therefore no surprise that this tale was penned by Tom King, the grandly unique writer who later wrote a 85 issue-long run for Batman (vol 3) from 2016 to 2020. A modern master of the medium, King gets to grasp with Hal Jordan’s character immediately and takes advantage of faith to make what could have been a fairly pedestrian story much more entertaining and memorable. The same goes for the art too, with Doc Shaner adding a suitably 1960s-retro touch to King’s writing. Overall, the fact that Tom King managed to make Hal Jordan interesting deserves much applause.
Penultimately, we have Captain Marvel’s one-off. This easily must qualify as the most pointless of the lot. Basically, Captain Marvel’s connection to Shazam is severed after Darkseid’s death. Why? There’s no adequate explanation. This means that Captain Marvel can now connect with other gods and hear their advice. It sounds like a novel idea, but the problem is that Steve Orlando floods the story with unmemorable characters. Things aren’t helped by making Captain Marvel’s godly side the main focus. Captain Marvel worked very well in his own back-up in Justice League (vol 2) not because of his power or Shazam, but because of the personalities of Billy Batson, his friends, and the drama spawning from that. Here, it’s all just dull theology. Scott Kolins doesn’t do a bad job of the art, but like the Flash-Black Racer story, there’s no after-effect of this story at all.
Lastly, we have Lex Luthor. His becoming Darkseid (sort of) was a strange choice, but I do like how he is given his own one off. If Geoff Johns has had one impact on the Justice League’s roster, it would be including Lex Luthor in it as a hero. In another one-off by Manapul and Dazo, Lex Luthor is the anti-hero. While hugely evil and self-serving, his new role has made him into a hero for those excluded in the wastelands by Darkseid’s tyrannical rule. Luthor liberates the people with his new flaming powers, but Manapul does well to remind us of his true personality. We’re treated to flashbacks surrounding Luthor’s past and some memorable moments of cruelty, but the overall message is that in this dark and dangerous new world, Luthor needs all the help he can get.
Assisted by Ardora, the cultist leader of the Forgotten People, he learns how to survive and thrive on Apokolips. As a new Darkseid, the Parademons on Apokolips flock to him. I suppose it’s good to see Luthor back to his evil self again, but I’m still not convinced that making him into an overpowered god was a great idea. You could say the same for Batman, but his change worked because it was based around knowledge. For Luthor, he has become, first-and-foremost, a simple brute…
The six Power of the Gods one-offs are not integral to The Darkseid War, but as you can see, they add depth. The quality of them does vary, and while not essential reading, they do set the stage for Justice League (vol 2) 46. Some of it deals with the aftermath of the one-offs, but this is actually where the story gets moving again. Wonder Woman and the Justice Leaguers on Earth fight against Darkseid’s remaining forces, aided by Mister Miracle and Big Barda. They are still after the Anti-Monitor, who is being watched closely by Grail and her mother Myrina. But its in this issue where three key aspects of the plot fall into place and set the stage for Act Three. Firstly, the Justice League heroes return from their missions to Earth, a move which promises future drama between the heroes as they struggle to come to terms with one another’s changes. Secondly, we’re reintroduced to the Crime Syndicate once again. These guys caused all kinds of trouble in Forever Evil, and their return was never in any doubt. With their comeback, Johns reminds us of all kinds of drama and great potential. For instance, remember the mystery surrounding Superwoman’s baby? Or the secret deal between Owlman and Lex Luthor? Or Ultraman’s perpetual fear of the Anti-Monitor’s return? With such interesting foes returning one last time, this is surely great news. Thirdly, and perhaps most anti-climatically, Grail locates the anti-life equation. This mystical and frankly nonsensical device sounds all threatening, and maybe that’s why its so memorable. Created by Jack Kirby, the anti-life equation basically spells the end of reality, or something similar. It’s too basic in its concept to be interesting frankly. Compared to the return of the Crime Syndicate, some character we barely care about possessing a silly object doesn’t cut the mustard. However, all-together, these three aspects complete the bridge of Act Two. While it is certainly more memorable for the tales focusing on the individual characters of the league more than these two Justice League issues, Geoff Johns does his job here in keeping the story moving and refreshing it with new content.
On a brief note, Francis Manapul pencils and inks these two issues. His storytelling isn’t bad, but his finishes and inks are pretty awful. The art either looks ugly or bland. Manapul is clearly influenced by Darwyn Cooke, that classic artist who not just recreated a more innocent and basic style of art from the 1950s but modernised it and added his own touch. Manapul’s art does have a retro tinge to it, but it’s ruined by ineffective colouring and bad finishes.
VERDICT
Overall, Act Two of The Darkseid War is a breather from the main plot. It does creep into view as you’d expect, but I think it was very good for Geoff Johns and the other writers to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Those six one-offs may be of varying quality, but the common positive between them all is that each of the personalities are given time in the spotlight. The tales of Batman and Green Lantern easily stand out as the best however, while the stories of Superman, the Flash, and Lex Luthor are good but, in some ways, flawed. The weakest is definitely Captain Marvel’s tale, but that’s not surprising. All-in-all, Act Two is brief compared to the preceding and proceeding chapters, but it serves a good purpose.
Next Week: Justice League: The Darkseid War Act Three: Gods of Justice (Justice League (vol 2) 47-50, Justice League: The Darkseid War Special). Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jason Fabok, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oscar Jimenez, and Paul Pelletier.
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