After the shocking end of Act One and the interesting interlude of Act Two, what does Act Three of The Darkseid War have in store for us? The last issues of Geoff Johns’s Justice League finish tying up three key aspects of his long run. One of them is the fate of Lex Luthor – is he hero or villain? Another is the climax of the oncoming threat as revealed in the identity of the Anti-Monitor. The last, and by no means last, is the return of the Crime Syndicate and their place in this war. Geoff Johns does make the run come full circle as many plotlines which have been running for dozens of issues finally come to a close. However, there is one big question – will the run end triumphantly in a blaze of glory, or will we have to endure several issues featuring long-drawn out fight scenes and a villain who we care little about? Apologies if I’m giving anything away…
Justice League (vol 2) 47-50, along with a Darkseid War special, was published from February to July 2016. Written by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok is the main artist, while others like Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oscar Jimenez, and Paul Pelletier are also present. These issues have been reprinted in Justice League Volume Eight: The Darkseid War Part Two.
To begin, Justice League (vol 2) 47 converges all the heroes back together after they’ve enjoyed their own one-off adventures in Act Two. Batman is with Green Lantern, still pondering the powers of the Mobius Chair. Thinking about the Joker and the fact that there are apparently three of them, the Dark Knight finds himself in the ACE Chemicals plant. Sadly, we cannot stay any longer with this story of much potential – the drab tale of immortals fighting must continue. Throughout much of this issue, Superman – who you may remember is super-charged with evil sun energy from Apokolips – is going crazy again as he attacks Wonder Woman. Pitting heroes against one another is a tired tactic, but I suppose it does get the attention of the rest of the league and brings them back to the main action. Nevertheless, Johns writes a plot-thread full of excitement and anticipation here. Cyborg and Jessica Cruz, with the help of Mister Miracle, break into Belle Reve prison to seek the help of the Crime Syndicate. Their return has been teased often and with so many threads left unfinished after Forever Evil, this evil collection of villains is certainly the most interesting aspect of Act Three. It’s not just because they are great characters, but also because of their sheer unpredictability. While Mister Miracle finds Ultraman cowering in fear over the return of the Anti-Monitor, Cyborg is witness to the shocking return of the Crime Syndicate as a threatening force. Jessica Cruz explodes with fear, allowing Power Ring to take over and free the heavily pregnant Superwoman. And – yet again – Cyborg is converted into the Grid. Their return to power does feel a tad simplistic and quick given the circumstances, but as I said, this adds to their penchant for surprise and reputation for comebacks. But even with the return of the Grid, the Crime Syndicate aren’t restored to the mighty strength of their Forever Evil success. That’s mainly because Geoff Johns would be forced to write a story that is even longer, but it’s also due to the return of Owlman. With the Anti-Monitor threat, Owlman realises that the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate must work together. In an issue where the Justice League pathetically squabbles amongst themselves, the Crime Syndicate make flawless stars to kick off Act Three.
With Justice League (vol 2) 48, the two teams cooperate, albeit forcibly. Johns does create interest by converting Cyborg and Power Ring back to the dark side, but when it comes to the threat of Grail and the like, it’s difficult to muster much enthusiasm. Throughout, parts of the world and time are erasing by that harsh white light we’ve all seen before in stories like Crisis on Infinite Earths, but little at all is said about this. It’s obviously the Anti-Monitor doing this, but the removal of Earth’s existence is barely touched upon compared to the ‘drama’ of Grail and her mother. Speaking of Grail, her plan to commit some vague heinous act is linked to Steve Trevor. As seemingly the first man to walk upon Paradise Island, he has something which no one else does. Grail kidnaps him, but this all comes back later. Meanwhile, the united front of heroes and villains take on the Anti-Monitor. While it does devolve into a typical modern comic book fight, there is one casualty of huge proportions. Ultraman’s death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor is a huge moment. It not only makes the Anti-Monitor into a threat, as opposed to this vague multiverse being, but it kills off a character who you really wouldn’t have expected to die.
It's here where the story takes something of a break. Justice League: The Darkseid War Special is a mixture of two tales. One of them is drearily dull. The other is fascinatingly interesting. Starting with the less exciting, we have more about Grail and her mother Myrina. Born on Paradise Island, Grail was prophesised to sign the oncoming storm of death and destruction. Myrina has been trying to guide her, but Johns writes deep divisions between daughter and mother. Much of this content has already been covered in Act One, making this repetition pointless. If anything, Johns fails to hide the obvious fact that the story of Grail is so starkly similar to the tale of Raven. But Johns does elaborate on Steve Trevor’s role in the tale. She transforms Trevor into some kind of fiery monster in order to destroy the Anti-Monitor. Steve Trevor has been a staple throughout this run, mainly due to his romantic links to Wonder Woman. However, that side of the story has never featured as a particularly interesting or prevalent aspect, especially after the title’s first year. The return of Trevor as an emotional pressure on Wonder Woman makes sense, but does it add anything of substance or memorability? Not really.
As for the more entertaining half of the special, it looks at Jessica Cruz as she is trapped inside Power Ring. It basically chronicles her journey to overcome the fear of Power Ring so she can learn to control it. But Johns does add some nice touches. One of these is the return of the Hal Jordan once contaminated by this evil being.
He attempts – in vain – to convince Jessica that she must give in to the ring. He is aided by a roster of other previous victims to Power Ring in some very powerful scenes. It’s helped hugely by the fact that Johns has written Jessica as a three-dimensional character whose journey we’ve been following in great interest, as opposed to Grail and her mother who just turned up near the end of the run. Regardless, to conclude the special, Jessica is helped by none other than Cyborg. Although his physical presence on Earth is possessed by Power Ring, he placed his consciousness within Power Ring seconds before the Grid became online. While it does seem all-too brief for Jessica Cruz and Cyborg to have fallen and then very quickly rise again, Johns writes this segment of the tale much more interestingly compared to Grail’s story. Overall though, the need for a special issue like this one is puzzling. I think it may be because Geoff Johns realised that, with only two issues left after this, there was too much plot to cover. That considered, there are two further issues of the New 52 Justice League title – 51 and 52 – after this. While the Johns run doesn’t extend into that brief period, surely it could have done so. As it stands, the very existence of this special seems unnecessary.
Justice League (vol 2) 49 is the penultimate part where – just like the two concluding issues of Act One – the story becomes a compilation of fight scenes. Lex Luthor, himself now a newer version of Darkseid after a tribe converted him for their own needs, fights the Anti-Monitor, while Superwoman gives birth. Meanwhile, this is where some of the heroes have to say goodbye to their great powers. Superman is the first to lose the strength of Apokolips as he returns to normal. This return to normalcy is welcome, especially since all Superman’s powers did was make him into arrogant fool. Captain Marvel is also reunited to the link of Shazam. But all of this is meant to be minor compared to the issue’s ending. In an instant, the Anti-Monitor is obliterated into nothing but a charred skull as Grail presents her new dangerous weapon – Steve Trevor. Killing off the Anti-Monitor is certainly a moment of drama, but it does surely feel underwhelming compared to the monolithic strength he was proposed to have.
Nonetheless, Justice League (vol 2) 50 marks the end of Geoff Johns’s run, which turns out to be quite circular. It ends as it begins, with Steve Trevor acting as such a key factor for the Justice League. From here, it’s basically Grail controlling Trevor in a fight against Wonder Woman, while Myrina stands by shouting her displeasure, but that’s about it. During the fight, another big beast is slain. This time it’s Superwoman, who is killed by Grail. Even more startlingly, Jessica Cruz is also killed off. From within, she and Cyborg control her possessed body for just a few seconds to rescue the Flash from near-death as he takes on the Grid. It’s a heroic way to go, and there is genuine weight in this tragic moment. Moments like this transform the Justice League into a formidable team as they take on Grail, who also takes advantage of Superwoman’s baby by transforming it into a clone of Darkseid. This is done with surprising ease, but since the story has been pretty much on auto-pilot fight-mode for the last two issues where action is the priority, it isn’t exactly surprising. Because of this, Johns is in something of a rush to tie up loose ends. This not only results in the quick deaths of many characters, but also in perhaps the most tragic of moments – Batman is forced to give up the Mobius Chair. Hal Jordan realises that the Chair will continue to ebb away at his mind, so the Dark Knight is released when the Green Lantern taps into Batman’s willpower and provides him a Green Lantern ring. It’s sad to see Mobius Chair Batman go. With his sheer intelligence mixed with complete self-obsession and honesty, Geoff Johns wrote a highly memorable Dark Knight. In the end, all the heroes lose their new powers, a move which culminates in the theme provided by Johns that the Justice League are not Gods. Even with their normal powers, they are not Gods, but imperfect heroes with flaws. This notion of ungodliness differs strongly from Grant Morrison’s approach, in which he believed that these heroes were above humanity and acted as Gods. While both viewpoints have points in their favour, I do lean more towards Geoff Johns’s perspective. While the Justice League does have unimaginable powers – with Superman and Wonder Woman the closest thing they have to Gods – Johns makes sure he doesn’t write the team as perfect characters living in a rosy world. They have flaws. They make mistakes. They are accountable to the people, as Johns made much of in the early issues of the run but then came to ignore.
In the end, Steve Trevor is freed and Myrina confronts her daughter, who is forced to retreat when the league’s power grows too strong. She vanishes, along with Superwoman’s baby which still contains the powers of Darkseid. What happens to them from here? Who can say, and frankly who really cares? If it somehow wasn’t clear enough already, these characters meant little of importance to me. All of these characters, like Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor, or Grail, are just evil for the sake of it. There’s nothing to them to make them intriguing to readers. Without a shadow of a doubt, the weakest aspect of Darkseid War – along with the overabundance of fight scenes – is the villains. Also, just to really grind my gears, Geoff Johns brings Jessica Cruz back to life at the end as a new Green Lantern. Sure, it’s a nice reward for her battle against Power Ring, but seriously? Killing off characters and bringing them back is a terrible cliché in comic books, spoiling any emotional impact that could be experienced after a character you care about is killed off. I think Jessica Cruz was a great addition to the team, but her sacrifice to save the team is where her story should have ended. Her comeback is almost predictable.
Although it may not be a large compensation, Geoff Johns finishes up his run with something of an epilogue, a series of hints for future stories. All of the teasers work well because of the potential they spawn. On Apokolips, Lex Luthor continues to reign as a god, but not a simple emulation of Darkseid. Instead, he sits on his throne wearing armour with the crest of Superman on it. Meanwhile, the Man of Steel himself is revealed to be dying, contaminated by the radiation he absorbed on Apokolips. Back on Earth, Batman reveals to Green Lantern that there are three Jokers. But perhaps the best of all comes with the fate of Owlman, The Grid (once again removed from Cyborg’s body) and Metron. On the Moon, Metron confronts Owlman, who has stolen his chair. But suddenly, in a matter of seconds, Metron, Owlman, and the Grid are vaporised into dust by a light blue flash. All the hints are there. The Doomsday Clock is coming…
I’ve already discussed in my review of Act One just how much Jason Fabok adds to a story. With his fine storytelling and unique use of a pen and brush, Fabok enlivens and energises the last issues of the Darkseid War. It may be full of fights and moments of little significance, but his storytelling is still nevertheless impressive. For The Darkseid War Special, we have a few other artists helping along, all of whom are more than passable. Ivan Reis is definitely the best, especially since he is a classic Justice League artist. Others like Joe Prado, Oscar Jimenez, and Paul Pelletier don’t rock the boat much as their art – while mostly good – doesn’t really make much of an impression frankly.
VERDICT
Overall, Act Three of Justice League: The Darkseid War definitely has some shining moments. There are times when Johns’s writing can be powerful, especially when a decent character is killed off. Sadly though, Johns spends far too much time focusing on elements which just aren’t interesting. I’ll forever be puzzled about Grail’s goals and why she needed Steve Trevor. Along with its plain villains, the story spends far too much time on fight scenes that just waste time. This is a common problem during the whole story. Looking at the whole tale from afar, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t overlong. Nothing happens for a good half of the story, and when something is occurring it focuses too much on dull characters. Yes, it has its time of drama and there are some flawless aspects, such as Batman sitting on Metron’s Chair. But overall, The Darkseid War is a disappointing and pretty unexciting end to a run which has been anything but.
All-in-all, what overall judgement can be made of Geoff Johns’s entire Justice League (vol 2) run. In terms of its structure, it stands out because it has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Most comic book runs lack this – some often feel like a random collection of stories with little content connecting them all. Here, Geoff Johns bookends the run with two Darkseid stories, and in the middle, we’re treated to a titanic memorable occasion in the form of Forever Evil. Thankfully, the structure is never too restricting, as Johns allows for shorter supplementary stories which, although secondary in importance, make the run fresh and interesting. In terms of the quality of the stories, it’s hard to point out any particular stories that are terrible or bad. It does seem obvious to me that the weakest two tales of the run are the two Darkseid stories – with Origin essentially lacking much substance, while Darkseid is over-long and has little interesting going on – but in-between those two it's hard to find anything at all that is unreadable. In terms of characters, Johns refreshes some existing characters well as nearly every member of the Justice League team has their time to shine. Success is mixed when it comes to newer characters – some like David Graves (from The Villain’s Journey) and Jessica Cruz make for fascinating study, others like Pandora or Grail do not. It is a great shame that Johns doesn’t produce many – if any – one-offs that are simply character studies or opportunities for heroes to develop in their own stories, but I sadly suppose that modern comics care little for such trivial matters now. However, compared to a vast number of other Justice League runs since the turn of the century, Geoff Johns creates a highly memorable run. The team line-up may appear so classic its almost dull, but the originality of plotting and the scale of drama throughout is unforgettable. Working with some talented – if highly samey – artists along the way, Geoff Johns must stand up there with Gardner Fox, Keith Giffen, J.M DeMatteis, and Brad Meltzer as writing one of the best Justice League runs ever produced in the team’s 63-year-long history…
Next Week: Manhunter (Detective Comics 437-443, Manhunter: The Special Edition). Written by Archie Goodwin with art by Walt Simonson.
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