JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #24

[ DIE, BUY, OR LIE ] 

Wait a God damn minute! If the Justice League Dark are dead, what in hell is John Constantine doing asking me for money? I mean, I have a good mind to complain to J.M. DeMatteis and Mikel Janin about this! And if not them, then maybe the Publisher: DC Comics, sometime in October, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled 'Blight'.

• WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: As soon as he wakes up from his unusually long slumber, John Constantine tries to figure out what the hell is going on with himself and the House of Mystery, whilst scoping out for his darkly hued team-mates that are nowhere to be found.
• ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. Not really. Johnny-boy gets side-tracked by a malevolent  spirit, who leads him down a not so merry path full of emotion and rage.
• ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: We get to find out that John really-really-really loves Z. Ahhh. Bless him.  
• HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With a special guest star slapping Johnny back into touch with a stab and a swamp.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

I thought one of the best sections in this issue was that one where John contemplated about the true nature of evil. Straight up, folks. Nigh on everything he surmised touched something deep within me. Particularly that part where he said...

'If you can walk past a homeless woman on the streets, then you can certainly close your eyes to famine and disease'.

OK. I know that I could go on and present you with more of these 'If you can' statements.  But I won't. I'm sure by reading the one provided you get the basic idea of how stark and poignant this chapter really is.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) When I saw J.M. DeMatteis' name printed upon the cover of this book, I knew nigh on straight away that I was going to be in store for a bloody good read. And I was, folks. Honest I was. This story is one of those tales that I really do dig. It had character. It had a personal voice over narration. And it had a message about the true nature of evil that stood out from the crowd.

(+) Alright. I know I'm always carping on about Mikel Janin's great artwork. But my God, in this issue he really does excel himself. It's as though D.M's. presence has inspired him to channel Kevin Maguire all of a sudden. Making his character driven work far more expressive than usual.

(+) Now without giving too much away, I must confess I'm not really sure about the ending of this tale. A part of me enjoyed the 'twist element' in it. Another part of me felt it came right out of left field. And yet another part of me is intrigued just enough to want to know more.

(+) As previously implied, I did like that scene where John's character tried to hypotheses about the true nature of evil. From my point of view it's nice little tit-bits like these, which adds a more physiological tone to a tale. Giving it a very entrusting and revealing flavor.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) As much as I enjoyed following this adventure, enrapturing myself into its personable narrative, the one thing I wasn't too keen on was its jarring focus. For instance, initially it was defined as a 'where are the Justice League Dark' story-line. It then segwayed into a 'follow the evil entity' story-line. Before finally it concluded with a 'this is what it's all about' story-line. Not that this is a terrible thing of course. Far from it. Yet at the same time I do feel this focus needed to be more conceptually defined.  

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to WELL KNOWN WOMEN.

KATHERINE KELLY AS JOHN CONSTANTINE: For those of you who don't know who our Kath is, she's a well-known English actress that got her big break playing the northern whore with the heart of gold called Becky, in the daily soap-opera Coronation Street. Now if you've ever watched this soap before, I'm sure you know why I've chosen her for this role. She has the guts. She has the savvy. And she once kicked me in the nuts when I tried to pinch one of her cigarettes.

EILEEN ATKINS AS THE MALEVOLENT SPIRIT: Hey! While I'm in the mood for picking English actresses, why not choose 'Doc Martins' top head-shrink to mess about with our Johnny-Boy? I'm sure this paring would work. Guaranteed.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today' -- Abraham Lincoln

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

THE END CREDIT MUSIC FOR THE ORIGINAL 'EVIL DEAD': Because this tale is somewhat jovial and somewhat creepy, I thought I might as well compare it to this somewhat jovial and somewhat creepy tune. Say no more.

ANYTHING Else?

As I've picked up on this point three times so far, I thought that this would be a good time to express what I feel about the true nature of evil.

Hey! Don't worry your pretty little head off, folks. I'll expunge upon porn and what-not next month. What I'd like to do now is kind of sum up what I feel 'evil' truly is. I mean, what is evil? Is it a niggling sensation that makes us do bad things to people? Is it a misguided yearning to make one-self feel superior over someone else? Or is it something inherent within out being?  Always nagging. Always probing. And always prompting us to travel down the path less traveled.

Personally speaking, I like to think that evil is all of these things really. Constantly hanging in the air, above our heads, tempting us with a devilish glint in its eye. Admittedly, it's not always very apparent. Sometime you can do evil things with the best of intentions. However, at other times this sinful emotion is just that. Sinful. Without the instigator or the receiver truly knowing why x did y to z, until v finally rears its ugly head to spell everything out to everyone.

Anyway. That's enough of my pontificated prose for this month. All I have left to say is that this issue of 'Justice League Dark' reminded me of attending a shotgun wedding. Joyous on occasion. Poignant in part. But ultimately reminds you never to drink too much at the end of the day.

Nuff said. BOOM!