JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #33

[ GRAB A DEADMAN BARGAIN ] 

One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got into my pyjamas I'll never know. Although it might have something to do with the following comic book Created by: J. M. DeMatteis, Andres Guinaldo, and Published by: DC Comics, in August, 2014.

To QUOTE Reid Scott: 'Nothing is better than showing up twice a week, acting like a 12 year-old for two hours, and then going home'.

THE STORY:

After receiving a strange telepathic signal related to his hometown of Nanda Parbat, Deadman decides that he should travel to this mystical location as soon as he possibly can.

No. I'm afraid to say Justice League Dark aren't up to this challenge at the moment. It has something to do with... coff-coff... sniff-sniff... and things like that. Although some blue faced urchin called Brahma Dass can help him. Well? I think that's his name, anyway? Or maybe it's something else? Something more sinister, perhaps?

Bww-ha-ha-hahahahahaha!

THE GOOD:

Being a Deadman fan for many-many years I was happy to find that this issue decided to shine the spotlight on him for a change. Well, it was about bloody time, wasn't it? I don't think he's had his own story-line in this series since Peter Milligan left.  

Also, I've got to say I loved the flirty nature of those scenes between him and Night Nurse, as well as how each of the characters are starting to get better and better defined by the issue.

Of course Zatanna is now the no-nonsense leader of the group / Johnny is the stray renegade / Swamp Thing seems to be the token big hero / Deadman is the amenable second in command / whilst Night Nurse is the goth chick with the heart of gold.

As for the actual story-line though, well, I'm sitting on the fence about that one, dear reader. On the one hand I liked the way the Circus was introduced and how the characters interacted with one another. Whilst on the other hand...

THE BAD:

Now I'm holding back quite a bit of my criticism for next month, folks, because at present I'm not quite sure where this current story-line is heading. Yet the one thing I can mention was that I wasn't too keen on how Deadman was set-up fairly obviously within this books 'hide and seek' structure. One minute Justice League Dark was unable to help him. The next minute someone else was. And the minute after that Justice League Dark were able to do what they couldn't do in the first place!

No. I'm not buying that at all. Or the fact that they keep on picking on Johnny boy all the time. Poor, poor, Johnny, Ha!  

THE MUSIC:

Essentially this escapade is about someone who wants to go home, right? Granted, the way they finally 'go home' is rather unusual -- on the back of a dragon -- so that is why I feel compelled to pair it up with the following drunken melody entitled...

THE COMPARISON:

You know the old saying about waiting around for ages to catch a bus, only for two of them to come along at the same time? Well, that's precisely what I want to compare this comic book to. A bus. Or a London bus to be more precise. Because on occasion this mode of transportation is known to get you from a to b -- fingers crossed. Ha!

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this issue something rather strange happens to Deadman. 'But what could it be?' you might ask yourself. Don't tell me he's...

1. Had a sex change and teamed up with Thor over on Marvel -- Wow! Deadgirl and Whore! What a humongous step forward for women's lib!
2. Started tanning under a sun-bed and burnt himself by mistake -- Hey! It has been known to happen!
3. Took out a large loan under someone else's name -- Most probably Johnny Constantine's.  
4. Miraculously become reborn again -- Wait a minute! Didn't that happen already?  
5. Enlisted his services over on the Grayson ongoing series -- because he misses Mikel Janin's great artwork
6. Told everyone that he is in fact a negative of a smurf -- Nah! This is getting silly now.  

Nuff said. Ha!