[ SALES IN THE SHADOWS ] |
TO QUOTE a Quote I Used In My Last Justice League Review: 'The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend'.
THE REVIEW:
For a change of pace
I thought it would be a good idea to illustrate this books basic narrative by presenting the following screenplay.
Act: Eight - Scene: One
At last, all of our
favorite heroes have banded together in Lexcorp Tower (along with some of our
not so favorite ones), and collectively, they talk about what they need to do
next to save the day. Cut to an opening splash page where Superman fills us in
on what's happened previously, only for the scene to then pan out on the second
page, so we can then see all of the heroes, one by one, posing, grimacing,
holding chunks of rock, and most importantly of them all...
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
Hi.
THE CRIME SYNDICATE:
Whatever, you bunch of dweebs! Let's stop with the pleasantries and just give us that
flipping chunk of Kryptonite Luthor gave you! Come on, quickly, as we need it
to restore Ultraman's power so we can go and kick the Anti-Monitors ass!
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
Isn't he called Mobius now?
THE CRIME SYNDICATE:
Yes. But that's just cosmetic, like his new costume. So will you give us that damn Kryptonite rock or not?
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
No. No we won't. Not until you return Cyborg and Power Ring to their previous
forms.
THE CRIME SYNDICATE:
Get lost! We're trying to save your world and get us some revenge, remember?
Anyway, we can't restore Jessica back to normal because Power Ring has
mind-shagged her brain.
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Oh!
Fair enough. So what about Cyborg then? We've known him longer!
THE CRIME SYNDICATE:
Yeah. We can do something about Cyborg, but only after we kick evil ass!
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
My God, you mean buggers sure do have a thing about asses!
And so it came to
pass that the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate teamed-up to fight a fiend,
a very bad fiend, who has destroyed worlds and is planning to kill another. And
does he? No. Not yet. First he has to kill a character and then piss off another
by pushing him out of his chair. BAFF! BOOM ! POW! Ouch! Ta-dah!! I'm dead. To be continued.
So yeah, that's
basically it, my friend. More or less. Although, to be fair, at the moment it does look like Geoff and the gang are stretching out
this Darkseid
War story-line for all it's worth. Some things about it are very good: With
Jason Fabok's artwork being at the top of the list. Whereas some other things are fairly bad: Godly members of the Justice League seem like an excuse for DC to mass-produce another range of disposable action figures. And, of course,
some of it is, well, OK I guess, just OK. The story told a fairly comprehensive
story, one that comprised a mixture of action, adventure, and theological ideas
that may or may not seem moot in a couple of months time (Rebirth, anyone?). What's
more, as much as I enjoyed Jason's lavish artwork and how it complemented each
of the characters -- I mean, doesn't he draw a great Batman? -- what I wasn't
too keen on was Moe-Busses new duds!
Let's face it. The original Anti-Monitor design was a much more original steampunk design, and now
he just looks like a homogeneous glowing bad-guy that's good at killing people.
That said, however, look who he killed! Isn't that a turn up for the books? I
never thought he'd peg it so soon, especially since a portion of this plot was
dedicated to seeing... errr... no... I best not say anymore. As I don't want to
spoil anything, do I?
Quickly moving on,
and yes, I must mention that this multi-part story-line finally seems to be ready
to take its final bow. Who will live and who else will die is anyone's guess! My money is on a member of the Crime Syndicate kicking the bucket anytime soon,
plus the revelation that Power Woman's baby is going to be a good guy. Ha! Now
wouldn't that be a strange twist? A strange twist that may take the place of a
certain, hint-hint, God!
All in all this was
a fine issue of the Justice League. Not brilliant -- because the story wasn't.
But fine -- because both the artwork and some of the twists were way above
average.
THE MUSIC:
Oh damn! I just remembered something. I forgot to mention liking the shadow-demons shooting out of the fiery haze within my review! Wait a
minute! I can do that now, can't I? And if not me, then maybe Frank Sinatra and
Sammy Davis Junior can in the following jazz classic: 'Me and my Shadow'!
On the whole I'd say this adventure was a grudge match
between heroes, villains, and Gods, all for the sake of person-kind. So, when I
put it in those terms, how could I not compare it to the brilliant beat-em-up
video game, Mortal Kombat!
THE CONCLUSION:
Nearing the end of
this issue somebody dies. Yes. That's right. One of these super-powered chumps
bites the biscuit at the hand of the Anti-Moe-Night-Her. So -- yep, you guessed
it -- lets see if you can figure out who dies and how from the following eight
options. Could it be...
- Batman: Who falls out of his chair.
- Owlman: Who commits suicide by smelling
his own nose.
- Superman: Who accidentally eats a chunk
of Kryptonite before the League hands it to Ultraman.
- Ultraman: Who gets his head caved in by
someone a lot tougher than he is.
- Wonder Woman: Who falls asleep at the
wheel of her invisible plane, and crashes it, whilst reading this comic.
- Power Woman: Who gives birth to a child
that manages to rip themselves out from her womb and cackles like Jack
Nicholson did in The Shining -- Good film.
- Jack Nicholson: Who just realized that
he isn't playing the Joker in the New Superman Vs Batman Movie.
- The Joker: Errrr? What was the question again?
Nuff said.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #48
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
March 08, 2016
Rating:
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