Justice League Incarnate has been the salve for anyone wanting epic superhero storytelling. The stakes are higher than ever, the multiverse is in danger, and a wide variety of superheroes are trying to save everything. Justice League Incarnate #4 aims to tell a different kind of epic story that should be read by anyone who wants to catch up on major moments in DC Comics history. A new direction seems to be taking place in this comic series.
The first ten pages of this comic recap how we got to this moment with the multiverse in danger once again. Cleverly, writers Dennis Culver and Joshua Williamson didn’t start with this, which would be a natural move, but instead deliver it here right before we reach another milestone in DC multiverse history. It’s a cool way to celebrate DC Comics’ history while setting up the high stakes and making sure everyone is on the same page.
These opening ten pages are fantastic and are worth a read by anyone even vaguely interested in DC Comics. These pages are excellently drawn by Chris Burnham with all the cool detailing he’s known for with some rather efficient panel work too. Frankly, DC Comics’ history of crises is confusing even if you’ve read them all, and yet here it’s perfectly explained in a linear way.
The next 25 pages are drawn by Mike Norton, who has a slightly cartoony style but gets the job done. This is the meatier portion of the book if you’re looking for character drama. In fact, it goes into a bit of a melodramatic tailspin with a character making a really bad choice that gets a hero killed. That said, it moves the character focus along from the last issue and sets up the big showdown well enough, even if it’s too convenient.
This issue will make you look at Darkseid in a new way.
Credit: DC Comics
Wrapping up the book is a battle on Earth-7 with art by Andrei Bressan. The style jumps back to a hyper-detailed superhero style with two epic battle scenes with many characters on the page. It’s neat to see Darkseid as a kind of hero–the first ten pages do well to explain why he’s not the ultimate villain in this story–and he gets to serve as the center point of the biggest surprise in the comic. The detail is like a mix of George Perez meets Ryan Ottley with a darker ink work throughout.
Hi-Fi colors the entire issue and it’s interesting to see subtle choices made depending on the art style. They can color a Kirby Crackle like the best of them and there’s plenty of that bright and hopeful DC Comics vibe brought to the book thanks to the colors. A shot of the Batman Who Laughs, for instance, has a complete glow of yellow and red on his body that adds another dimension to the character.
If you’re looking for epic comics, there is nothing bigger on the shelf this week than Justice League Incarnate #4. This book serves as a nice recap of the multiverse in DC Comics with some wickedly cool art from cover to cover. Justice League Incarnate is breathtakingly epic and all about the spectacle.
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