“J’onn, in many ways, you are the Justice League. And that is why we’ll solve this together.”
Suspense takes the wheel as Inferno presses the assault on the Justice League, gaining a stark upper hand. Mr. Terrific desperately looks for routes to avert a rapidly approaching fiery apocalypse. Batman investigates the disappearance of the team’s most valuable member. Even as our heroes try to catch their breaths, their familiar enemy is still giving them little room to rest. These are all the elements of a focused and fast paced yet emotionally resonant superhero romp, with an accessible familiarity to the characters’ long histories that Mark Waid and Dan Mora are consistently known to deliver.
The best way to describe the ongoing conflict between the League and the Inferno is that it’s a game of chess between our heroes’ chief strategist and their yet unknown adversaries. Beyond their unrelenting methods, Mr. Terrific is grasping at straws as the clock on a planetary crisis counts down. Michael Holt is definitely my pick for the issue’s protagonist if it is to have one, and his tactical mind being clearly challenged by the overwhelming odds against his teams across the earth makes for an engaging perspective that adds a certain intensity to an already high stakes mission with strong mystery and thriller elements.
Also worthy of note is the touching study of Martian Manhunter, who has been apart of the team more consistently than most recurring members. Described as a constant to the team, he is characterized by Batman as the equivalent of the League’s very soul, and having one of the other most prominent Leaguers—Batman particularly, without overinflating his own importance—communicating that to him and the audience is as heartfelt as it gets.
Mr. Terrific and Red Tornado’s Hail Mary play, courtesy of DC Comics.
There is little more to be said about the quality of Dan Mora’s work. It is truly astounding that no matter which, or how many, characters he draws that his art style retains the unique signatures of each one without negating the fact they’re co-starring with Leaguers across the DCU. The action is dynamic, the sequences are larger than life, and each character that appears gets their panels to shine. And in spite of the fast pace, we somehow still get to linger with the striking images we’re given, for example the parallel panels of Flash and Superman dually saving children from the fires, or even Swamp Thing and the visualization of the Green.
As the narrative shifts fully back to the conflict with Inferno rather than focusing on the Atom Project, Justice League Unlimited #4 fully regains its footing in pacing and narrative development. As far as team books between the Big Two go, this is undoubtedly one of the strongest. With the finale to this first arc just around the corner, the stakes are high, and the compelling mystery of ally and enemy identities accent the panels of an energetic action thriller with the right amount of intrigue.
Tefe Holland’s characterization in this issue was very much a nod to Brian K. Vaughan’s sense of style with the character. A product of Waid’s deep diving into more niche comic book lore, he successfully captures the strangeness of her and the Green itself. Despite being more of a cosmic-focused writer, Waid clearly has a lot of love for Tefe and Levi and uses them to create an interesting conversation about the ‘everyone is a Justice Leaguer’ narrative, and displaying that effectively with Tefe wishing to live as normal as she can despite her supernatural heritage.
Overall, Justice League Unlimited #4 is another strong installment in this series. Waid and Mora continue to knock it out of the park with each issue and swiftly make up for small mistakes they’ve made in the past with each page. The only problem this issue has is the lack of Air Wave as he feels a little bit tacked on compared to the first issue. Though with how this chapter ends, we can’t wait to see how his mystery comes back into the spotlight as this arc concludes.
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