“Die however you like.”
We have reached the penultimate chapter of The Terrific Ten, an arc dedicated to heroes of the past who’ve become tragically expendable. These past few issues have seen Mr. Terrific leading them on a mission through hell to confront a demon, and the expendability has been exercised beyond a doubt. Upon the surface, the ragtag Leaguers led by Kid Flash and aided by the returning Air Wave, gain an upper hand, but their victory depends on the fight being fought below.
Unfortunately, the surface story isn’t particularly engaging and is carried by Mora’s affinity for action shots. And to add insult to injury, the journey through hell is tainted by some truly glaring creative choices with its cast, and not to mention . But in spite of that, we are at least treated to Sean Izaakse’s Justice League debut in said hell portion.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Justice League Unlimited #15!
To put it mildly, the surface storyline is dull, and at worst feels somewhat hollow. It is nice to see Kid Flash get some cool moments, Air Wave get back in the fray, and even Blue Beetle play the experienced hero veteran during the Watchtower blackout, but most other characters are one-note. This B-plot rarely reaches over the height of being a bunch of cool looking characters fighting each other, and then the heroes being given an ultimatum so that the A-plot can move forward to clueing up. Though the ultimatum is a unique one, it only feeds generic stakes and frequently feels like page filler.
DC
Beneath the surface (y’know, in hell), nearly every bit of appeal is fumbled as the team is reaching the finish line. More characters die, which is not inherently the problem since it’s by design, but none of these deaths are portrayed as particularly tragic or even narratively fulfilling. The original premise instilled the idea that these heroes would simply fade away eventually since they merely exist as screenshots, but so far every one of them killed has just been in the name of unceremonious hell violence. Early deaths such as Power Girl and Guy Gardner were exceptions because we got to see what led to them accepting their gruesome fates. The ones that followed were by no means bad, but this issue’s deaths felt cheap by comparison, almost as if they were just cannon fodder swept under the rug before reaching Neron.
There is also a glaring issue in how genuinely interesting ideas appear to be thrown away in favour of something shocking. Last issue featured Superman Blue sacrificing his capacity for hope so the group could move forward, and involving a Superman without his hope is something that could’ve thrown a fascinating wrench into the mix. But that doesn’t happen. Instead of wallowing in despair, he acts no different and is still somehow hopeful enough in his team that they’ll succeed, which leads to him sacrificing his life against another unnamed beast from the depths.
Another example of this is with Mr. Terrific himself, who similarly sacrificed his moral belief of fairness for all. Now, that is not wasted per se, and is very much on display once he confronts Neron to offer his betrayal of the Justice League in order to save the people of earth from extinction. Again, a very interesting idea, especially given the trajectory of Michael’s arc as the team’s overexerted point guy, but that is immediately 180ed by the very sudden twist that another character beat him to the punch on that bargain. The grand twist of this penultimate chapter is Owlwoman being revealed as a traitor to the mission.
Like, what?
The largest problem, besides the twist being a character who spent the entire arc doing nothing and not speaking unless it’s to complain about her circumstances, is that it takes away from the initial proposal to the audience of Mr. Terrific offering to become a turncoat. It dangles a much more interesting setup over the heads of the audience and makes Michael’s sacrifice somewhat empty. It is, without question, the most absurd cliffhanger we’ve seen from this series, and only appears to be the chosen route because Owlwoman was the safest—though admittedly most fitting for her intelligence—option.
DC
The Terrific Ten was never a perfect concept, the problems had been visible prior to this recent installment but not to this extent. Every single piece of existential terror for this team was thrown out the window, with the only meaningful fates given to the first to die. The rest are treated as last second deaths before the most niche character on the lineup by a country mile finds a way to destroy a potential way to save a very messy story. But maybe it’s an act to be expected from a tongue-in-cheek Grant Morrison character.
Moving into the art, it gives an unusual feeling to the twist ending as Dan Mora draws the final page rather than Sean Izaakse, who draws the hell portion, which is half the comic. Though their styles fit together jumping from scene to scene, there is a striking difference between how Izaakse inks his pages in comparison to Mora. This transition comes very suddenly and is very stylistically jarring in an otherwise visually consistent artist rotation. Izaakse’s style fits the grittier elements of hell as he draws with a more jagged hand. However, the core subject here is that last transition.
Following that, the art from both artists is fine. Seriously. For an overall weak issue there isn’t too much to say that hasn’t been said about their work before. Mora remains DC’s top dog and Sean Izaakse is a fantastic fill-in. With Tamra Bonvillain as their main colorist, I don’t think there could ever be any actual issue with the art in this series.
We are sad to report that Justice League Unlimited #15 is the weakest issue of the series to date. There is very little meat on its bones in terms of real narrative stakes, and what meat is there is apparently tossed aside for no real reason. Though one thing to highlight is that Mora and Isaakse’s styles mesh very well, and that Isaakse is a welcome addition to the creative roster. Beyond that, all we can hope is that the creative team clutches for the final chapter of the arc.
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