“For many of your years, I was guarding Parademon eggs. I believed it to be my singular destiny. But now I know Lord Darkseid put me on your world for a second purpose.”
In the wake of We Are Yesterday, everyone in the League is on alert. While the Trinity heatedly discusses their failings regarding Air Wave’s betrayal, the team at the Watchtower must save a dying Time Trapper, and the ground team are attempting to track the origin of Apokoliptic fire pits popping up around the globe. Amidst all the chaos, an enemy from issues past returns, inciting burning questions as to the length of Darkseid’s plan beyond the grave.
This tenth issue of Justice League Unlimited opens with the aforementioned emergency meeting of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman in the old Justice League headquarters. After nearly being wiped out by the Legion of Doom, the question is raised of just how palpable giving out membership cards to every hero really is. This of course raises tension, leading to the ever rivaling Supes and Bats to butt heads on matters both professional and personal, leaving Diana to force them into some middle ground.
DC
I can’t help but compare the concept of this book to Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers World, but while that features a more coordinated effort for a web of heroes (albeit with darker implications behind the scenes), the JLU is more transparent and much looser with the vetting process. Unlike the Avengers, who let the secrets tear themselves apart, the JLU is more concerned with immediately asking the question of how to move forward as soon as the leaks in their ambition begin to show, even if they get conflict in favor of answers.
Outside of that narrative, this issue is dealing with a lot of different ongoing plots, and bounces back and forth without being too jarring or overwhelming. However, jumping between so many plots so frequently incites a lot of exposition each time a plot is returned to. Luckily, Waid is a natural at snappy dialogue, and makes all these scenes all the more engaging, made all the better by their mostly climactic natures. Waid’s character writing has improved vastly since the beginning of the series, helping juggle the multiple plot lines. Whether it’s the sternness of Wonder Woman or the more jock-oriented dialogue that Power Girl has, he has grown noticeably more comfortable and confident when bouncing between so many varying strong personalities.
This, for me, has been a much needed change of pace as the series dialogue has felt somewhat one-note up to now. While expected for what some may consider “junk food”, it is nice to see these heroes evolve as the story progresses. The star of this show beyond the Trinity isn’t Time Trapper, but the Waid favorite Metamorpho, a character who stands beside Mr. Terrific as newly popularized because of Anthony Carrigan’s DCU portrayal. Appearing on and off over the course of World’s Finest and Shazam! since the writer’s return to DC, the Element Man really gets his moment to shine here with a small bittersweet add-on to his characterization to boot.
Additionally, Mora’s dynamic paneling is fantastic, uplifting the dialogue heavy scenes earnestly while his creative framing makes for some of the most visually pleasing action sequences of the series. It gets harder and harder to reiterate in a new way just how appreciated Mora’s work is, but allowing the series to have a much needed breather from the comic-bookiness of it all benefitted him and Bonvillain greatly in terms of their artistic language. Seeing as next issue will likely get back to the chaos, this is a nice change of pace.
With all said and done, Justice League Unlimited #10 is easily the best issue since the debut. It capitalizes on all series’ strength and injects new life and revelations into the ongoing conflicts, carried by impactful dialogue and incredibly appealing art to frame it. It is admittedly a tad worrisome that the series is to be included in yet another crossover that could screw with the pacing, but that’s a story for another day – and it’s not as if these creatives haven’t frequently surprised us before.
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