“I am perilously off my game. It’s endangering the League…and I know what I have to do about it.”
Picking up right off the coattails of last issue, Justice League Unlimited #11 throws us right into the fires of chaos. Parademons attack from within while the mortally wounded Time Trapper wreaks havoc on the Watchtower’s integrity. With no backup coming, Mr. Terrific springs into action. Meanwhile, other Leaguers journey to the center of the earth where they’re forced to deal with a “friend” of Superman’s.
Yet again, this issue primes us for another upcoming event with DC K.O., a very common thing for a flagship book to do. But not only is the book still reeling from its last crossover, it’s picking up plot elements from the Justice League: Dark Tomorrow one-shot as well as the recent arc of Superman. Are you following? The latter plot point is setting up yet another one-shot with Justice League: The Omega Act, which itself is also a prelude to DC K.O.
Suffice it to say that even though the series was advertised to be setup plots for other books, jumping to and from a bunch of Justice League one-shots and one spinoff mini wasn’t what we had in mind. Even with a solid plot surrounding the Time Trapper — which will apparently be continued in The Omega Act, to further prove this point — Waid’s consistent habit of referring to other titles has resulted in a main series that is disjointed in its storytelling, and this issue is probably the best example of that.
DC
As previously said, the premise of the issue is still very engaging. The spotlight on Mr. Terrific’s race against literal time to rectify his oversights makes him a dynamic character, and possibly the most consistent in the whole series. His sense of leadership and perfectionism clash as he struggles to coordinate the League, punishing himself for not catching the little things that keep turning into bigger problems along the way.
There is little to be said of the subplot, which deals with Leaguers in Markovia investigating a hole leading to the center of the earth. This plotline is where the Dark Tomorrow one-shot is referenced, with Darkseid’s Legion revealing themselves as perpetrators. It certainly helps to pace the overall story, but save for a very tense encounter between Captain Atom and the corrupted Element Lad, there isn’t much of note at play.
DC
The true highlight, which is not uncommon for us to say about this series, is the art. Filling in pencil duty is Carmine Di Giandomenico, famed for his work during Joshua Williamson’s tenure writing The Flash. Evidently such a role makes him no stranger to time travel shenanigans, which makes his erratic yet detailed line-heavy style a perfect fit for the chaos this title has been known for, and very effective with Bonvillain’s high contrast colors. In particular, the rendition of Flash and his powers are incredibly strong, making this a more than appropriate shift in the creative team.
Justice League Unlimited #11 is a serviceable prelude issue that boasts a strong, action-packed main narrative with stylistic art to match the frantic energy. Unfortunately, the detours in storytelling have become increasingly apparent with the over-reliance on picking up plot lines while dropping others to continue them elsewhere, only to have them picked up again in the main title later on. But with a new event on the horizon, it’s probably best to hope that the title won’t fall off track like it did with the previous crossover.
You must be logged in to post a comment.