Since the start of DC’s New 52 relaunch, the flag ship title, Justice League, has been a consistent joy ride for most DC fans. It has contained some of the more enjoyed story lines and has had more ‘nods’ and ‘winks’ for pre-new 52 fans to relish over. The series writer, Geoff Johns, has been on top of his game throughout the entire series, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down with the new story line, The Darkseid War.
The issue starts with Metron (The New Gods) trying his best to prevent the impending war between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor. You see, the universe has been split open and put back together so many times in the past that the timeline is now mostly chewing gum and duct tape, I think. The Anti-Monitor seeks out to exploit this flaw in the universe and this will set him on a crash course set for impact with one being, Darkseid. Metron, knowing that the universe cannot stand another Crisis event, tries to reason with the Anti-Monitor, however to no avail.
For those that are not completely caught up with all of the Crisis events in DC’s history, (Crisis On Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis), this story line may not be the easiest to comprehend, but with issue #40 of JL, Johns sets out to bring everyone up to speed. Most of the issue is spent rehashing some of the major plot points from those huge events, and very little time is actually spent with any new story lines being built. I should note, that this issue releases just days before Free Comic Book Day, where the free DC book, Divergence, is supposed to continue this storyline, but it doesn’t really.
The issue features gorgeous art from Kevin Mcguire, Jim Lee, and the current artist for the ongoing title Jason Fabok. The art is the absolute highlight of the issue. It’s not the story that is bad, it’s just all things that we are already aware of, but the art genuinely takes the cake and leaves you begging for more.
Overall, the issue was fine. It wasn’t bad at all, but it wasn’t full throttle, edge of your seat kind of stuff that I would like. Granted, this is the first issue in an upcoming storyline and it is, almost, just a bridge to the full-on war we are about to get, but it just didn’t do much for me.
My Rating: 6/10
