Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul
New Gods arise and all-new threats present themselves in this action packed issue. What will the Justice League do when from the ashes of the death of Darkseid, some of their closest friends become exactly what they have been fighting against since the genesis of the League?
It’s issues like these, that just cement my thought that this story arc is truly just a love letter to Jack Kirby. We are now, I believe, five issues into the arc and each issue has expanded on the ideas of Kirby’s New Gods and made them almost better. This issue is no different as it establishes a couple of familiar faces in the roles of these Gods and it breaks your heart to see a few of them in this position. As I’ve stated before, Jason Fabok (the usual JL artist) is one of the best artists around town, and I remain with that thought, however, Francis Manapul is equally amazing and talented in everything that he does. See his run on The Flash if you need any further proof. His artwork is exceptional and beautiful and so full of emotion that it was hard for me to miss Fabok while looking at the art for this issue. To be honest, his vision of Batman is one of my favorite of all time.
It was genuinely interesting to see what Johns has been building to in this arc with making Batman the God of Knowledge and then making The Flash the God of Death. I won’t spoil it for you, but almost everyone in the JL have now been converted to some New God and it’s really exciting to see the characters that haven’t been changed rise up and overcome the odds. This arc has been equally about Wonder Woman as the Darkseid War and I can only assume something exciting is going to happen with her. The only downside to this issue was that it was a little bit of a reprieve from the action that last issue built on, but this happened for good reason. There was much more actual story-telling in this issue than in the past, so I’ll give it a pass on my part.
