Comic Review: Justice League (2018-) #22

Justice League #22

DC Comics

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Francis Manapul

This book is starting to turn into Dragon Ball Z.  Every time I think the League is going up against the most powerful being in all of creation, it turns out that person had a mother or long lost uncle.  Scott Snyder is really trying to fit the entire DC Universe into one nice little package in this book.  And I commend him for it.  Learning more and more about the lore of the multiverse is super interesting.  It’s the reason I love Multiversity.  But Snyder is really toeing the line between story and absurdity in this issue.

Ignoring all the crazy DC history in the past, I’m willing to accept that Perpetua is the creator of the Multiverse.  I mean, it would have been cooler for that job to go to Dr. Manhattan, but the Doomsday Clock ship sailed a long time ago.  But even before we learned about Perpetua, we had to go through Barbatos, then the Worldforger.  And now Snyder is teasing that Perpetua is just one omni-powerful being in a sea of omni-powerful beings.  I wish we would have just stopped at Perpetua.  I don’t see the need to explore the omniverse if we haven’t even explored all of the multiverses yet.  This whole origin of the universe is starting to get convoluted.

I’m also not the biggest fan of this whole Human/Martian master race.  It feels like Snyder is trying to tie together all these corners of the DC Universe, but in doing so, he ignores plenty of important parts.  I think this particular idea is just a little unnecessary.

But there are things I’m really enjoying about this run.  I like the idea of the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and World Forger all being brothers.  It’s also nice to see Snyder pick up on the fact that Geoff Johns revealed the Anti-Monitor as Mobius.  There’s a lot of worldbuilding that Snyder gets right.  The problem is Perpetua just feels all too similar to Kaguya from Naruto.  I’m not sure if she’s entirely necessary.  This is a fine origin for the DC universe, I just can’t help feeling like there’s a better one.

I have a few other odds and ends from this issue.  I love that the Legion of Doom has Bat-mite to deal with Mr. Mxyzptlk. I also love seeing Mera and Starman protect Earth while the Justice League is away.

It was a nice surprise having Francis Manapul on art duties.  I absolutely loved his depiction of Perpetua.  She really feels like a cosmic entity to be reckoned with.  The cosmos in her eyes and the planets on her necklace are beautifully drawn.

Overall, Justice League #22 is a really enjoyable read.  I love learning more about the DC universe.  However, Snyder is really starting to go a little crazy with the high-level concepts.  I can’t help but feeling there is a way more interesting origin to the beginning of all creation in the multiverse.  I’m also not sold on Perpetua yet.  She seems like a generic big-bad without much personality.  Hopefully, Snyder can keep this book about the characters while still delving into the past of the DC universe.