Comic Review: Justice League (2018-) #23

Justice League (2018-) #23

DC Comics

Writer: Jorge Jimenez & Scott Snyder

Artist: Jorge Jimenez

I’ve really enjoyed this Sixth Dimension arc so far.  Snyder is doing a great job at building an epic and exciting world for the Justice League to explore.  Although, at times this run gets a little too high-concept for my liking. I mean the whole point of this story is about presenting the Multiverse to a celestial council for ultimate judgment.  But this issue felt like a nice breather.

The issue starts with a flashback between Superman and Jon.  It’s great seeing Jon back in his young age.  Since it looks like the Bendis stuff is here to stay, it’s nice to get some scenes while Jon was still a kid.  Little moments like this really ground this issue compared to others in this arc.  But there are plenty of little things that remind us why this cosmic craziness matters.  I really liked that Lois in this issue mentioned that she is the daughter of a general, something that oftentimes goes overlooked.

But there’s still plenty of action and excitement in this issue.  I particularly enjoyed the Legion of Doom saving the League.  I’m interested to see how this will play out in the future.  I’m sure we’ll find out that Lex went a little too far and abandoned the rest of the Legion.  Or maybe the future Justice League is responsible for this?  Either way, this is an interesting dynamic.  I loved that Darkseid was piloting the ship to get the League out of there.

I’m still not sure I like the development with Batman here.  The whole point of this issue is that Batman is betraying the League so he can kill Superman.  Now I don’t think this will actually stick.  I think Batman is just outsmarting the World Forger somehow.  But if that’s the case, it seems like a bit of a cop-out.  There’s no real tension in the scene because I don’t believe for a second that Batman would betray Superman.  I like the idea that Batman is willing to compromise to save the world, but under no circumstances would he pull the plug on Superman.

I say it time and time again, but I love Jorge Jimenez on art.  His panel layouts are incredibly well done.  There’s a couple of panels, in particular, I really liked in this issue though.  The first was the World Forger’s throne room.  The sea of clouds in the background was absolutely beautiful.  The setting really meshed well with the “all to perfect future” vibe.  There’s also one panel from the perspective of Giganta looking down before she crushes the League.  I thought the perspective in this panel was really cool and dynamic.

Overall, Justice League #23 was a nice breather before the penultimate issue.  Snyder is notorious for making the fourth issue in his story arcs really slow.  But while it’s annoying in some stories, it actually works well here.  Snyder sets plenty of things up in this issue for a satisfying conclusion.