Comic Review: Justice League #39

Before we jump into this thing, I’m giving you a fair spoiler warning.  And that’s in part because there’s a lot to talk about in this issue.  We’re finally here.  Justice League #39.  This run had its highs and its lows, but here we are at its inevitable conclusion…I think.

For the past three or four issues, I joked that I thought they were the final issue in the series.  This is fitting because now the story arcs aren’t just one-using each other, now the individual issues are as well.  And that’s been one of Snyder’s primary goals for this run, to always top what he just did.  From Metal to the Totality.  From The Sixth Dimension to Justice/Doom War. Everything’s been building towards the next big thing.  And this is one of my greatest complaints of Snyder’s run.  In an attempt to build a colossal story, Snyder forgets to actually tell the story he’s working on.  No story stands on its own merits because it’s ultimately just a stepping stone for the next event or crossover.

So this is the last issue of the run, we’re finally done with raising the stakes, right?  Right?!  Well, unfortunately, the answer is no.  In the conclusion to his Justice League run, Snyder is still building towards the next biggest thing.  Many criticize Snyder for not being able to “stick the landing” with his stories, so in this issue, he decides not to land altogether.  Because this story’s not over, it continues in Snyder and Capullo’s sequel to Dark Knights: Metal.  That’s right if the end of the multiverse wasn’t enough, now the Justice League is battling for the fate of EVERYTHING!

While I’m certainly excited for another Snyder/Capullo team-up, I’m upset that it’s at the expense of Snyder’s Justice League series.  Not only is each individual story in the run not able to stand on its own, but the entire run also isn’t able to stand on its own.  Snyder recently confirmed that this was the big finale to Snyder’s current work at DC, but isn’t that what Batman: Last Knight on Earth is?

And this focus on the future really shows in the issue as well.  There are almost no groundbreaking moments in this issue that make for a satisfying conclusion to Snyder’s run.  And that’s because the majority of the issue is spent setting up the next event.  But what is here is equally confusing.  Snyder uses DC’s flagship title to address the recent lack of continuity at DC.  Between King’s Batman, Bendis’ Superman, Young Justice, and Legion of Superheroes, Johns’ Doomsday Clock, and Snyder’s Justice League, there is absolutely no consistency.  Events frequently contradict each other or are just brushed off as not in continuity at all.  So Snyder attempts to band-aid this editorial nightmare with the promise that all of these inconsistencies take place because “reality is broken”.  While a band-aid is better than nothing in this case, it’s just sad that an event like Doomsday Clock (which was what three years worth of Rebirth content was building towards) is now just an Elseworlds tale

As a lead into Snyder’s next DC event, Justice League #39 is fine.  As an actual conclusion to his Justice League run, it fails on all accounts.  While I’ve greatly enjoyed this run and I’m excited about what Snyder has in store, I’m disappointing that this book truly has no conclusion.  So even though I didn’t want the book to end, I think I’m more disappointed that it didn’t end at all.