Justice League Dark #19

DC Comics

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Raul Fernandez

It’s over. James Tynion’s astounding run as the lead writer for Justice league dark (JLD) has finally reached its climax. I’ve been blown away by James’ work on JLD. It’s to the point that it’s been my favourite ongoing series since it debuted. If his upcoming Batman run is anywhere near as good then it’s sure to be a hell of a ride. That being said, when I reviewed the last issue I mentioned that it was a little dull. It was mainly set up for this finale to his Circe arc so let’s see if that’s paid off.

The writing on this issue was fantastic. I don’t want to get too heavily into spoilers but the main story is framed through an interview where Man-bat discusses the meaning of magic with Wonder woman. Langstrom hasn’t had much to do in the past couple of issues so this was more than welcome. His child-like love and curiosity towards magic have been a high point of this series and his discussion with Wonder woman really showcases this hopeful side of Kirk. Before this series, Man-bat was just a B-list monster that Batman would punch in the face occasionally but Tynion really manages to bring out the man rather than the bat.

The main story with Circe plays out mostly as an action piece and it’s very satisfying. Most of the little plot points from the last issue are paid off brilliantly here. Wonder woman still plays the lead character but other characters like Dr. Fate still play their parts. My only disappointment was the Zatanna/Constantine ending in the vault didn’t seem to get much follow-up. I was expecting to see more of them using all these magical artifacts than I got here.

The artwork is great with a stand-out being an image of Diana performing the amazon salute. It’s breathtaking, although sadly flawed due to DC releasing this issue with pages out of order. It’s not too big a problem but there’s a climactic and incredibly inventive scene between Diana and Circe that was supposed to come after this image. DC printed those pages before the salute instead so remember that when you’re reading it.

Overall this was an excellent ending to a ridiculously good run. Tynion is still credited for the next few issues but Ram V will be the main writer going forward. After reading his work on the JLD annual I’ve got a fair bit of faith in him. Tynion has left a lot of potential plot points for Ram to build upon so I can’t wait to see where he takes the series. I definitely recommend picking this issue and the preceding ones up. If you’re into mythology and the mystical side of DC then you won’t be disappointed.