Comic Review: Justice League Dark (2018-) #6

Justice League Dark #6

DC Comics

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Daniel Sampere

Justice League Dark has begun to open up some large doors, and the craziness is hard to contain. The group is currently split up with Swamp Thing and John Constantine on their own and away from the group. At the end of the previous issue, the rest of League went to Myrra to discover that the Blue Devil has been trying the keep the peace after Bobo botched a resurrection spell that caused skeletons to keep coming to life and attacking Myrra’s inhabitants. So where does this issue go?

Tynion has decided to focus most of the issue on what is happening in Myrra. We get a glimpse of Swamp Thing and Constantine watching The Stranger and Nabu in a magical showdown. This seemed like the more important and exciting story in this issue, but we don’t stay here long enough. Most of our time is spent telling the story of how Bobo screwed up an entire world and how they can fix it. Sadly, the climax of this story is all of one page and very unsatisfying. Of course, in standard form, the end of the issue gives us a glimmer of hope for this story next month. Tynion has been able to be consistent about the cliffhangers, which is something to keep us all coming back.

James Tynion is six issues deep in this current series, and the focus is beginning to broaden more than I like. In the beginning, it was a clear mission to save magic. Then the Upside Down Man was introduced and gave us a villain. Witching Hour came and did nothing for the series, and now everything that happens in Myrra seems like one long side quest to provide Bobo with some more story for his character.

Daniel Sampere took over pencils in issue #5 and with him came a whole new art team. While this team is doing a satisfactory job, though I miss the original, they have different strengths, but Sampere doesn’t seem to be as creative with the panels as Martinez was. Don’t get too worked up over this because Sampere still has excellent work, but there is a noticeable difference.

Justice League Dark hooks me in at the end of every issue, and I am always excited to come back to see what is happening next. However, the mission is getting scrambled, and the creative team is focusing less and less on the main story. Seeing the teamwork in Myrra isn’t a waste of time, but sometimes you wonder if this is Justice League Dark or “The Adventures of Bobo and Friends”. The scenes with Swamp Thing and John remind us that we are still reading Justice League Dark.