Comic review: Justice League Dark #25

Justice League Dark #25

DC Comics

Writer: Ram V

Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan

The battle with the Upside-Down Man continues in the newest issue of Justice League Dark. Previously, we’d seen Zatanna learn that her deceased father was trapped in a dimension controlled by this mysterious being. That revelation led to Zatanna gathering materials to try and rescue her father. Meanwhile, the rest of the league dealt with their own personal issues ahead of the encounter. Wonder Woman eventually joined Zatanna to travel to the dimension of this Upside-Down man and that’s where this issue begins.

The issue is fairly simple. We open with a lovely little flashback in which Giovanni Zatara, Zatanna’s father, teaches his daughter a lesson. Magic always has a price. This has been an important element throughout the entire series. Characters have regularly been forced to make sacrifices when using magic to save the day. It’s nice to see that idea continued here. Most of the issue is taken up with a lengthy fight as the Upside-Down Man attacks Wonder Woman and Zatanna. At the same time, the rest of the league learns what’s going on. Detective Chimp leaves to seek help while Swamp Thing and Man-Bat attempt to solve the situation in their own way.

I said it was a simple issue but it’s still an extremely touching and well-written one. There’s a lot of character development throughout this involving Swamp Thing and the Upside-Down Man. They’re easily the stars of this issue. Swamp Thing seems to believe that this battle could be the end of him. Due to this, we get a really touching moment between him and Abigail Arcane. His narration boxes also build on the idea of the green and the extent to which he can use it. It’s quite creative. Meanwhile, we get some insight into what the villain of this tale truly is. Ram writes the Upside-Down Man as more than just another villain. He’s a source of magic itself. It raises the stakes and makes you wonder what’ll happen if the league actually does defeat him. How would this affect the magical side of the DC universe?

Nahuelpan’s artwork is stunning. The characters look great and I absolutely loved the way the action is drawn. Every moment in the battle with the Upside-Down Man looks epic. Justice League Dark has been fairly subtle when it comes to action throughout its run, by comic standards anyway. This looked like the kind of thing I’d see in a big action blockbuster movie. It’s over-the-top but in a manner that doesn’t distract from the story itself. There’s also a pair of terrific pages of art with Swamp-Thing. Gorgeous-looking Swamp Thing pages seem to have become a habit for this series, not that I’m complaining. I think my favourite artistic moment was later on in the issue. The Upside-Down man goes on the offensive. We get a page of Zatanna and Wonder Woman that just splinters like shards of broken glass. A beautiful and creative way to illustrate the villain’s power.

The lettering continues to be terrific. We have the unique, character-specific narration boxes to identify who’s talking for the reader whenever the character is off-panel. Certain characters like Zatara and Swamp Thing have uniquely coloured speech bubbles to help them stand out. In Zatara’s case, he only appears briefly so it helps make the character seem important despite the smaller role. Swamp Thing has had the orange speech bubbles since long before this series started. Here though, his dialogue is incredibly important so the colouring helps draw the readers’ eye and make them pay attention. We also get different shaped speech bubbles on occasion to show when a character is speaking in an abnormal manner. They’re used most prominently with the Upside-Down Man and it helps give him a creepy, supernatural feel. Just a great use of lettering throughout.

Overall, this was a great comic. This issue had some heartfelt moments but also a lot of exciting ones. It also set up a lot of plot points for future issues to explore. Despite being so heavy on the action I was still left wondering what would happen next. Ram V has done a terrific job writing this series since Tynion left and the art has been astonishing. Tynion leaving may have left me nervous about the future of the series but it’s clearly in safe hands. I can’t wait to read the next issue and I highly recommend grabbing this book. If you haven’t tried this wonderful series and experienced its mixture of magic and horror then you’re honestly missing out.