Justice League Dark #28
DC Comics
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan
This is it. The big finale. Ever since the start of this series the Justice League Dark has been building one major storyline. How will the league deal with the Upside-Down Man? They’ve confronted and fought the villain who’s been behind the scenes all this time for the last few issues. How will they beat him though? More importantly, will it be a satisfying end to the story? Let’s find out.
The issue starts with the bodies of Zatanna and the Upside-Down Man still merged into one. The two are locked in a battle of the minds for control of the body. After the seemingly victorious Upside-Down Man takes over he attacks the surviving league members, seemingly defeating them. That is of course until he realises that Zatanna is still fighting him from within.
What is left of the issue largely focuses on two things. Firstly, Zatanna trying to undermine the Upside-Down Man’s power and the aftermath of the battle. Both are handled beautifully. Zatanna attempts to show the villain that magic always has a cost. The Upside-Down Man believes the opposite which is what allows him to wield his mystical powers freely. Acknowledging this as a fact would mean paying that cost. The witch’s attempt to convince him is a brilliant yet simplistic way to bring this series full circle. It’s a great call-back to both the first issue of this arc and the first issue of this series. You really get the sense that the ending of this comic was planned right from the start.
The aftermath is exactly what it needed to be. It’s a swansong. We see the league go their separate ways. Ram V uses this portion of the book to set up new routes for each character. There’s a potential storyline for Man-Bat and Swamp Thing hinted at. Detective Chimp returns to his bar for a heartwarming scene with the new Doctor Fate. Chimp discusses the meaning of saving the world when the world’s in constant danger. The detective acknowledges how meaningless it might seem but still sums up why the seemingly unimportant action is important. Khalid is set on his path as the new Doctor Fate. Zatanna has a touching moment with the father she’d come to the Upside-Down Man’s realm to rescue. Finally, goals accomplished, we get a nice little page as Wonder Woman and Zatanna share a moment of contentment. It’s a fitting end considering the two of them started this new Justice League together.
The art by Nahuelpan is fantastic yet again. Amancay has a very realistic style which might make her seem like an odd pick for a series about magic. Everything works perfectly though. Each character looks amazing, the supernatural imagery is simple here but effective for the more emotional tone the issue takes. There’s a great amount of attention to detail throughout the book. A great example is the Doctor Fate helmet. When the golden helmet is shown you can see the reflections of Detective Chimp and Khalid in it. They’re somewhat distorted though to fit the contours of the helmet. Most artists would overlook things like this but these small touches are what make Nahuelpan’s art stand out. I look forward to seeing more of her work on future comic books.
Lettering throughout the issue is pretty good too. We have a variety of different speech bubbles for numerous situations. The book mostly uses standard circular speech bubbles but the letterers made sure certain dialogue would stand out. Squiggly-lined ones are used for the villain’s dialogue and a spiky one for an announcer introducing Zatanna to an audience. The Zatanna introduction is a key part of the issue so the unique speech bubble immediately draws your attention. Sound effects are used sparingly but effectively to make the brief action scenes of the finale more impactful. Finally, we have the character-specific narration boxes to help the reader identify which characters are talking when they’re off-panel. Justice League Dark has been no slouch in the lettering department and it’s of high quality throughout this issue.
If you’ve been enjoying this series then picking up this issue is a no-brainer. There is one more issue, an encore to this magic show, a tie-in to DC’s upcoming Endless Winter event. This is the true finale though. The entire series has been building to this issue since the start and the payoff is wonderful. Being effectively the last issue in a series, this isn’t a book for new readers. Existing fans will no doubt love it though. If you haven’t been reading this series and enjoy the supernatural then I’d recommend finding some way to do so. It’s that good.
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Justice League Dark #28
A fantastic finale for this series of Justice League Dark. The story Ram V has written for this issue serves a great way to wrap up the tale of the Upside-Down man that James Tynion started at the beginning of the series as well as dealing with Zatanna's guilt over her father's death. The characters are all well-written, especially Zatanna and Detective Chimp who are highlights of the issue. The art by Nahuelpan isn't as creative as past issues but it's still a beautiful sight and does a terrific job of illustrating the story. The lettering is good too with a nice variety of speech bubbles being used to different effects that add to the overall presentation of the story. A brilliant ending for a brilliant series.
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