Comic Review: Justice League Odyssey #2

Justice League Odyssey #2

DC Comics

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Stjepan Sejic

This has to be one of the strangest ideas ever created for a Justice League book.  I never would have of imagined Cyborg, Starfire, Jessica Cruz, Azrael, and Darkseid would team up anytime in my life.  The unique cast was just one of the many things that excited me about this book.  Sejic’s art, space exploration, and the fact that this will soon be the only book on the stands with Jessica Cruz in it all contributed to my excitement for this book.  However, I feel like the delays really killed my hype for this book.  So is this book worth the wait?  Or is this title going to end up lost in the Ghost Sector?

So the main draw to the book for me was the characters.  I’m not the biggest Joshua Williamson fan, so I was skeptical of this book going in.  While Williamson captures the voice for some of these characters, others fall by the wayside.  Jessica Cruz is a highlight in this series.  I think Williamson understands Jessica’s character, and that really shows.  However, Cyborg and Azrael feel a bit off to me.  Cyborg is fine in this issue, but I feel like he doesn’t really have a clear personality.  Although, this is an issue I always had with Cyborg.  Azrael feels a little too confrontational in this issue.  Jean-Paul got along fine with others in Tynion’s Detective Comics, so it’s strange to see him act brashly in this issue.  I think the characters all suffer from Williamson’s absurd exposition.  Williamson’s dialogue is usually clunky for me, and here is no exception.

Out of all the characters in this issue, I think the most disappointing is Darkseid.  I have really high exceptions for Darkseid, as he’s one of my favorite villains.  No one is as soul-crushingly evil as Darkseid is.  I think Williamson writes a really lackluster Lord of Apokolips.  Simply put, this Darkseid talks too much.  Even though Darkseid claims to be on the League’s side, I feel his presence should cause more tension.  I don’t think this Darkseid is offensively bad, but he’s definitely a letdown.

The plot in this issue is nothing to write home about either.  After the events of No Justice, the Justice League released a multitude of planets from Colu into the Ghost Sector.  It turns out that these planets worship Cyborg, Starfire, and Azrael.  These three may somehow be Old Gods themselves.  The premise is fine, but it doesn’t feel like anything special.  This issue is mostly split between a mediocre fight with Darkseid and a conversation with a Starfire-worshiping priest.  Although this issue is full of exposition, I think it’s necessary to get us somewhere interesting.

Let me get this out of the way, Stjepan Sejic is one of my favorite artists, period.  Unfortunately, Sejic is playing catch up from the delays, and it really shows here.  The art is overall good, but it definitely feels rushed.  There are rarely any backgrounds in these panels, which is one of my favorite parts of traveling to alien planets.  There are also several drawings of Starfire in particular that look really off compared to the rest of the issue.

Justice League Odyssey #2 is an ok comic.  There’s nothing here that I really dislike, but nothing to really keep my interest either.  I’m going to stick with this book to see where it goes, but I really hope the next few issues improve.