The most notable of these castings has to be Guy Gardner, who will be played by longtime friend of Gunn, and pop culture icon, Nathan Fillion. This isn’t the first time Fillion has played a Green Lantern as he has voice Hal Jordan in numerous animated features.

Joining Fillion in the DCU’s take on the Man of Steel is Isabela Merced and Edi Gathegi as Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific, respectively. Merced is best known for her roles in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and as the titular character in the live-action Dora the Explorer movie, while Gathegi previously played Laurent in the Twilight films and Darwin in X-Men: First Class.

While not thought of as one of the most popular Green Lanterns, Guy Gardner definitely has a strong following, and can serve as a great way to introduce the Green Lantern Corps to a wider audience and bring it into a more favorable light, especially after the critically panned 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds.

There is also a Green Lantern TV series slated for the DCU that will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, so it’s likely that Fillion will reprise his role as Guy Gardner in that, with his role in Superman: Legacy possibly serving as a launching point for the series.

There have been many rumors of a possible film or series based on the superteam The Terrifics, and with the inclusion of that team’s leader, Mister Terrific, this may actually become a reality.

And Hawkgirl gained major popularity during the early 2000’s with the Justice League animated series, and bringing her into this universe may open several possible storyline doors going forward.

Gunn also recently revealed that David Corenswet would be taking on the role of Superman/Clark Kent, while Rachel Brosnahan would be Lois Lane, so the cast is really shaping up to be something special.

Superman: Legacy is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025.

Source: Vanity Fair

The post ‘Superman: Legacy’ Casts Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, & Mister Terrific appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colours: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6: The blockbuster shocking conclusion to the Gold Lantern Saga. Which legendary DC Villain is behind this great darkness that is about to destroy all the ages of heroes all at once? Find out right here all this AND the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes is revealed!

Positives

Derek: If you can think of any positives, Matt

Matt: LOL!

Actually, the smaller moments aren’t bad.  Vandal Savage explaining his plan to “Bruce” thinking he’s won, and then the surprise…that’s actually quite good.  It’s like finding the one unspoiled apple in the bunch.  The inclusion of Jonah Hex is a nice touch and, and then there’s uh…well…yeah, that’s about it.  Godlewski does an admirable job of doing what he’s there to do, but he doesn’t have a lot to work with.

Derek: That was a neat bit of foreshadowing. It was clear that there was something up with “Bruce”.  Godlewski cleverly drew the cowl as if it were empty. At first, it had me guessing that Batman had escaped and left a stuffed Batsuit to trick Savage. And I agree that it was great to include Hex. There were a number of great cameos in this series, such as Kamandi and Alan Scott. It’s just too bad that Bendis didn’t really do anything with them. They just served as window dressing.

Positives Cont.

Matt: And, of course, the biggest positive is that this abominable series is over, and with it, hopefully, Bendis’s time at DC.  One would hope that the powers that be see the horrific impact he had on the entire DC Comics Universe and that it’s a mistake that has to be actively undone.  If only Vandal Savage was attempting to wipe out Bendis’s tenure at DC instead of the Age of Heroes.  The entire time Bendis has been at DC, the entire line has suffered.  One would think it would simply be on the characters he was trying to ruin, Superman, the Legion and the Justice League, but somehow DC found a way to create a synergy with the entire line.

I’ve seen online in more than one place that Bendis gets $1000/page.  I hope DC considers suing him on some grounds, because at his best at DC, he was never worth more than a couple hundred.  It’s a long road ahead for DC, but with books like Nightwing, The Flash, Batgirls and Wonder Woman readers can find some good comics in hopes the rest of the line rights itself.  We are a far cry from “Rebirth” when it seemed almost every DC Comic was very good to great.

Derek: I take your point about the ending being a positive, but it would have been better if it had come earlier. It was evident fairly early into this series that it wasn’t going anywhere, and I honestly don’t think most readers would have noticed or complained if DC had just quietly cancelled the series halfway through. I am guessing the only reason to let him finish was so they could complete a trade collection.

While I agree that Bendis’ work for DC has been overall lacking, I doubt that DC will take drastic action to right the damage he’s done. It’s unclear whether or not this is Bendis’ final work for DC, but I’m hoping it is, at least in any capacity where he is empowered to change the status quo of any characters he’s writing. I hope that the next continuity adjustment will undo some of his more egregious changes to the DCU and the Superman mythos.

Negatives

Matt:  It’s pretty obvious that the biggest negative here is that the most critical and exciting part of the story happened off panel.  That’s right, the united League and Legion defeat the Great Darkness (haha!) entirely off panel.  The writing is so bad that it genuinely feels like we’ve missed an issue.  This issue is all denouement.  This should’ve been the last half of a final issue.  It’s like a blockbuster film that skips the third act and goes right to the wrap up before the credits.

The really sad thing is that this is not new for Bendis in his DC work.  Supposedly, Bendis was a really good writer over at Marvel a while ago.  I wouldn’t know, but judging from his work at DC, and in particular, this series, he shouldn’t even be employed as a comic book writer.  It’s arguable whether or not Bendis’s dialogue is bad, or his decompression of story is effective, but skipping the resolution because you ran out of pages is just bad writing.

Derek: That pretty much fits with how he wrote last issue. He was arsing about for the first 4 issues, flitting from one “cool” idea to the next, losing sight of the core story. Then he had to rush to tell that story with a tidal wave of exposition. And he probably figured he was capitalizing on that “success” by doing the exact same thing again this issue. A commonly accepted rule of writing is “show, don’t tell”. Bendis seems to think that doesn’t apply to star writers like himself. His believes that he writes so engagingly that his exposition is superior to actually including any action in the story.

I feel sorry for Godlewski. DC tapped him to draw a major team-up of DC’s tentpole teams. But does he get to draw much action? No, he’s stuck drawing them standing around talking to each other for the bulk of the series. And lettering all that inane dialogue must have been a laborious task for Dave Sharpe.

Negatives Cont.

Matt: This leans into editorial at this point.  DC gave Bendis carte blanche to ruin their comics.  This is utterly senseless.  Any editor with any skill should’ve realized that this story is terribly plotted and scripted.  They wouldn’t let a new writer be this bad.  There’s a lot more going on than we are privy to, but it doesn’t mean that Bendis or DC get a pass.

Derek: The general assumption is that it was Dan DiDio that gave Bendis this carte blanche. I do have to wonder why DC didn’t show Bends the door immediately after DiDio departed. I suspect that there was some sort of contractual obligation to keep him on.

Matt: Just in case you were thinking his dialogue got better somehow, the League and Legion remain uncharacteristically quippy and speak when they don’t need to.  Does Dinah really need to say she might stay in the 31st century?  No.  And, not only that, she’s not going to.  It’s just an example of the inane things Bendis has characters say.

Derek: Generally, nearly everything that happens in this story seems rather pointless. There are no real consequences, despite the cosmic scale of the story. Everything just reverts back to the same status quo. Nominally, this is a tie-in to Dark Crisis, but the only effect it seems to have on that story is a single reference in Justice League #75 where Green Arrow saying that they’ve already faced the Great Darkness and beaten it. I suspect that this miniseries was make-work to keep Bendis too busy to stick his fingers into the main Dark Crisis event.

Matt: Finally, there is a ring Savage uses to generate the Darkness, a ring not unlike a Green Lantern ring.  It’s a mystery to everyone, the League, the Legion, the Elders of Oa…and, we never find out anything about it.  I’m guessing that this and the creation of the Gold Lantern Corps was originally intended for further issues of Bendis’s Legion of Super-Heroes.  We are all probably glad to be spared of this, but leaving this dangling plot element is yet another example of the poor writing in the series.

Derek: You might be right that he was trying to cram every idea he had for the Legion into this last story. Much like Geoff Johns tried to shove about 5 years of storylines into a single year of his Shazam series. Or perhaps Bendis is still assuming that he’s going to get another Legion series to flesh out these ideas in full. All things considered, I would rather see these threads left dangling than for Bendis to attempt to weave them into further stories.

Verdict

Matt:  This is a flat out awful comic.  It’s one of the worst endings to a mini-series/ story arc I’ve ever read.  Vigilante: Southland was probably better had it been published.   It seems clear that Bendis just isn’t capable of executing big ideas.  He can do Batman and Vandal Savage in a room, but the larger scope escapes him, and we all suffer for it.  His underwhelming Superman work and abysmal Leviathan mini-series also show this.   I’d like to say that Godlewski’s art elevates it on the whole, but that only works if you look at the pictures.  You might have a more enjoyable overall experience if you do that for the whole series.

Derek: This series may be Bendis’ swansong for his DC work. And it’s somehow appropriate, as it exemplifies the main problem with Bendis’ work for DC. Bendis is good at coming up with ideas. But he has no filter to tell the good ideas apart from the bad ones. And he seems to have lost the ability to do anything with these ideas. So, he falls back onto his supposed strength: “witty” dialogue. I’ve enjoyed some of Bendis’ pre-DC work, so I know he can do better than this. I will give Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6 two stars, but they are entirely for the lovely art.

Matt’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #6 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colours: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #5: With the reveal of who is behind the great darkness that is tearing the galaxy apart, the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes are at odds over how to handle the incomprehensible evil that has brought them together.

This time-spanning epic stars all your favorite superheroes from two different time periods! Batman! Saturn Girl! Superman! Brainiac 5! Naomi!, and dozens more race into battle to save the galaxy from being pulled apart… but at what cost? Will everyone survive this?

Positives

Matt: The fact that something actually happens in this issue is a positive.  It’s not well placed or paced, for the overall story, but something indeed does happen.  How it happens is another matter entirely, but we’ll get to that.  I’m not usually one to spoil big stuff in a review, but it’s about the only positive that we can discuss- the JLA and LSH figure out who’s behind this “Great Darkness.”  Turns out it’s none other than Vandal Savage!  This could’ve been really interesting if the story had been put together better.

Derek: Having Vandal Savage turn out to the villain is actually a brilliant idea. As an immortal, Savage would presumably still be around in the 31st Century. So it’s actually surprising that he hasn’t been a major presence in the Legion’s history before this. Unfortunately, as is typical with Bendis, this great idea is let down by a lacklustre execution. Bendis didn’t give the slight hint to foreshadow this ending. Savage’s appearance should have engendered a reaction of “oh, it all makes sense now”. But instead, it seemed more like random happenstance.

Positives Cont.

Matt: Despite Bendis’s time at DC Comics being not only completely forgettable and an unmitigated mistake of Biblical proportions (dozens of people should be fired for it), it is interesting that Bendis has managed to tie in all his DC work into this story.  You may, or may not recall that early in his tenure at DC Bendis wrote a Batman story called, Batman Universe which was serialized in the Walmart exclusive Batman Giant 100-Page Super Spectacular.  Ironically, this Batman story is probably Bendis’s best DC work.  Bringing all of this together somehow gives a connectivity to the stories like they should matter, even if they aren’t really that interesting or well executed.

Derek: Bendis is not a bad writer, per se. But I agree that his work for DC has not been his best work. I loved his Ultimate Spider-Man for Marvel. That Batman story you mentioned was pretty good as well. And although his general direction for the Superman books was disastrous, he still did occasionally produce a decent story. Overall, his work for DC has been pretty hit-or-miss. And while I wish it were otherwise, this series is not one of the hits.

Negatives

Matt: Like I’ve said in previous reviews of this series, Bendis just can’t seem to execute the interesting ideas he does have.  This should have been issue #2 or #3 of this series, not #5.  If the two teams had been through a bunch, figured out the clues and uncovered the identity of the villain with three issues remaining for the capture of Savage and resolution of the trouble he’d caused it would’ve been a lot more enjoyable and well-executed a story.  Instead, it’s all got to wrap up in a single issue.

Derek: It seems to me that Bendis was flitting around from one “cool” story idea to the next for the last four issues and suddenly realized that he hasn’t progressed the story very much. So, to catch the story up to where it should be, Bendis relies on what he believes is his strength: dialogue. And so, Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #5 is pretty much a special all-exposition issue. There isn’t a whole lot of action here, but the characters standing around, reasoning out the plot.

And saying “reasoning out” is being generous. The dialogue is presented as if that’s what they are doing. But the dialogue is more like a random stream of consciousness that eventually stumbles onto the truth.

Negatives Cont.

Matt: A well-written story would’ve revealed clues along the way instead of relying on a large information dump in a single issue.  The use of Thorn in Bendis’s stories seems to have been leading up to this one moment as a MacGuffin that allows her to solve the mystery of the temporal perpetrator.   She played almost no role in his Legion of Super-Heroes series.   It’s all too quick and pat to be interesting.  Batman couldn’t figure it out.  Brainiac 5 couldn’t figure it out, but Rose Forrest could?  Yawn.  She didn’t even figure it out in an exciting way.  It’s all off panel, in her own mind.  “Hey, look what I’m thinking!”  Bendis’s script didn’t even give Godlewski something interesting to draw in this sequence.

Derek: Bendis clearly intended Thorn to be a major part of his Legion story originally, but he seems to have forgotten about her. Thus he hasn’t prepared a proper role in this story for her, and now he’s struggling to cram her into the story anyway. And it’s actually not surprising that neither Batman nor Brainiac 5 never figured out what was going on. They are logical thinkers, and Bendis’ plot doesn’t really make a whole lot of logical sense.

Verdict

Matt: This may be one of the weakest comics I’ve read in a long time.  Bendis almost is able to cover a few interesting ideas with Triplicate Girl and Jo Nah’s personality, but it’s very minimal and nearly forgettable as the overall story is deeply flawed and ultimately uninteresting because of Bendis’s inability to put a decent story together.  Even if you’re still reading this series, I can’t imagine that anything in this issue is going to bring you back for a finale that is already obsolete.  We already know what happens next, and Bendis hasn’t put the work in to make the journey engaging.

Derek: Despite Bendis’ attempt to get the story back on track, it seems like a lost cause at this point. I strongly doubt there’s any way Bendis can turn this all around in the one issue left to him. And that’s a shame. There’s a great story here struggling to get out. If DC had assigned a more capable writer to take Bendis’ basic plot, weeding out the distracting diversions and pointless dialogue, this could have been a great story.

Matt’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #5 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona

Colours: Matt Herms

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #75: Oversize special issue! Superstar writer Joshua Williamson pens the beginning of the next big DCU event! It all starts here!

A new Dark Army made up of the DCU’s greatest villains has formed on the edges of the Multiverse! The DCU’s best and most powerful heroes are pulled together in an epic war to push the darkness back! But in the end, they are no match for it! That’s right, you heard it here first: the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army, with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them!

FINAL ISSUE!

Positives

In their hype leading up to this story, DC has insisted that the story’s title, “Death of the Justice League” would be literal. So, it’s not really much of a spoiler to say that they did indeed kill off most of the current Justice League lineup. We do indeed see most of the eleven Leaguers present die in the pages of this final issue of the series. Like DC’s advance hype says, only one survivor returns to tell the tale. However, there is one (or perhaps two) hero who appears to survive, but isn’t returned to Earth.

The immediate reaction of many readers will be to state that this is only a stunt and that the heroes either will be back before long. As for this story being a stunt, that’s a given. It’s the kickoff to DC’s latest major crossover event. These events are stunts by their very nature. The question is not whether this is a stunt. The question is how well the stunt is pulled off. Will this be a well-written, interesting story. DC is a business, so they can be forgiven doing what is necessary to stay profitable, as long as they provide a worthy story in the process.

As to whether they will come back or not. Ultimately, I am certain they will. Most of the Leaguers who die here have died and returned before. Hell, Wonder Woman has just returned to the land of the living a few months ago. But DC might draw their deaths out a little. In recent months, a number of the Leaguers have been sharing their heroic identities with legacy characters. And removing the original Justice League would be a big step towards a Future like the one shown in the Future State event. However, as entertaining a story as Future State was, I don’t think that DC could sustain its sales without the classic heroes.

Positives Cont.

And there are some subtler hints. There are clear allusions to the “Death of Superman” in Superman #75. This appears to be an unlucky number for the Man of Steel. And the depiction of the actual deaths is a clear call-back to Barry Allen’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. In both cases, those heroes were resurrected. But where Superman returned after seven months, Barry’s return took 23 years. How long will it take the League to return?

Following the “Death of Superman” storyline, DC put the Superman titles on hiatus just long enough that there was no solicitations for the next issues, giving the appearance that the titles had indeed been ended permanently. I believe DC may reuse this trick, and in a few months, we’ll see a solicitation for either Justice League #76 or a new #1.

I do think it’s significant that while DC has insisted that the deaths are real, they haven’t said much to imply that the characters will remain dead long term. So, overall I’m certain that the classic League members will return, but we will just have to wait and see.

Much like Superman #75. There isn’t a whole lot of story in this issue. Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate did the work of telling the build up to this story. This allows the Justice League to jump right into the action with only a small amount of setup at the issue’s start. Thus, most of the issue is taken up with the actual battle against Pariah and his Army of Darkness. This isn’t  bad thing, as concentrating on this major battle allows this Dark Crisis prelude to start with an explosive encounter that will set off a chain of events driving the main story.

Positives Cont.

The story ends with the sole survivor’s literally explosive return to the Hall of Justice. The final page shows three heroes arriving in time to hear the survivor state, “The Justice League are dead”. I have a feeling that this particular quartet is not random and that these four heroes will. These four represent a significant portion of DC history, from the Golden Age up to the present. Also, two of them are legacy characters. And one of them is a Flash. And Flashes frequently play a central role in DC’s various Crises.

The artwork by Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona, aided by Matt Herms’ colours is absolutely gorgeous. For a monumental story like this, everything needs to look its absolute best, and the artistic team has admirably achieved that goal. The action is brilliantly depicted. And the Justice League members look their iconic best for their apparently final battle.

Negatives

One thing DC didn’t mention in their hype leading up to Justice League #75 is that there is more than one Justice League that meets their end in this issue. The members of Justice League Incarnate die alongside their allies as well. I am more hesitant to declare that they will eventually return. While they are all interesting characters, the Multiverse would be mostly unaffected by their deaths. However, it doesn’t strike me as likely that DC would leave the original Mary Marvel and President Superman dead. But it’s not impossible.

But I will never forgive Joshua Williamson if this is the end of Captain Carrot’s story. I have a special place in my heart for this character. When I first started collecting comics, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew was the first title I was able to collect from its first issue. I am always happy when he makes an appearance in a DC title, so I’ve been happy to see him involved in the build-up to Dark Crisis. But I didn’t realize it was leading to this. Please DC, don’t let this be the end of Captain Carrot’s story.

Verdict

Well, Justice League #75 certainly started off Joshua Williamson’s Dark Crisis with a bang. I can’t think of a more effective way to catch the attention of readers than killing off the DCU’s biggest legends in one fell swoop. And by taking them off the board, it provides an opportunity for other characters to come to forefront. And by starting his story with such a bold move, Williamson is showing readers that he’s not messing around. This is going to be a story of true import.

The post Review: Justice League #75 (Final Issue) appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Szymon Kudranski, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger

Colors: Szymon Kudranski, Hi-Fi

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #74: Justice League Dark crossover conclusion! Another full double-size issue crossover spectacular as Xanadoth, the original Lord of Chaos, has returned. With unlimited power and revenge against all on its mind, the Lord of chaos has taken the form of Black Adam and no. One. Is. Safe. The final chapter of the Eisner-winning Bendis Justice League run wraps up with a brand-new status quo for all!

Negatives

As the negatives are more prevalent and pressing, I will deal with the negatives first, before getting to the positives.

Justice League #74 marks Brian Michael Bendis’ run as writer of the series. Bendis’ work for DC over the past few years has been rather polarizing. Some readers absolutely love his work for DC. And others absolutely despise it. Personally, I am ambivalent about it. His writing has been very hit-and-miss. Sometimes he can come up with some great stories, but he can’t do it consistently. And unfortunately, his run on Justice League has been the weakest of his work for DC.

One major problem with his run on Justice League is his obsession with reprising characters and plotlines from his other DC books instead of taking the team in new directions. Thus, we got the Synmar Utopica, the new Checkmate, the United Order. And in this final storyline, Xanadoth. A villain so generic and forgettable, that I forgot he had appeared before this story.

And of course, the most egregious example of showcasing his own creations is Naomi. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t dislike the character, and I think her story has some potential. But some of Bendis’ Justice League issues read like a Naomi title the League is just guest-starring in. I don’t mind her being on the team, but she shouldn’t be the focus of the book.

Negatives Cont.

And of course, Naomi again plays a central role in the defeat of Xanadoth. Last issue Nabu pulled Naomi into another dimension. This is so that he could grill her about who she is and where she came from. This is because the mighty Lord of Order is oh so very impressed by the power and awesomeness of Naomi.

Nabu reveals that Naomi’s powers can amplify magical energy. This is a new wrinkle to her powers that came out of nowhere and don’t really seem to fit with the origin Bendis has given her. It just seems like something Bendis pulled out of his butt to once again put Naomi at the center of the story. At least Naomi is sharing the spotlight with Black Adam this time.

Bendis previously hinted at some connection between Xanadoth and Madame Xanadu. Bendis shows Xanadu picking up on those hints, and noting the similarity in their names. But Bendis just has Xanadoth refuse to elaborate when Xanadu asks about the connection between them. Bendis just leaves the issue hanging, despite the fact that it’s the final chapter of this story and Bendis’ final issue of Justice League. He just leaves it for some future writer to explain. Honestly, I hope those future writers just ignore it and let it be forgotten.

I don’t know why the solicitation text claims that Bendis’ run “wraps up with brand new status quo for all”. The ending sees no changes in membership in the team, no deaths. Not even any new costumes. Instead, what we get is yet another shining example of how Bendis doesn’t understand the character of Batman. Bendis actually has the gruff and taciturn Dark Knight giving a short speech about how amazing and wonderful Naomi is. A decent writer would have had Batman tell her “Good job”. And one of the others would inform her that this is high praise from him.

Positives

I could be facetious and state that Bendis leaving the title is a positive. However, Bendis can be a brilliant writer when he puts his mind to it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t bringing his A-game to this title. His Justice League pales compared to his run on Young Justice. Hell, it’s not even as good as his run on the Superman titles, which left a lot to be desired.

The good news is that Joshua Williamson is taking over as writer next issue. The bad news is that it will be the final issue. It might be unfair to say that Bendis’ run brought about the literal “Death of the Justice League”. But I have to wonder if flagging sales during his run was a contributing factor in DC’s decision to ax the title.

Positives Cont.

Despite the writing, the artwork was superb. The contrasting styles between the confrontation with Xandoth and the scenes set in the Hall of Justice work really well. The supernatural nature of the fight is brought out by the slightly more abstract style and dark colors. While the everyday world of the League is bright and colorful. And all the characters look their iconic best in both realms.

Verdict

Justice League #74 was emblematic of Brian Michael Bendis’ entire run on the title. Bendis is great at producing ideas with a lot of potential, but he often has trouble realizing that potential. I think the main problem was that he had trouble remembering that this title was about the Justice League first and foremost.  However, I do wish him well on his other projects. Hopefully, they will work out better for him.

The post Review: Justice League #74 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Szymon Kudranski, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger, Scott Hanna

Colors: Szymon Kudranski, Hi-Fi

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #73: “Lords of Chaos” part two! The Justice League and Justice League Dark team up to navigate the remade world of chaos. All the heroes must come together to save what’s left of the world they have dedicated their lives to protecting. Has Doctor Fate gone bad? Oh no, he has.

Positives

When I first saw the cover of Justice League #73, with Naomi featured on a field of white, with the text declaring “Naomi Alone!”, it struck me as somewhat representative of Bendis’ run on the title. With his tendency to push the titular team aside to spotlight his own creation, Naomi appearing in the book solo seems like the natural progression of Bendis’ direction for Justice League.

However, things aren’t quite as bad as the cover implies. Naomi is banished to a white void alone, but that takes up one page at the end of the story. Perhaps a large chunk of next issue might be taken up by Naomi’s solo adventure, but she doesn’t dominate this issue. If anything, Black Adam and the Justice League Dark heroes are the main focus, particularly Zatanna, Doctor Fate, and Madame Xanadu.

As always with Bendis, there are some great ideas here, but I remain doubtful that Bendis will properly weave a compelling and cohesive tale from them before the story ends. The idea of Khalid facing off against Nabu himself is quite intriguing. Unfortunately, the conflict with Nabu isn’t the focus of the story. Rather, the two Leagues confront him only for the purpose of wringing information about Xanadoth out of him.

Positives Cont.

I was intrigued that Bendis had Xanadoth actually comment on the similarity between Madame Xanandu and himself. Bendis is clearly hinting at some connection between the characters. This could be interesting, but on the other hand, I hope that Bendis isn’t about to add a retcon to Xanadu’s backstory. His retcons tend to be pointless at best and often damage or ruin a character.

Despite the problems with the issue’s writing, the artwork is gorgeous. I love the contrast in the art and colours between the main story and the flashback battle between Nabu and Xanadoth. This glimpse of the past seems epic and larger than life, emphasizing that this is a distant time, while the modern scenes are rendered in a way that makes them appear more tangible and immediate.

Negatives

It’s probably for the best that Bendis is moving on from Justice League to write another Naomi miniseries as well as working on a Naomi TV series, as she seems to be his main focus. While he doesn’t make Naomi the main focus of this issue, he does include a brief but noticeable incident meant to impress upon the reader what a unique and special character Naomi is. During the confrontation with Nabu, she catches the ancient wizard’s notice and he demands, “Who are you? What are you?” before transporting her to the mysterious white void.

I am certain that this is leading to Naomi playing a central role in the story’s concluding chapter. However, if he wants to make hints about how powerful and important Naomi is, I wish he would confine it to his actual Naomi title. On the whole, she doesn’t really add anything to the title that any young and powerful hero couldn’t in her place. The only real reason she’s in the title is to spotlight his own creation, hyping her up into something she’s not.

Negatives Cont.

In my review of last issue, I stated that Bendis had generated another generic and forgettable villain for the story. I was reminded that Xanadoth was actually a character Bendis created in Superman #23. I think my inability to remember this just goes to show how forgettable a character he is. And of course, it’s yet another case of Bendis recycling concepts he’s created in his previous work for DC. He would have done better in this run on Justice League if he had actually focused on doing something new with the team rather than rehashing stuff he wrote in the Superman titles.

Verdict

Justice League #73 looks stunning, but unfortunately the writing holds little depth. Brian Michael Bendis is an idea machine. However, he frequently is unable to do much with his good ideas. He still has one last issue left, so maybe he might be able to save this story in the conclusion. Overall, I’d rate this issue rather low, but I have to add points for the great work of the art team.

The post Review: Justice League #73 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Sanford Greene

Colors: Matt Herms, Sanford Greene

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League 2022 Annual #1: The return of Wonder Woman! Wait, what’s that? Also, the return of…OMAC! Jack Kirby’s greatest creation, the One-Man Army Corps, returns to the DC universe just in time to team up with the reunited Justice League to stop secret forces of evil from gathering! Join Eisner Award-winner Sanford Greene as he brings the legacy of the League to life leading into Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes!

Positives

Brian Michael Bendis’ run as writer is coming to a close with issue #74, but the Justice League 2022 Annual gives him a chance to get an extra story in before moving on. This self-contained story is much like the rest of Bendis’: a mixed bag of good and bad.

One thing that was evident in Bendis’ run so far is that the team lineup is out of synch with the rest of the DCU books. Superman and the Barry Allen Flash remained present, despite being absent from Earth in their own books. And Wonder Woman was absent, despite her return to Earth in her own title. But finally, the team’s lineup is in synch with events in the wider DCU.

In fact, the story involves a celebration at the Hall of Justice to celebrate Wonder Woman’s return to the team. This means that we get to see some great guest stars like Plastic Man and Stargirl. It’s too bad that these guests didn’t have a more significant role in the story. However, the classic version of O.M.A.C. is central to the story.

Positives Cont.

There are also some nice nods to Justice League history. The villain of the issue is the Lord of Time, Epoch, a villain from the League’s earliest adventures in the Silver Age. The Super Friends cartoon was a big part of my childhood, so I was pleased to see both the Hall of Justice and the Hall of Doom make an appearance in the same issue.  And I quite liked the image of Diana admiring a painting of the League’s first adventure. In this painting, Sanford Greene gives us his own loving interpretation of the classic cover from The Brave and the Bold #28.

With Epoch as the villain and the future hero O.M.A.C. as a guest star, it’s not surprising that time travel is a large part of the story. And Bendis uses this as an opportunity to lay some hints about his Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes story. Epoch reveals that he has come to the present to search for a powerful artifact. He fails to find it, but he gives the League a warning: “The ring! The Gold Lantern! If you find itttt…! Dessstroy…”.

This implies that the Gold Lantern ring may be a threat. And we are shown that the ring lays undiscovered at the former site of the Hall of Doom. With the character Gold Lantern playing a central role in Bendis’ crossover miniseries, it seems that this ring’s presence may prove to tie into the upcoming Great Darkness storyline.

Negatives

A time travel story can be amazing when written well, but confusing when not. Unfortunately, Bendis’ writing on the Justice League has generally been less than stellar. Bendis’ story can be mostly followed, but there are elements that go unexplained. For example, we don’t get any real explanation for why there are four different versions of Epoch in the story. Bendis states it’s because he’s caught in a “trinity loop”. But there’s no indication of what that is. And shouldn’t a “trinity” loop produce three versions of him, not four?

During the story, Hawkgirl is thrown into the future and returns moments later thanks to a device she got from Epoch while in the future. That’s all well and good. But Bendis makes the unnecessary revelation that Hawkgirl spent quite a while in that future, implying she had a relationship with O.M.A.C. Now, this would be interesting if it were going to be explored in future issues of the title or in an O.M.A.C. series. But it’s almost certain that future writers are going to ignore this entirely.

Verdict

The Justice League 2022 Annual, like most of Bendis’ run, has some problems. However, it is one of his better efforts on the title so far. While it would be nice if he could maintain this higher level of quality going forward, the matter is moot considering that he will be moving on from the title. Hopefully, his Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes miniseries will be more like this annual than his work on the main series.

The post Review: Justice League 2022 Annual #1 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V

Artists: Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Sumit Kumar

Colours: Romulo Farjardo Jr.

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #71: The Royal Flush Gang hatched one of the most elaborate plans in the history of the DC Universe, and now we know that all of it was a prelude to the crime of this and maybe even the next century. How does it connect to the trial of Black Adam?

When all seems lost, hope can still be found! With Wonder Woman now by their side, the Justice League Dark have survived to fight another day. Merlin is only getting started-can the team still prove they have the magic within to defeat the medieval mage?

Positives

The conclusion to the “Biggest Score Ever” is a big improvement over Brian Michael Bendis’ previous stories for Justice League. This confrontation with the Royal Flush Gang is the sort of thing he should have been writing from the start. Up to now, he has been using DC’s premier team book to rehash storylines from his previous titles for DC. But finally, we see the team tackling someone other than Leviathan or the Synmar Utopica: the Royal Flush Gang – a team that nearly every incarnation of the League has faced at some point.

And Bendis finally seems to have finally realized that this is not a Naomi title that the League is guest-starring in. While it’s acceptable to bring a character to the forefront, no single member of the League should continually overshadow the rest. In this issue, however, while Naomi plays an important role in the story, she is not the main focus.

There are also some great guest-stars in the story. The League calls in reserve members and other teams such as the Justice Society and the Doom Patrol to help deal with the extra-dimensional threats the Royal Flush Gang has inadvertently unleashed on the world. The brawl between some of DC’s greatest heroes and villains is beautifully illustrated by Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur.

However, despite the improvement, Bendis’ main story is still upstaged by Ram V’s Justice League Dark backup. Unfortunately, this story not only marks the departure of Ram V from Justice League Dark, but also the departure of the team from the title.

Positives Cont.

In this final chapter, Doctor Fate visits each of his teammates, using his knowledge of coming events to give each some advice or comfort. What he tells them offers tantalizing hints for future writers to pick up on if they wish. Two of these encounters are especially noteworthy.

First is his conversation with John Constantine. Constantine is the only member to refuse to hear what Khalid has to tell him. He explains, ‘…telling me the future would be foolish. And I don’t need to carry the weight of knowing. Nothing good ever comes out of telling ol’ John anything. You should know this by now chief… I’m a nasty piece of work”. This says a lot about Constantine. He’s savvy enough about the rules of magic to know that a prophecy can be a burden that limits one’s free will.

And it also shows that Ram V understands the John Constantine’s core contradiction. John displays a devil-may-care bravado that actually covers a deep-seated self-loathing. And Khalid has no words capable of granting Constantine any comfort.

Khalid’s words for Detective Chimp are, “You are at the heart of us, Bobo. You possess within you a sort of magic that no helm, nor backward spell, nor suit of rags can reproduce”. This indicates Bobo’s crucial role to the team. He is the soul of the team. And it also hints that he has some sort of inherent magic despite not having any apparent magical abilities. This could be meant metaphorically, but perhaps it be true in a literal sense. Perhaps Bobo has mystical abilities that are as yet untapped.

Positives Cont.

This, and the words Fate has for the other members of the team are somewhat vague. Ram V is dropping enticing hints, but their vagueness leaves the next writer plenty of room to add their own interpretation.

It’s unfortunate that Ram V is departing without resolving the team’s conflict with Merlin. His story has clearly been building towards a major battle with the legendary wizard, but he’s leaving it to future writers to resolve the story. However, this does leave the possibility that the story will never be finished if the next writer decides to go in an entirely different direction. Hopefully, the story will get completed. And I hope Ram V’s successor is capable of delivering a conclusion worthy of the build-up he’s given it.

Negatives

While Bendis’ story this issue is a big improvement, it still has some problems. While much of Bendis’ nonsense from other titles is absent, there is still too much time being spent of Checkmate and Daemon Rose. Giving Lois Lane a long-lost secret brother is a pointless addition to the Superman mythos. However, pointless additions to the Superman mythos is the hallmark of Bendis’ work for DC.

While I understand what Bendis’ was trying to do by having the League thanking Green Arrow for taking charge and funding the Hall of Justice and Checkmate. However, it was rather clumsily written. Does he expect us to believe that the Batman would openly declare, “We just wanted to thank you”. Bruce might grudgingly make a gruff expression of gratitude, but not a gushing statement like that.

However, the exchange between Black Adam and Ollie was rather good. Adam expresses distrust and Ollie acknowledges the value in having Adam serving as a check and balance on him. However, I think this would have been more effective and in character for this exchange to be between Ollie and Bruce. But at least Ollie recognizes that Batman will also be keeping an eye on him.

Verdict

Justice League #71 shows a distinct improvement in the main feature. Hopefully, Bendis will continue to improve, as he won’t have Ram V’s Justice League Dark backup to carry the series anymore. On the other hand, now that the series’ cancellation has been announced, perhaps the point is moot. Ram V’s last Justice League Dark story merits a full 5 out of 5, but the main story’s writing brings the overall rating down.

The post Review: Justice League #71 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colors: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1: One thousand years in the future, a Legion of Super-Heroes comes together to dedicate their lives to recapturing the great age of heroes of the 21st century. When the heroes discover that reality is falling to a great darkness in both times simultaneously, the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes must team up to stop it all. But what is the connection between the secrets of the new Gold Lanterns and the coming of the Great Darkness? Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 begins a monumental DC epic event miniseries!

Positives

For this review of Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1, DCN has brought together our regular reviewer of Legion of Super-Heroes, Matthew Lloyd and our Justice League reviewer, Derek McNeil. Both are well acquainted with Brian Michael Bendis’ work for DC – Matthew having reviewed his run on Action Comics and Derek having reviewed his run on Superman, as well as his Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes.

Matthew: The group scenes of the Legion in the opening sequence feel very much like classic legion in a battle moment- even Gold Lantern planting the seeds of a separate plotline work.

Derek: I definitely got that feeling too. I feel that Bendis’ Legion has elements that could make this one of the great eras of the Legion. But he has difficulty realizing that potential. While not all of his ideas are good, there are some good ones in this story, but will he be able to make them pay off? The Gold Lantern plot is intriguing and I hope he fleshes it out better in the upcoming issues.

Matthew: The actual mystery is interesting, what’s happened to one of Luornu’s bodies?  While it at first appears that Bendis is going to retell how Triplicate Girl became Duo Damsel, the story goes in a different direction.  No matter, it’s the basis for a good mystery.

Derek: I had the same thought that Bendis was doing his own version of that classic story. And Luornu’s situation does raise some interesting questions. If one’s self doesn’t want to remerge, should the others force her to? If they need to do so to survive, does that give them the right to force the merging? With one of the selves now significantly older than the others, what age would their merged self be – perhaps the average age of the three? So, when they split again would they all be that average age?

I also would like to add, that although I’m still not used to some of the visualizations of Bendis’ Legion, they are beautifully rendered by Scott Godlewski – as is the Justice League.

Negatives

Matthew: While Bendis’ use of dialogue can be effective, it just goes on too long.  He doesn’t know when to stop.  Every character seems compelled to speak in every panel.  When it moves the plot along it works.  But, characters say things that are not only non-sequiturs but completely unnecessary.  Furthermore, there’s no distinction between voices.  It works a bit with the Legionnaires” overtalking” during the opening battle sequence because it’s a bit nostalgic, but afterward, when they are trying to figure out what happened with Luornu, the unnecessary dialogue detracts from the gravitas of the situation.

Derek: Yes, Bendis seems way too impressed with his snappy dialogue. It can be effective in small doses, but it wears thin after a while. And it uses up a lot of the page count that would be better used telling the story. There were a number of points in the story where I was thinking “Get on with it!”.

Matthew: It’s no better with the Justice League.  It’s actually worse, because not only do the Justice League “overtalk,” they sound EXACTLY like the teenage Legion from 1000 years in the future… and, it’s the exact same dialogue at times.  It’s as if he’s made no attempt at differentiating characterization or presenting accurate characterizations.

Derek: I noticed that too. I also noticed that the lineup of Bendis’ League has changed a bit from their regular title with no explanation. Diana is back, but Hippolyta has disappeared. And why is Clark the Superman featured on the covers when Jon is the only Superman in the actual story?

Verdict

Matthew: The basic ideas presented in this issue have some merit.  It feels like there’s potential for the story, but Bendis’s track record at DC falls somewhere between very bad and mediocre.

Derek: Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 has me feeling somewhat ambivalent. This title has a lot of potential, but I don’t know if  Bendis’ story is going to realize it. He has done some good writing in the past, but his recent work doesn’t give me a lot of faith that he will again. On the other hand, at least it looks nice, thanks to Godlewski’s art.

Matthew’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Averaged Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs. The Legion Of Super-Heroes #1 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V

Artists: Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Sumit Kumar, Jose Marzan Jr.

Colours: Hi-Fi, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Letters: Josh Reed, Rob Leigh

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #69: The super-spies of Checkmate poke their sneaky noses where they do not belong, and the Justice League are NOT happy about it. In fact, most of the League isn’t even happy Checkmate exists, setting up Checkmate versus the Justice League! The superspies versus the super…guys.

In Justice League Dark, Zatanna is locked in a battle with the greatest sorcerer of all time – Merlin!

Positives

The main story in Justice League #69 continues Brian Michael Bendis’ team-up between the League and Checkmate. Overall, I think this is one of Bendis’ better stories on this title so far, but it’s still not quite up to the level of quality that I’d like to see in DC’s foremost team book.

One of the biggest problems I’ve had with Bendis’ story is that he has been putting too much emphasis on Naomi and not enough on the other members of the League. However, this issue’s story is the complete opposite. Naomi doesn’t even appear in the story, just the recap page at the beginning. And she gets the variant cover to herself as well. I actually wanted Bendis to dial back on Naomi a bit, not eliminate her from the story altogether. But I suspect she’ll be back at the forefront before too long.

What else positive can I say about the story? The art from Phil Hester and Eric Gapsture is great. Even if the story isn’t that great, at least it looks pretty. Luckily, there’s another great Justice League Dark chapter as the backup story to make up for the lacklustre main story.

Positives Cont.

Ram V continues the story of his team facing off against Merlin in Atlantis. Also, the team now has to contend with Zatanna being overcome by the influence of the Upside-Down Man. However, Doctor Fate and the Eternal Knight arrive to bolster their numbers.

But Merlin’s purpose in Atlantis is fulfilled, as he manages to summon Arion, Lord of Atlantis to serve as his “Sapphire Knight”. If any mage in DC history is on the same level as Merlin, it would have to be Arion. The two of them working together would make an unbeatable team. It appears the team’s chances of victory are rapidly diminishing.

Negatives

While I’m glad that Bendis is finally shifting his focus on other characters than Naomi, I wish he would focus it on other Leaguers. Instead, he’s spending more time on his Checkmate/Leviathan story. Overall the Leviathan story is convoluted, confusing, and not terribly interesting. He should keep his Leviathan story to his Checkmate miniseries and do something new with the League rather than rehashing his previous stories from other series.

There are a number of attempts at snappy and clever dialogue that mostly fall flat. And I was puzzled by Black Canary’s reference to Hippolyta being the queen of “Theramascura”. I don’t know if this is a mistake or a pitiful attempt at humour. Neither choice makes much sense. Bendis spelt it as “Themyscira” on the previous page, so apparently he knows the correct spelling. But if it’s supposed to be funny, then I don’t understand what the joke is supposed to be.

Negatives Cont.

The story is somewhat better than his previous stories on this title, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Bendis has proven he can produce much better writing than this. So why is he having so much trouble doing so here?

The only issue I have with Ram V’s story is that he’s not being given enough pages to properly tell his story. His excellent story is being held back by having to delivered in bite-sized pieces. I look forward to the upcoming Justice League Dark ongoing series, which should give him more room to work. However, I’m not sure that it bodes well for Justice League. The book might flounder with only Bendis’ main story. Maybe DC can find another talented writer to start a new backup feature to replace Justice League Dark.

Verdict

The main story in Justice League #69 was an improvement, but still a bit of a mess, but the art was good. So, I’ll give it a 3 out of 5. And the Justice League Dark backup story was a solid 5 out of 5 for both the story and art. I still think that Bendis puts his mind to it, he could get this title back on track. But will he?

The post Review: Justice League #69 appeared first on DC Comics News.