Justice League #64
As things look to be quieting down, new threats emerge in Justice League #64, by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Steve Pugh, colorist Nick Filardi, and letterer Josh Reed. In the backup, by writer Ram V, artist Sumit Kumar, colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr., and letterer Rob Leigh, Batman and the Eternal Knight team up to tackle a new threat in Gotham City.
This issue starts in space as the United Planets and their new superteam, the United Order, bring the Synmar Utopica to trial… but when it’s time for him to testify, he’s found to have broken free. On Earth, Naomi practices with the League as Green Arrow and Black Canary go to watch the sunset, with a mysterious sniper following them. Naomi’s parents come to the Hall of Justice as a distress call comes from the UP warning them about Synmar. Meanwhile, Green Arrow and Black Canary confront their shadow, who informs them he’s following them because of Checkmate business. Back at the Hall, Superman questions the group and calls in the heavy hitters to help deal with Synmar, but time is already up. In the backup, Batman and the Eternal Knight fight off the cult members. Batman lets Eternal Knight on why he’s there, she tells him her spiel, but she dips out on him before he can refuse to work with her. The JLD lick their wounds, and Zatanna talks to Ragman, who knows her secret. Back in Gotham, Batman finds another group of cultists but is hit with a telepathic whammy, only to be saved by Eternal Knight, who discovers just who the cult has been protecting.
Bendis introduced the Synmar Utopica during his Superman run, and his return in Justice League is a pretty great callback to that story arc. The alien was more than capable of taking down Superman, so seeing how he deals with the whole Justice League will be a lot of fun. Bendis has mastered superhero banter to an insane degree, and this issue is yet another example of that. While it was often kind of annoying over at Marvel, where everyone sounded like Spider-Man, there’s something about it that works very well with the Justice League, even a team this new. There’s an easy and entertaining interplay between the members that work very well- there’s a good mix of humor in the book that helps with the more tense moments.
As far as opening issues of story arcs go, this is a pretty good one. It will be interesting to see how the United Order, who basically looks like the Justice League of the UP, will play into things and if one of them is working with Synmar- they were the ones that brought him to trial and him getting out points to one of them. Also, it’s always good fun when a young superhero’s parents come and visit them at their headquarters, so hopefully, there will be more of the McDuffies. Naomi is again a focus of things, and it works pretty well- she’s a great character. In the backup, V brings in Batman, and it’s a lot of fun. Not only does he have Eternal Knight do the ghost thing that Batman usually does to people, but she also saves him when he’s bitten off more than he can chew. Taking Batman down a peg, especially when he’s definitely dealing with something out of his league like what’s going on in Gotham, is always fun, and it also builds up Eternal Knight, showing readers what she can do. The interplay between Ragman and Zatanna is fascinating as well. Zatanna intimates that she saw Ragman enjoying taking souls, and he brings up her new connection to the Upside Down Man. He’s pretty much the only person to know about that, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the future.
Pugh’s art is pretty good, all things told. The opening pages at the UP headquarters have this wonderful new school sci-fi look to them that is reminiscent of what’s been set up in Superman. There’s a tremendous full-page spread of Synmar attacking UP forces, and the last page with him about to attack Superman looks excellent. His character acting really helps sell Bendis’s dialogue and jokes, and everything looks great throughout the book. In the backup, new artist Sumit Kumar joins Ram V. Xermanico leaves some pretty big shoes, but Kumar fills them nicely. His pencils are kinetic, and the two-page spread of Batman getting mind whammied looks terrific. Artistically, the JLD is in good hands with him.
Justice League #64 is yet another example of why the Justice League is so good right now. Bendis does a great job with this issue, presenting a new threat and building in some hooks to keep readers coming back. Pugh’s art is pretty great throughout and really helps the script shine. The JLD backup, as usual, is the icing on the cake. V is proving to be a master of the magical side of the DC Universe, and bringing Batman in is an inspired idea, even if he’ll only be around for a little bit. Kumar’s art hits all the right spots. Justice League is the best team book on the market.
