Justice League Unlimited #6 // Review
Airwave never really fit-in. He was never terribly popular. He’s had a very complicated history that has gone through quite a lot over the years...and in spite of that never really managed to garner much of a following. Nevertheless...when the world’s most powerful superhero team called on him to join, he wasn’t going to turn them down. Of course...there WERE going to be complications in his path to success. Those complications come to a point of crisis in Justice League Unlimited #6. Writer Mark Waid tells a story of obfuscation and corruption with artist Travis Moore.
Gorilla Grodd had been captured by King Solovar of Gorilla City. The king was aided in this by the Justice League. Grodd’s subsequent incarceration gives him plenty of time to plot and plan. Naturally someone with his level of intellect and motivation is going to find some way out of even the most difficult prison. That escape is going to involve time travel and it’s going to involve finding someone on the inside to aid him...someone who might just be a newly-minted member of the Justice League. And since he’s not exactly given a whole lot of attention by the rest of the team, Grodd has his work cut out for him.
Time travel is always sort of a trick element to place into any narrative. Superhero and super-villain stories involving time travel can get particularly sticky. Quite often when a complex super genius evil plan is being hatched. It can be kind of dizzy to try to throw on something like that. Because if time travel can be used so effectively and so efficiently, then why is all of the rest of the machinations of a complex, genius plan even necessary? Waid does a pretty good job of making Grodd seem kind of like a genius for coming-up with his plan, but the overall narrative seems to hang quite heavily under the weight of Grodd’s scheming.
Moore has a delightful sense of absurdity about the whole drama. To be able to embrace the silliness of it while also embracing the seriousness and the gravitas of the drama is something that is truly difficult to manage. The balance that is necessary can be kind of difficult to maintain. Moore does a genius job of bringing it together. There’s such strength about it on so many levels. The characterization comes across with quite vivid intensity. This is particularly impressive as the big antagonist is...a gorilla. The nuances needed to bring across Grodd’s genius are brought vividly to the page by Moore’s art.
It's not often that a villain completely takes over the narrative of an entire issue. If it's going to be anyone, it’s going to be Grodd. There is a distinctly interesting perspective coming through from the gorilla that really feels like it's something distinct and unique. It would be difficult to do this with most villains as they tend to be kind of cliché. God has something unique. And it's kind of fun to see him enter into the spotlight one more time.
