Justice League Dark #31 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: J.M. DeMatteis
Art By: Andres Guinaldo
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 28, 2014

Getting Inside Of Nightmare Nurse

Our Dark Justice League seriously disbanded after Forever Evil, and all we were left with after Constantine went and ran out on everyone during the final fight at the Thaumaton Project, was Zatanna taking control of the House of Mystery, Nightmare Nurse, and Deadman.  At the end of last issue we saw Zatanna summon Swamp Thing to try and recruit him; which who has the balls to summon Swamp Thing?  We also saw Nightmare Nurse have a bit of a freak out moment that left us with a woman that looks like Nightmare Nurse but claims her name is Alice Winter.  Let's see if what's left of the JLD can get to the bottom of this Asa mystery.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Alright we're back in the House of Mystery and this person calling herself Alice Winter is terrified of the entity called Asa that took over her body.  Say it ain't so Nightmare Nurse, say it ain't so.  Well being the new leader of the JLD and a all around decent superhero, Zatanna enters Alice Winter's mind to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Inside Alice's mind Zatanna sees that Alice was very sick a long time ago, and her nurse since birth is an elderly woman named Asa.  Now Zatanna isn't interacting with anything, she's just watching Alice's memories, but this psychic residue left over by Asa tries to attack Zatanna, and it's like that opening scene in Ghost Busters where the librarian turns into a terrifying hag.  Zatanna reverse speaks her way into calming the situation, and the entity is reverted back into a simple memory.  But from this Zatanna learns that Asa is somebody that changes bodies, and when they aren't stylish anymore she trades up for a new one.  I wonder what Constantine's up to.

Oh that's right he's drinking and fucking his guilt away.  But all the debauchery is put on hold when we see Nightmare Nurse in the mirror, which normally sounds kind of cool, and a little sexy.  But this time it's a bit of a buzz kill because she pulls Constantine into the mirror and into "The Between", but don't get this confused with the lower astral plane that Constantine and Zatanna went to in Forever Evil: Blight, apparently it's a different place entirely, and I need to be drawn a map of all the layers of existence.  Preferably with a "You Are Here" mark.  The reason that Nightmare Nurse was able to pull Constantine into "The Between" is because of the connection they share ever since they invoked the "Blackmare Curse", again back in Forever Evil: Blight, where they turned themselves into monsters, and didn't really achieve anything.  Asa needs to use their connection to get out of this dangerous place and back into her body before her power is gone, and she just ceases to exist.  I guess John has a moment where he forgets he's a douchebag because he agrees to help Asa, and the two leave "The Between" and hop on over to The House of Mystery.  

Once the two appear we begin another fight because now Zatanna doesn't trust Nightmare Nurse at all, and will not allow Asa to enter the body of Alice Winters again.  During the battle of the mages Constantine flings magic at Zatanna, Zatanna at him, and Nightmare Nurse begins to enter her host again, but Zatanna gets in the way, and in the end we see that Asa now possesses the body of Zatanna.  Even though Constantine seemed to have Nightmare Nurse's back a few minutes ago, I really don't think he's going to let this slide.  That's it for this month, oh, and I couldn't find a part to add it into a proper area but it looks like The House of Mystery is seducing Deadman and Swamp Thing into hanging around.  Oh House of Mystery, you temptress.  See you next month for the continuing adventures of the Justice League Dark.

Bits and Pieces:

While I had mixed feelings about Forever Evil: Blight, there was enough to keep me interested.  But the hell with all that because without a event holding him back, J.M. DeMatteis is rocking the shit out of the JLD.  If you haven't been reading this series, last issue is the place to start because this new story is getting my nerd hard, and everybody deserves to have their nerd hard every once in awhile.  So keep rocking it DeMatteis, and I'll keep reading and showing these issues to people like they're pictures of my kids.  Check it out.

9/10