Justice League #12 Review

Lord Almighty

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Christian Duce, Mat Lopes and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 4, 2017

The Justice League vs Suicide Squad Event is in full swing and so there are going to be some tie-in books whether we like it or not.  It doesn't bother me, as long as the books are good and feel necessary to the story.  With that in mind, we take a break from the usual goings on in Justice League to get a Maxwell Lord origin story.  He does seem like the big bad of the event, so this is something needed, right?  Well, that is still up for debate.  What do I mean?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with Amanda Waller greeting Maxwell Lord in a Task Force X Black Site and he is a bit tied up.  Yea, that's a joke, but he really is in a whole lot of chains.  We quickly head back a few days and see what put him in this position.  After finding out that Waller doesn't like being touched, it's back to the Black Site and more questions.

We continue with Waller asking Lord a bunch of personal questions that lead to a flashback of his youth.  It's not a happy story...suicide, a funeral and a mother who may love her son, but seems to love power and money a bit more.  It's soon very obvious that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

We then get to see Maxwell's special ability of suggestion as a member of Checkmate.  Actually, we just get suggestions ourselves as we see that Lord climbed the Checkmate ladder in what would normally look like coincidence in any other situation.

The next bit is what I was waiting for...Maxwell Lord's problem with the Justice League.  It's not as grand as I was hoping, just more of a power struggle, but then things heat up.  He puts the whammy on Waller and before we know it, she is telling him all about the Catacombs prison in Death Valley.  Now that is huge!

The issue ends with Maxwell using his ability a little more (notice the nose bleed) to get out of Waller's clutches and he's off to collect his team.  It all ties nicely into a bow and sets us up for the event, all while showing us why he does what he does.

Is this book necessary for the Event?  No, not really.  It does flesh out the character of Maxwell Lord a bit for those who aren't familiar with him, but we don't get much new info here.  It's a quick read that isn't inherently bad, but I can't really recommend it to anyone but completionists.

I enjoyed Christian Duce's art here, but that also suffers from the fact that not a whole lot happens.  His character work is really good, but it just feels like there isn't a whole lot for him to do to impress the reader.  He does his job and everything he is asked to do.

Bits and Pieces:

This Justice League vs Suicide Squad tie-in isn't necessary and suffers from that.  Not a whole lot goes on here and the couple big moments kind of fall flat.  If you just have to have everything from this first Rebirth Event, go for it.  Others can stick with the Event book and be just fine.

6.0/10