Justice League of America #15 Review

Flashcap

Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Felipe Wantanabe, Ruy Jose, Marcelo Maiolo and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 27, 2017

At the end of last issue, the JLA team found Ray Palmer and it was easily the best thing to happen in this book since...ever.  Yea, things didn't end so smoothly and Ryan Choi may have messed everything up big time, but that's the kind of thing that keeps you reading, right?  So, here we are to see just what Ray was so upset about and if they can solve it together.  Well, can they?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with Ray losing his shit because of the JLA bringing Aut to the Ignition Point.  We quickly head off to an extended flashback from the pages of Professor Palmer's nanojournal.  Yep, nanojournal.  It's nice to get some background here, but unfortunately, it does go a bit against what we saw in both the DC Universe Rebirth #1 and the Atom Rebirth #1.

Instead of discovering the Microverse while checking on a problem he thought involved Chronos, we see that now he was in contact with Dr. Aut before making the leap in.  We see the destruction that is consuming the Microverse and learn that Ray and Aut have to get to the Ignition Point to stop it.

The flashback/recap continues as Aut and Ray hook up with Preon, fail at getting Moz-Ga to grant a wish, help the Faceless Hunters and more.  The more is a bit of kissy face time for Ray and Preon!

We continue going forward toward the Ignition Point and see how Preon got her own Bio Belt and it's a good thing because it's needed to save her life.  When the three explorers get caught in a Quantum Storm and some unruly natives, Preon uses a fail safe to save her life...and then Ray acts like she's dead.  He just told her what to do to save herself and acts like he just watched her die?!?

Regrouping, Ray and Aut trip the light fantastic and finally find their way to the Ignition Point and the issue ends with a repeated line that makes as little sense now and the reader no closer to seeing why Ray was upset about Aut as this all began.

This is pretty much a nonsense issue.  Steve Orlando uses an entire issue to set up a relationship between Ray and Preon, get her a Bio Belt and not much more.  He  gives us a flashback that is a lot closer to recap and finishes the issue without giving us what he seemed to be setting up in the beginning pages.  This is beyond a pacing issue, this is a storytelling one and it's been a frustrating part of this series since it started.

Felipe Wantanabe's art is good, but the generic nature of the Multiverse doesn't help out at all.  The character work is solid, though, and the art is by far the best thing going here.

Bits and Pieces:

While last issue's cliffhanger and the beginning of this one makes it seem like we are going to get something important, this issue is a combination of flashback and recap and verges on being unnecessary.  It's a shame because this should be bigger than it comes off.

5.5/10