What Needs To Be Done
Written By: Christopher Priest
Art By: Pete Woods, Willie Schu
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: April 4, 2018
Release Date: April 4, 2018
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
This whole arc of the Justice League has been a bit of a struggle for me to go through because while we deal with a lot of politics, which I'm not really a fan of or even that knowledgeable about, we also deal with the real life science behind how our heroes can do what they do and in the long run.......... Those two things in a story where everyone hates the heroes that I love...... well, it doesn't make an issue that exciting. In our previous issue, we saw the Justice League trying to stand their ground in Africa after the Watchtower crashed from space, while also trying to make sure that the refugees and warring tribes of this land didn't go and kill each other. Let's jump into this issue and see what our heroes will do now that Wonder Woman caught a ricochet bullet in her neck and it looks like Red Lion may have killed Cyborg. Let's check it out.
Explain It!:
Our issue begins with Superman trying to get Wonder Woman to safety as fast as he can after heat visioning her wound, but it's the Flash who demands to take her since he's faster and because Superman will be able to save more people at their present location that he could. With that, we don't spend a lot of time on Wonder Woman's well being, we just see that Flash got a hold of Kid Flash, who got a hold of Raven so that Raven can do some magical medicine on Wonder Woman.
As for the rest of our team...... Well, we learn that Red Lion has sent all of these warring people and refugees to the Watchtower as a way to keep the cameras on the Justice League, while he tries to invade a neighboring country, but all that is put to an end once Cyborg gets a way to his programming backdoor, which allows him to self repair again and with that, Batman, Aquaman and Cyborg bring The Fan and Red Lion with them as they go to rendezvous with the rest of the Justice League.
In the end, now that Simon and Jessica are back on Earth and desperately wanting to know what the hell happened while they were away, the team continues to argue about what needs to be done in Africa and about whether or not they have the right to interfere at all. Once our team is back together, sans Wonder Woman and Flash, we see Deathstroke show up and simply shoot The Fan in the head, before going off towards the warring factions around the Watchtower because apparently he has to do what the Justice League isn't capable of doing........... and nobody is stopping him.
That's it for this issue of Justice League and like normal, this was a bit of chore to get through as we continue the ideas about whether or not the Justice League has the right to interfere with this country and how they do things, but on top of that this time, we have an issue where our heroes really don't feel like themselves........ which, I guess, is kind of what we've been getting so far as well, but for whatever reason....... probably them letting Deathstroke kill The Fan while they were busy arguing, this issue, they just felt more off than normal. The art in this issue is alright, but there were a few pages where things felt rushed, but overall I enjoyed the art here. I just wish that I could get behind this story, but at the end of the day, it's just kind of boring. Maybe now that Deathstroke has taken over this title things will pick up, I just don't know how our heroes walk away from what they've let happen here.
Bits and Pieces:
While this issue of Justice League really picks up out of nowhere in the final pages, it does kind of hurt the characters as a whole and makes me wonder how they'd ever let anything like this happen, not to mention let the perpetrator walk away. That being said though, while I do have problems with what we get at the end, it was totally the most interesting thing that's happened in this arc so far, so maybe it's a step in the right direction. The art in this issue was decent, I just wish that the story line would stop coming off as so dull.
6.4/10
Damn you Christopher Priest!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the beginning of Priest's run on the title , and thought the first couple of issues brought a brand new dimension to the League. Then things started getting weighed down, partially with some of the dialog, some of the characterizations, and the "Fan" outwitting the team so completely for the sake of some bad press on social media? Anyway, I was getting ready to chalk it all up as a loss, but this issue brought me back in.
Priest's handling of Diana's inner monologue, and her vulnerability, is excellent, and it makes me yearn for a proper writer to return on the actual WW title. Everything from Superman being significantly pissed by watching his friend get hurt, and then having his hands effectively tied is compelling stuff. And having the Newbie Green Lanterns return into this politically tense situation was masterful, when you consider how diffent it would have played out if Hal or Guy had been the ones who had intervened. That said, I think a John Stewart and Kyle Rayner perspective would have been cool too.
Priest injects some real world questions into this mythic realm, until it bloats and shatters, forcing the league to grapple with the pieces. Is the execution flawless? No, not even close, but it's better writing, higher concept, and far more engaging. It gives us a sympathetic parallel to these characters, who, despite all their powers, are just as ham-strung by the concept of "who to help" as the rest of us are in a world filled with inequality and political schemes.
And the league is divided on how to make a move; Batman's the paranoid prepper, suggesting "registration" and finger-printing, Aquaman's a skeptic, Superman wants to leave it to the U.N.,The Lanterns want to help, but simultaneously, not get directly involved in someone lese's fight, and Cyborg is chafing at how badly he was played. Funny thing is, this would have been the ideal time for Wonder Woman to drop some Wisdom bombs and hopefully a workable suggestion.
This is all just a really long-winded way of saying, I really liked the issue, and Slade popping the "Fan" so unceremoniously was just icing on the cake.
8/10 for me.
Rock on!
-Fall/Ascent
Slade killing the fan reeks of rushing because there is only 1 issue left. we will see how it turns out.
DeleteSo when does Fall/Ascent become a regular reviewer on this site so I can read some compelling reviews?!
DeleteAlthough, please change your name because "Fall/Ascent" is super goofy!
--Grunion Guy
I can see that point, but I also think Chris Priest loves bringing Slade into any title he's writing, just to shake things up.
ReplyDeleteYou're right though, we'll see soon enough.
-F/A
Luckily, Deathstork arrives on the scene to administer the justice that the Justice League can't administer because they all have to listen to Batman for some reason. By the end of this story arc, I'm guessing it'll answer the question as to why Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman have never grabbed Deathstork by the scruff and tossed him in jail. It's because they know they need somebody who doesn't mind killing when killing needs to be done. Plus it has to be somebody that they pretend they can't stand and also whom they pretend they can't catch. "Oh no," cries Batman over his tea as he reads the paper, "It looks like Deathstork was in Gotham killing those bad guys whose lawyer just lawyered them out of jail. If only you'd have told me about Slade being in town, Alfred. I could have stopped this!" Then Alfred winks at Bruce and Bruce winks back and they enjoy some nice waffles with homemade butter.
Delete