Justice League #17 Review

Blame It on the Sh'anne

Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Jim Cheung
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 6, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

After last week's big Annual, I am really pumped for the Justice League book again.  Having Scott Snyder back on script this issue makes me even more excited.  So, is the start of this second phase of the JL story good?  Let's find out...



The issue opens with Martian Manhunter and with all the things I am still waiting for answers on, J'onn has been a steady source of awesomeness in this series.  The Thanagar Prime arc gave us a new origin for him and whenever he pops up now I expect big things.  Add Lex into the mix and the expectations grow bigger and bigger.

I will tell you right now, after the action-packed, balls-to-the-wall Annual, some may be a bit disappointed with the lack of action in this issue.  It's not devoid of it, mind you, but the chase scene between the Martian Quonars and J'onn and Lex is so much less important than the information we get in this issue and that is delivered with a lot of dialogue and a lot of standing around.

If you think I am down on all that, though, you best stop now.  I am not!  I really enjoyed the story as it unfolded and while I did guess at the big tweest, it was still cool nonetheless.  It's another big moment for J'onn and a bigger one for Lex.  The reason it was so good, however, it that it all fit in the story that we've already seen and fills in some blanks and makes it all the better for it.  By the end of the issue, we may not be much further along in the overall story, but I like seeing even more of a connection between Lex and J'onn. 

I enjoyed this issue as a bit of a cool down from last week's Annual but also for the character moments between Lex and Martian Manhunter.  I'm guessing things will get back to crazy next issue so I enjoyed this issue and now I am ready to jump back in head first.

I liked the art in the issue for the most part.  The problem is, I really didn't like the way Jim Cheung drew Martian Manhunter and hated the way Lex looked.  It didn't ruin the issue but it brought my score down a little.

Bits and Pieces:

After last issue's craziness, this cool down issue felt needed.  We still learned some big things here and it was the character moments between Lex and J'onn that won me over.  I hope we get more of those two together in the future, but for now, it looks like they have very different paths to take.

8.0/10