Meet Me After School in Gemworld
Writer: James Tynion IV
Penciller: Alvarez MartÃnez Bueno
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover: MartÃnez Bueno, Fernandez, Anderson
Variant Cover: Kelley Jones & Michelle Madsen
Assistant Editor: Andrew Marino
Editor: Rebecca Taylor
Group Editor: Marie Javins
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: February 13, 2019
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
Boy oh boy! It’s another issue of what’s quickly become my favorite title from DC Comics, Justice League Dark! There’s plenty of goings-on to worry about: the Otherkind are hanging out in the real world, Dr. Fate did…something weird to John Constantine and the Phantom Stranger? It’s been so long since we’ve addressed that, I’ve forgotten the details. I’m sure we’ll be brought back up to speed in my review of issue #8, which follows!
Explain It!
When I had my first real job, after college, I had a boss who once told me, “you’re being reactive, and I need you to be proactive.” Hey, it was the late 1990s, management types everywhere were using weird words in an effort to remain relevant in the face of a dot-com bubble. But while the phrase she said was basically meaningless, it could be applied to members of the Justice League Dark, who are shown hither and thither, containing manifestations of Otherkind and torturing defeated magicians to learn the location of the wizard Mordru, when they should be more like Man-Bat, who is in the basement of the Hall of Justice, fumbling with dangerous magic rituals in order to free that fellow Khalid Nassour from the urn that he pilfered from Dr. Fate’s tower several issues ago.
At the Oblivion Bar, things are getting crowded, since all the magic-types rescued from Otherkind are being shoved into its ever-expanding space. The staff, as Traci 13, does not likewise expand. Detective Chimp is no help, he’s still feeling sorry for himself over being a lamewad about Myrra, plus the fact that he hasn’t been asked to play in Zatanna and Wonder Woman’s quest to find Mordru, despite being DetectiveChimp, after all. Speaking of them, Z and Diana have headed to Papa Midnite’s club for spellcasters, Midnight. When they get there, the place is plastered with blood and viscera from an Otherkind slaughter—but they left a very frightened Papa Midnite, I suppose because he’s got a mortgage to pay. When Zatanna asks if he knows where Mordru is at, Papa Midnite points out that her dumbass father was after the same thing, and he’s all trapped in that Upside-Down world or whatever. Papa gets invited to hang out at the Oblivion Bar, but noting that John Constantine has been taken out of play by Dr. Fate, he says he’ll take his chances where he’s at.
And the Oblivion Bar sure is hopping tonight, folks, you even get a near-brawl between Swamp Thing and Etrigan that culminates in some lively drinks and pontificating that if all the magic-users are in one place, doesn’t that make it easy for the Otherkind to…ulp! The Upside-Down Man strolls into the place, stepping over the top of the doorway, and freaks everybody out like a cop walking through a pro-marijuana rally. Having no other option, Bobo slashes a portal to Myrra, through which most people escape to safety. Back in the Hall of Justice’s cellar, Man-Bat’s clunky ritual is successful in freeing Khalid, who says that they’re all playing into Dr. Fate’s hands—he’s gonna kill magic and restore order or something! But he does show up with a freaky, gold-helmeted crew called the Lords of Order!
Which is what was advertised on the (very awesomely-drawn) cover, and revealed on the last page, and that’s sort of a mean trick. Not an uncommon one, just mean. I really enjoyed this story, despite forgetting the particulars of how things were left with Nabu, since last issue didn’t address it. But it was still cool to see Zatanna and Wonder Woman teaming up, and I got a lot of enjoyment from Man-Bat fumbling through a magic ritual, explaining its aspects. I also liked the further horrors of the Otherkind. My only problem is that the ending was kind of fuzzy, in terms of what Nabu plans on doing to magic…or the Otherkind? Or are these things the same? And why does this threaten Bobo and the gang in Myrra? I expect this will be revealed, and I can’t wait to find out about it.
Bits and Pieces:
Now that folks are aware of the Otherkind, they're getting scared. And you know what? They should be. Looks like the Big Bad of this story might not be what we thought it was, and an old friend from the DCYou returns to tell everyone how badly they've screwed up.
8/10
Nabu wants to eradicate magic from the multiverse. Tynion insinuated that he needed the magic community to go to Myrra to allow the Lords of Order to access that sphere.
ReplyDeleteI've loved most of the JLD issues and this one was no different.