Justice League Odyssey #22 Review

Writer: Dan Abnett
Art: Cliff Richards
Colors: Rain Beredo
Letters: Andworld Design
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 7th, 2020

Jessica Cruz, the Omega Mama, has been zapped back into time by Epoch because she was being Jessica Cruz and getting in his way. Where did she land in time, though? And was it even in the same timeline or multiverse?

Spoiler: she goes back to a time before Gamma Knife was Gamma Knife and a space ranger going by her name Suzi Starr. This was before she had her drones, and when she had a partner named Mr. Talbott. We get to see her in action kicking ass in a bar filled with aliens. I have no idea why she's there and why she decides to beat the crap out of them but she does, and just when she's about to be taken down Jessica pops up from the future and saves her.

Being in the past, Gamma Knife doesn't know who Jessica is but Jessica knows her. She hasn't even heard of the name Gamma Knife. But, she still refers to Jessica as "Justice League". It turns out Jessica was sent back to when there were no other Green Lanterns except for Kyle Rayner who was busy listening to industrial music, brushing his hair, and doing graphic design stuff. Epoch purposefully sent Jessica back to a time when she couldn't call for help from the Corps.

There's a lot of explaining to Gamma what happens in the future and it's a waste of time. At one point though they're attacked and Jessica goes to use the turrets but they're dead, so she uses her omega powers to shoot them. The best part of the book, really. They're able to find a way to send Jessica back to the future but something happens in the end that makes even Mr. Talbott think that Jessica was not only from the future but also from a different timeline or multiverse...

Bits and Pieces

This issue is a speed bump in the great progress that JLO has made, as it's mostly either all recap or completely useless. I wouldn't mind a break from the main story to get a proper Gamma Knife origin story, but we didn't even get that in an issue that features Gamma Knife before she called herself Gamma Knife. I dunno, man. This is now the book that I look the most forward to from DC and I'm disappointed. I understand that filler issues have a purpose, but this is a very ill-timed filler issue.

5.5/10