The Darkseid War has been one of the best comic stories Geoff Johns has written in years, definitely the best in his “Justice League” run. Having said that, even some stories will have some fault. How much? Let’s see.
Written by Geoff Johns
Illustrated by Francis Manapul“Darkseid War” rages on! The Justice League has become Gods! Grail discovers a truth about Wonder Woman that disturbs even her! And a shocking secret about the fate of the Anti-Monitor will force the League to seek out new and unlikely allies!
Let me tell you about “Middle of the Road Syndrome”. This is an unfortunate problem that occurs when you read these comics in single issues at times: When a story is in the middle of being told and it reaches an area where, in all honesty, not a whole lot happens. There’s a load of smaller things that happen to move plots alone, but nothing in real focus.
And that is where we are with “Justice League #46” (perhaps fitting that this is the conclusion to Act Two of a three-act story). There are loads of small developments that Johns and Manapul move around in, but very few are devoted the time needed at this time. We have Wonder Woman leading the group of remaining League members against the remaining soldiers of Apokalips. Fans of Big Barda and Mister Miracle are going to get a nice scene with the two and Wondy and Steve Trevor have their own moment. Other developments involve Metron still at the Rock of Eternity and Wonder Woman coming to the realization that perhaps the captured members of the Crime Syndicate, the evil versions of the League, may have information about the Anti-Monitor that can be used to stop him. The final moment involving Grail may also provide an interesting development later.
But again, that’s really the big problem with this issue: most of what occurs here is so reliant on things to come in future issues. Nearly every issue of the Darkseid War has had a moment where I have gone “Wait What?!” in just some pure fan joy. Even last issue, which really was a setup for the one-shots that we’ve had the last couple of weeks, felt like more happened than here. It doesn’t make the story with this issue a bad one, but it does make it incredibly frustrating. Maybe there is some solace in knowing that the next issue is only two weeks away, but as of now, the story in this issue just left me very neutral.
I do really love Francis Manapul as an artist, but even a great degree of the art in this issue left me lukewarm. It should be noted that in this issue Manapul is the only one credited with colors, whereas last issue his frequent collaborator Brian Buccellato recieved coloring co-credit. You can tell the difference between the two. I can’t help but compare the two-page spread in this issue involving the League against the Apokolips gods and compare it to the beautiful spread from issue #45. This one came off as a bit flat in comparison. Maybe it’s just that Buccellato helps add that certain spark.
Don’t make it seem like I despised the art. Never! Manapul still does pull some great scenes here. The arrival of the aforementioned Big Barda and the amount of asskicking and husband smooching done here is excellent and the highlight of the issue for me. I also have to give a credit for the image-within-an-image depiction of Kalibak mourning Darkseid. It’s a well implemented shot that really depicts the twisted kind of affection the son has for the father.
Going back to some of the plotting, while the concept of some League members being transformed by the essences of the New Gods is interesting, perhaps the one that is the weakest is Superman. It just made him a brute so far. It just comes off as a “been here, done that” kind of thing. I would say it was a bit more expounded upon in his one-shot, but 1. He still felt very generic there. and 2. I shouldn’t have to read the one-shot regardless. And even the things Batman does with the Mobius Chair just feel kind of… expected? Maybe we’ll see some of this fleshed out in Act 3.
In the end, this issue isn’t bad, but it is without a doubt the weakest issue of the Darkseid War. If I had to compare it to something else topical, it’s like issue #5 of “Secret Wars” over at Marvel. It was a lot of setting up pieces to kick off an explosive finale. Frustrating to the point of madness when read as a monthly, but a necessary evil in the long run.
Final Verdict: 6.8- A frustrating, but necessary bridging between the beginning and the end of the Darkseid War.
