Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Bruno Redondo
and Javier Fernandez
Published by DC Comics
“*WHUNNCH*”
(So satisfying.)
The cover of this month’s issue of the Justice League has a pretty sweet shot of Cosmic Perpetua, who then does not appear at all in the rest of the issue anywhere.
She’s here! But not here!
Well, oh well. Soon enough.
But just as an artistic impression, it’s a pretty good start regardless courtesy of cover artists Bruno Redondo, Jordi Tarragona and Tomeu Morey.
And then, the variant cover, by Arthur Adams and Tomeu Morey, consisting only of the giant simian mug of Gorilla Grodd, is so great you might just (might as well just) end up getting both editions.
And then look! Javier Fernandez is on board for another issue. That’s great news! Nice consistency, and a fresh look for a chapter or two at least, with a lot of Martian Manhunter. Good on ya, Javier.
And we start this month with a head fake.
As we know from last issue, Martian Manhunter is faced with the presence of his one-time jailor and tormentor Lionel Luthor – a presence, it turns out, that both is, and is not. Not to worry however, another DC and JL big baddie, the nefarious (and currently rather lunatic-looking) good Professor Ivo is ready to step in to make up for any slack as well as to carry on Dr. Luthor’s one-time groundbreaking work with hybrid martian-human DNA and biological warrior-weapon development.
You know, the attempt to recreate the once-glorious warrior race of dread Perpetua’s mad designs. The template beings through which the energies of the cosmos itself can be (and once were) wielded. An army of which beings, Ivo has been building which such reverence that he now considers the poor android Amazo, as nothing more than a disappointment.
Amazo may be amazing. But nothing is as perfect as the human/martian Apex Predator. Nothing is as perfect for war. Nothing is as perfect as an instrument of Her divine will.
But again, alas, there is nothing more of Perpetua’s presence in this issue. Instead it’s a trip to fabled Nil, land of the multiple-Monitors, now shattered and deserted except for a single figure, and now the reunion of two great Cosmic First-Being Siblings, and a stirring scene of the original DC Monitor’s pathos before the severity of the crisis before them now.
Call it the Passion of Monitor Prime. I have to say, with all the history wrapped up in DC with Monitors and Anti-Monitors and World Forgers, and all the worlds they have each shepherded through all the cycles of the Multiverse’s evolution, it is decidedly odd to have these two uber-beings brought down to conversational recruitment level with the League.
But hey, I assume at some point we’re all going to be wielding the cosmic-level energies that all Apex Predators, and Starman, (and even possibly a certain small maybe-child of hope, possibility, and human and martian descent) are capable of wielding – so we should all probably just go ahead and get used to the level-up.
But I agree with Mar-Novu. I want his Harbinger back.
Regardless of how it all hits you, there is a moment in the drama, a moment with Barry Allen, the Flash, and in that moment, Barry is faced with the all-too familiar taste of premonition, one wrapped this time in a memory, with all the echoes of past DC Crises ringing through him, from death to rebirth to infinity to his present moment.
And officially now, I think it’s safe to say, we are well-along in the story of DC’s latest multiversal-spanning Crisis.
Keep an eye out for red skies. And old friends.
For now, enjoy some good ass-kicking teamwork with J’onn J’onzz and Kendra Saunders who find themselves remarkable well-equipped to dispatch a veritable army of unripe martian/human apex hosts together. Ah, romance.
And then another reunion of old friends, one martian, one human, courtesy of one of the best things I’ve seen of the comics page in a while.
A Doom Drone-bot!
And life is a little better.
Have fun, enjoy, and let’s see what the boys have in store for us next month, as we move further into the mad designs of Lex Luthor’s Master Plan.
Next Issue: Let’s Be Monsters Together.
