That darn Pandora and her trouble-making box are at it again, as this time, it’s Wonder Woman then Shazam that are possessed by its dark magic. When Shazam grips it, his suit turns black like Black Adam’s. Also in that split second, all magic everywhere is united and Deadman realizes that Madame Xanadu is still alive.
Elsewhere, Amanda Waller’s machinations continue to fall apart, after Argus’ destruction. Her Justice League, the Justice League of America, rebels, throwing in with Cyborg and the regular team.
The other heroes are at each other’s throats battling over Pandora’s box with only a couple of heroes able to fight its influence. Who winds up with it in the end? Guess we’ll find out in the next ‘Justice League’ which wraps up this crossover. (Although, DC’s advance solicitations spoiled the ending.)
This issue does its best with its massive cast of 20+ characters and brisk plot. This is a big popcorn flick of a super hero story and you kind of have to keep that in mind. With that, it’s commendable that Jeff Lemire gets to devote little nuggets of dialogue to a wide variety of characters.
The art, by Mikel Janin, is just gorgeous! Smooth and clean, the action flows dynamically. The panel shapes are interesting and help add to the energy of the battle sequences. If I must find fault (and I’m really scraping to do so) I suppose it could be too clean, with the faces looking a bit “same” from character to character. Every woman is beautiful, but indistinct. The men are lantern-jawed, but not much else. It’s really a stupid complaint, I just didn’t want to seem too gushy.
So this is a beautifully drawn, well paced action story. It’s not incredibly deep, but it doesn’t seem to be aspiring to that. It’s the big super hero event story of the summer and as such, it perfectly well lives up to that and delivers.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #23
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Mikel Janin
Cover by Doug Mahnke and Alex Sinclair
