Comic Book Review: ‘Justice League’ #12

This is the issue that made news last week when it was announced the Superman and Wonder Woman were to become a couple in the New 52 Universe. So does it deliver a good story? Or is DC hoping it sells based on that hype alone? Let’s find out!

In the closing pages of ‘Justice League’ #11, the League had tracked Graves to his source of power, a hidden space in Mount Sumeru in the Valley of Souls. Inside the dave, the heroes are faced with the spirits of the dead. Batman, Superman, and Aquaman all face their parents. Wonder Woman… sees Steve Trevor!

Graves reveals his plan to make the Justice League feel loss. Each member had experienced the loss of loved ones but, since Wonder Woman hadn’t, Graves took it upon himself to make sure that she would see the one man she loved in the cave.

And here come the SPOILERS…

Graves plot comes to a screeching halt just after his big villain speech when Steve shows up. He’s alive! It seems that the spirits of the Leagues’ dead families were really evil spirits called Pretas that feed off of the living. Graves was so set on getting his family back that he was willing to let these creatures pretend to be them, even if he knew that it wasn’t really them. With his secret revealed, Graves’ plans come crashing down around him and the League heads home.

In the aftermath of Graves’ attacks, the League spend the rest of the issue dealing with the implications of what Graves has brought to light. He did manage to get the League to battle each other in the middle of a crowded city. Due to their alleged negligence, the League did fail to save Graves’ family. With all of these dark issue pressing down, the cohesive nature that this new team has built up begins to crumble. I won’t spoil any more about this thread but at least one of the members leaves before the issue is over.

Then we get to the big “reveal”. Superman and Wonder Woman are discussing how alone they feel in a world where they must stay apart from the people they love to try and protect them. In that loneliness, they find a common ground and… smooch!

‘Justice League’ writer Geoff Johns has said that this kiss is the beginning of a new relationship and not a one-off event. The only problem with it is that it wasn’t a real surprise.

DC is getting terrible at keeping secrets. Some of these moments, if kept under wraps, would’ve proven truly shocking and had some major story power behind them. But first we got the cover showing Superman and Wonder Woman kissing so the inside kiss wasn’t a shocker. Then when DC announced the new JLA lineup a few days ago, we knew Steve Trevor wasn’t really dead. And on top of all of that, they dropped the ball and have already shown the new face of the Joker from the upcoming ‘Batman’ #13. There is only one issue this week that managed to keep a pretty huge reveal secret and, even then, it gave us a pretty major hint on the cover.

In the end, it’s a decent close to the ‘Villain’s Journey’ story arc with an okay reveal at the end. Now I can start getting excited for issue #0 in two weeks when Geoff Johns and Gary Frank give us the sure to be epic finale to the Shazam! backup story that was left out of this issue and the reveal of the New 52 Captain Marv… I mean Shazam. It is going to so rock!

Final Score: