Comic Book Review: Justice League #31

Lex Luthor has decided he wants to join the Justice League. After Nightwing’s identity was exposed, it was fairly simple for Luthor to trace this back to Batman/Bruce Wayne in an attempt to blackmail his way onto the team. In an interesting twist, we get to see Bruce Wayne (and Alfred) in action as opposed to the Caped Crusader.

Elsewhere, we meet the new Power Ring, Jessica Cruz, who doesn’t adopt the identity willingly. Meanwhile, Captain Cold visits Lexcorp and in a startling twist, finds himself idolized by those that work there, due to his actions in defeating the Crime Syndicate. We also briefly check in with Shazam and Cyborg on the Watchtower and discover what became of Element Woman. And just as this series was used to relaunch The Metal Men, another classic concept is reintroduced here.

Doug Mahnke’s artwork looks fantastic and even though his work is usually pretty great, it actually shows signs of growth and evolution in this issue. It’s a little sleeker than normal, possibly due to the inks by Keith Champagne and Christian Alamy.

Lex Luthor is clearly up to something, but we aren’t privy to what. Could he really have turned over a new leaf? Doubtful, but this story seems to be long-term, so expect to see Luthor on the team for quite some time.

It’s an interesting twist to see Luthor and Captain Cold playing on the side of angels. It will be interesting once the team all comes together to see their interaction.

Overall, this was a quieter issue focused more on character development, but it nicely sets things up to come.