Justice League Volume 8: The Darkseid War Part 2 (The New 52!) by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and Francis Manapul (graphic novel review).
We now arrive at ‘Justice League Volume 8: The Darkseid War Part 2 (The New 52!)’. Darkseid is dead, and the new order is establishing itself. Despite their godlike powers, the Justice League finds it insufficient when other villainous types arrive on par with them. They find they have to align themselves with the still-living members of Earth-3’s Crime Syndicate, including springing two of them from the deepest jail, which left me wondering how they were fed.
Certainly, Ultraman didn’t have kryptonite on his diet. The foes are many and varied, including those from Apokolips. The fact that no innocent bystanders on Earth escaped death is even more astounding. Different agendas emerge, leading to the formation and dissolution of alliances, and I find it surprising that there’s no scorecard to keep track. It’s refreshing to witness Big Barda in action, and I’m uncertain about the appropriate amount of information to share without giving away too much. I had to take a step back twice to understand what was going on in my mind, so don’t expect an easy read. At least the League recognizes that absolute power inevitably leads to absolute destruction.
As I mentioned in my previous review, ‘Justice League: The Darkseid War: The Power of the Gods’, you can fix the issues concurrently with the events here, but you don’t have to read them simultaneously.
If anything, with all the turmoil on Earth, you do have to wonder where the other superheroes and teams have gone, let alone the various villains. Even other team members. Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter have also gone missing.
As this looks like this was the end of the ‘Justic League’ title, its an unusual ending, and I probably did the right thing by reading all the other issues first. Although I haven’t yet completed my exploration of the characters, I understand why the story ended here.
GF Willmetts
October 2024
(pub: DC Comics, 2016. 200 page graphic novel softcover. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-4012-6539-7)
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