Justice League Dark #3 Review

The Enchantress is angry.  Really angry.  Her dark touch is spreading all over the world.  Meanwhile, Madame Xanadu is trying to build her “team” to prevent a horrible future, but can any of these people actually stand each other?

Justice League Dark #3

John Constantine arrives to help Zatanna who seems to be locked in a catatonic state after defending herself from an attack by the Enchantress.  He wakes her up and helps restore her memories and is off again in a flash.  Shade the Changing Man goes to recruit Deadman, but only scares June Moone into nearly committing suicide.  After failing to recruit Boston Brand, Madame Xanadu tasks Shade with a new target – Mindwarp.  Shade’s not too excited to find a person who can’t fully control his own powers.  Meanwhile, June and Deadman are driving along a dark and winding road when they suddenly hit a pedestrian.  Unfortunately for them, that pedestrian is Enchantress and she’s hungry to gobble June up!

What I find most interesting about this book is how little the characters in the book like each other.  Madame Xanadu is plucking these characters out of a tarot deck with the thought that these specific people are the only ones who can keep the horrible future she’s predicting from happening.  It’s not someone like Superman or Batman looking at a table full of headshots and picking out heroes that would best serve on the Justice League.  This is an entirely different situation.  Yes, someone is pulling the strings to create a “team” of sorts, but she doesn’t necessarily what they think of each other.  She only cares about what they can do.  It immediately creates a dynamic and an attitude for the team that I both hope works out for the characters and hope plays out with a natural progression to pull the team together.  They might fight or dislike each other for a long time, but it could build a really nice story featuring each of these members realizing they need each other.

Of the New 52 books that I’ve sampled, I think Mikel Janin’s work on this book is one of my favorites.  Every panel seeps with effectiveness.  Enchantress is creepy and gross.  The subtle attraction between June Moone and Boston Brand is actually really sexy.  Each character is given little nuances in their expressions.  Every moment that June is having a total freak out is intense.  It’s really a gorgeous book to look at.  When I read it, I can see this playing out like a movie that’s in the vein of something like Blade Runner or Dark City.  The page in which June tosses herself off the building forcing Brand to possess her to have her land safely is nothing short of cinematic.  The art lingers on it for the perfect amount of time.  I can see it playing out to silence with the camera watching her fall in almost slow motion.  In a book with a lot of awesome visuals, that particular scene was breathtaking.

This is one of those books that will remain on the fringe but should really grab hold of a core of devoted fans.  I’m quickly finding out that I am definitely in that core group of fans.

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Tags: John Constantine Justice League Comics & Justice League Reviews Justice League Dark New DCU Peter Milligan Slider Zatanna