Justice League Dark #22 Review

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #22

by Jeff Lemire and Mikel Janin

I love Zatanna's reasoning for teaming up with Wonder Woman. "I've learned that it's best to do the opposite of what John Constantine says."

Jeff Lemire does a good job taking over the event from Geoff Johns. It doesn't feel like Johns left, and at the same time, he has a much stronger grasp on his characters. Best of all, it's not completely hero vs hero, but more along the lines of a moral debate. Sparks fly, people get punched, and we even get to see more of the Question! The Phantom Stranger enters the fray, and the Justice League Dark even gets a legit reason to enter the fight. I had a couple of minor gripes with the issue (one of which was a bit too large to ignore). The biggest one was that they a few characters' actions were very questionable. I was also really annoyed at how they left the entire Shazam/Constantine hanging unnaturally. I know it's supposed to lead in to the Constantine Trinity War tie-in, but it just bugged me personally.

Mikel Janin has the cleanest and most consistent art style out of the 3 artists working on the event. It's looks very crisp and energetic, and captures a lot of the scenes incredibly well. However, sometimes his work feels a bit stiff, and there was a really awkward panel that made it look like Batman broke his ankle, and Steve Trevor was about to run into Green Arrow, among other really strange poses.

Justice League Dark #22 just continues the epicness of Trinity War. This is how a hero-vs-hero themed  event should be. Suck it, AVX. I'm satisfied with not all of the story is spent making characters  punch each other, and there are some legitimate surprises.

STORY: 4/5

+ The best character work of the event so far, which is saying something

+ Really surprising

+ The Question!

+ The JLD enter the fray, and surprisingly, don't feel forced 

- Some annoying loose ends 

- Questionable (no pun intended) motivations

ART: 4/5

+ Clean and crisp

+ Energetic

- An really weird looking panel

- Sometimes looks lifeless

VERDICT: 4/5