There's the unexpected opening featuring the world of Kingdom Come, the wrap-up of Ice's crisis of confidence and the ever-more impressive Rocket Red. There's Max Lord manipulating the dimwit Magog, despite giving in to evil snickering. There's a smart scene between Batman and Power Girl hinting that they will eventually beat Lord's mental manipulation. And there's a bookend appearance by one of comics' truly unique teams.
Writer Judd Winick is maintaining the high standard of script that's helped this book become a twice-monthly treat. The storyline is moving forward at a satisfying pace, with the regular introduction of new pieces of information, and plenty of smart lines - my favourite this time concerning Batman's relationship to the criminals of Gotham.
Winick's artistic collaborators give the book a consistent look, without being boringly uniform (which isn't to say I'd not devour a guest shot from Chiang). This issue's team of penciller Joe Bennet and inkers Jack Jadson and Ruy Jose are adept at action but also excel with the talking heads, even making dialogue from the robotic Skeets interesting to follow.
Sixteen issues to go and despite my initial doubts that the JLI vs Max Lord could sustain a series, I can't see myself being bored any time soon. And I'd be seriously surprised were DC not prepared an ongoing JLI book even now. On this form, they deserve it.
I'm looking forward to reading these when they're collected. (Hopefully in just two volumes.)
ReplyDeleteIt was a series I decided against following because I couldn't be sure how many spin-offs it would try to get me to buy (thinking Booster and Power Girl, but it's impossible to tell how many more could have been in the pipeline).
I'm reading all three titles, Rob, and while they're all reflecting the Max Lord storyline at times (with JLI using it as the main focus), you can read any or all and still get a full story.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the Batman/Power Girl chat in JLI leads directly into a scene in this week's Power Girl, yet they're separate stories. It's smart, satisfying stuff.
That's good to hear. Too often it's not done that way.
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