Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #6

JUSTICE LEAGUE #6
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Tom Napolitano
Edited by Andrew Marino, Rebecca Taylor, and Marie Javins
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: August 15, 2018

The Justice League begin their counterattack and the Legion of Doom continue to fight to ensure their new world order comes to pass as the opening arc begins to draw to a close.

The scope and range of the Justice League have continually expanded and now it’s grown to universal sized heights with issue 6. The Totality continues to spiral out of control with several battles and the fate of the universe at stake, Jimenez and Sanchez pull out all the stops as they display the continued race against time across all fronts. The Ultraviolet Lantern Corps make a planet-sized invasion with Sinestro at the helm on a splash page that details the size of this newly discovered Corps. Sanchez’s colors bathe space and Earth itself in illuminating violet that comes off as a poison slowly enveloping Earth with Jimenez elastic pencils giving the source of the Ultraviolet Lanterns it’s own mysterious look as violet colors erupt and flow from the planet.

Snyder continues his narration to either highlight characters or draw on the grand design of the story and it works well. There’s a lot of imagination and epicness to good and evil battling it out for the prize of all creation at the finish line and Snyder makes sure to give the opposing sides a tug and pull as they continually try their hardest to win it all. Jimenez packs so much detail into the pages here, from smaller panels showing a dastardly grinning Martian Manhunter to the cosmic staircase just outside Lex’s reach to the Totality. Snyder’s writing pairs with the art quite well, never overstaying his welcome and each part in the narration continues to unveil the unbridled imagination and anticipation that draws these characters towards it and the other forces at work. Lex continues to be a star player in this arc and Snyder handles the megalomaniac with care as his journey to winning and getting his way features a sub-atomic battle with Batman. The battle itself framing and panel work from Jimenez and with Sanchez’s colors capturing the lights and flair of these characters and their environments as it bounces around from panel to panel. Jimenez’s pencils remain top-notch as the highlight of the book is how he establishes the cast of characters page to page, dynamic moments like Batman punching Lex gets adequate space as the plot inches forward on the same page in smaller bits.

Elsewhere, the splintered League members are dealing with their own issues as Flash attempts to fight a Still-Force powered Grodd. Napolitano’s lettering comes up with different effects affecting characters like Flash, forcing him to talk slower than usual and Grodd’s more ferocious speech making short and sweet work of The Flash, for now. Snyder continues to make sure that while the main plot is moving forward, there are characters and plotlines moving in the background that are enticing enough with how they’re portrayed and what they mean for the future of Justice League. Snyder gives us just enough of what’s to come with a page or two dedicated to characters that will rise to the occasion in upcoming issues, Cheetah and Black Manta are the members of the Legion of Doom that hasn’t gotten their due just yet but Snyder sets them up for exciting developments. Jimenez really gets to break loose with the designs, locations, and characters. Martian Manhunter gets up close and personal with Superman and the attention to detail with Manhunter as he burrows into Superman carries over into the following pages as disconnected parts of the story come together and threads begin to become connected.

Justice League as a title under Snyder has been all about going big or going home for the opening arc and under Snyder’s pen he’s giving the characters new toys to play with and the journey to understanding them is apart of the story and it comes into focus here as the League begins to understand what exactly they’re dealing with. The League is in uncharted waters and Snyder is throwing them with only themselves to blame for one reason or another. Building on their emotions, character events, and the new threats and powers that pertain to each of them on a specific level all come into play as a plan is set into motion to win the day again. Part of the charm of this Justice League run is the imagination and ability to throw these decades-old characters into new territory from what we’ve seen before while strengthing what we know and love about the characters. The ending pages brings it all together as Jimenez focuses on the spotlight characters of the arc together for a moment of unity that parallels the faults that they all share and what will propel them boldly into the future. Sanchez’s colors are on full display at every turn with every character and section belonging to them being as vibrant or as darkly colored as need be. It’s a gorgeous book to read with the entire spectrum of colors being used on every page.

Justice League remains at the top of the heap of DC books you need to read with every new issue because Snyder and the Art Team are crafting a title for the ages with an attitude of taking old characters and throwing them into new and unexplored depths with some grand cosmic ramifications in the process. That’s life for you.

Justice League: 8.5/10 

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