Comic Book Review: Justice League #40

Book Information
Written by James Robinson

Art by Mark Bagely & Rob Hunter

Plot

Dr. Light, Vixen, Gypsy and Zatanna face their past which comes to them as risen Black Lanterns.  With hope down and the Black Lanterns taking them on at full force, The four women must now find their strength within themselves to counter the attack before they fall at the zombies hands.  But how can they defeat those who are already dead?

My Thoughts
James Robinson throws me for a loop all the time.  I cannot for the life of me keep up with him.  50% of the time he writes awfully planed stories, and the other 50% is top quality writing.  There is no real set pattern with Robinson; he’s up and down with me all the time and I find myself unsure how to rate him in my mind.  This recent issue of Justice League was a vast improvement from last few months.  It’s not perfect, however, but is still very entertainment and enjoyable to read.

The emotional strain on the Dr. Light, Vixen, Gypsy and Zatanna is very interesting.  Granted, it took the Black Lantern threatening each of them with something very personal, but this trend is beginning to show up a lot in the Blackest Night tie-ins.  The heroes are starting to become a little fed up with all of the emotional attacks and are firing back with a vengeance.  In the case of Dr. Light, the Black Lantern Dr. Light threatens her children, in which case she severs the connection the black ring had with a burst of white light, defeating the risen Lantern.  The Black Lanterns seem to be able to handle a few emotions coming from one person, but when a full array of emotions are coming from one person, the Black Lanterns are easily defeated.  The ending of Blackest Night might not come down to combining the different lights in the emotional spectrum; rather harnessing the power of the emotional spectrum into a single force that Nekron won’t be able to counter.

Mark Bagely is really growing on me as of late.  When I first started seeing his artwork, I wasn’t sure what to think.  But now that he’s consistently doing more stuff in comics, I’m becoming a real fan of his style.  The fight scenes between each of the Black Lanterns were amazingly detailed and full of color.  Dr. Light’s powerfully destructive white light beam was almost blinding it was so real.  I’m not too familiar to with Rob Turner’s art work but he seems to compliment Bagely very well.  At times the panels seem cluttered with chaos, but it serves this issue and its purpose quite well.

I am worried about Robinson completely wiping out the league and starting fresh with a whole new cast.  Vixen has been one of my favorite league members and to not have her on the team is a huge disappointment for me.  However, it looks like the new line-up will be starting next month, but I don’t feel the transition into the new league will be smooth enough to work.  I can only keep my fingers crossed.

Overall
A very enjoyable installment of the Justice League title.  I worry about the coming issues seeing as how Robinson is not consistent enough for me to trust him to always deliver, but I will still anxiously await the formation of the new League.

Rating:  8.5 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming January 27th, 2010

Be here for the start of a new Justice League era! The JLA have been getting a pounding in the last couple of months, but NO MORE! The team regroups with a new roster that will transcend time and space! Make way for the World's Greatest Heroes – Batman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Green Arrow, Donna Troy, the Guardian, Cyborg, Mon-El, Starfire, Dr. Light and, yes, Congorilla! 

This issue features two covers by Mark Bagley which are separately orderable. Cover a features Green Lantern and Green Arrow; Cover B features Batman and Mon-El. The cover images will be revealed online before the issue's Final Order Cutoff date.