Writer: James Robinson
Penciller: Pow Rodrix, & Robson Rocha
Inker: Christian Alamy, John Dell, Julio Ferreira, Sandra Hope, Keith Champagne, Rodney Ramos, Don Ho, Tom Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs
Colorist: Rod Reis
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Art: Mark Bagley
My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the greatest show on Earth! On our left we have writer James Robinson! And to the right, Mr. Pow Rodrix with the aid of Robson Rocha on penciling duties! And taking the center ring…a hell of a lot of inkers!
Can we say “Holy ink-a-mania Batman?” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a regularly scheduled monthly comic book that has no major ties to a big event manifest just under ten inkers! It’s not that big of a deal, really. Ink artists typically stay so consistent with one another that it’s hard to tell the difference from one style to the next, but it does make me raise an eyebrow. Why was this many inkers needed in the first place?
Ok, with this very minor detail aside, overall JLA # 49 is a lot of fun. The Dark Things event which brought together both of the Justice Teams in fighting Earth’s oldest Green Lantern was quite disappointing and way over dramatized. So it’s nice to see Robinson take a moment to break away from the chaos and focus in on a smaller, yet very intense, side story starring Donna Troy and Jade.
Donna has always felt a little too dry of a character to me and has always had trouble “fitting in” within the DCU. Apart from the fact that she has no vigilante alias, her personality has always been very fleeting and flat; finally, Robinson was able to give Donna that extra umpf in how she dealt with her past horror involving the Boogeyman. This was the ultimate “breaking out” issue for Donna as she shows her enemy just what type of Amazonian blood and heritage she comes from. (Plus, it was really awesome to have Donna swear!)
The art is pleasantly consistent with Rodrix (POW!) getting some assistance from Rocha. I do miss getting my monthly diet of Bagley’s art, but Rodrix is a nice replacement. The Boogeyman, while I’m not very familiar with his character, looked as creepy as I’ve ever seen him, and the Teen Titans going after Donna looked just as terrifying.
I do wonder how many times the JLA is going to be visited by other superhero teams. This title has seen more crossovers than I’ve seen my white trash neighbors get into intense arguments for never listening to one another. (“you never listen me!!!”) This comic was, in and of itself fun to read, but I want to see this title move past bringing in another team of heroes to make a story work.
My Majestically Climactic Conclusion
While the issue is fun, it’s far from outstanding. I like how Robinson sets up Donna Troy as a much stronger and more Wonder Woman-like female whose confidence and strength grows further than ever I’ve ever seen it. Make way world, Donna’s come at ya!
Rating: 8 out of 8 stars
Writing: 8
Art: 8
Themes: 8
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