A review by jordannedunn
Justice League: The Darkseid War (DC Essential Edition) by Geoff Johns

3.0

The Not-Really-About-Darkseid War

I received a copy of this book from DC Comics via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This review contains spoilers.

As a new comic book reader, I hear a lot about DC’s various ‘crises’ and their world-altering (and most definitely not publication driven) effects on the wider DC universe. As a very process-driven person, this all seemed messy to me, so I appreciated that the beginning of this book directly addressed the in-universe effects of significant comic book events, even if it did so by being one?

Honestly, not a great deal stuck with me after this book. It was my first interaction with Shazam, Mr Miracle and Barda and I absolutely fell in love with them and intend to read more. There were aspects I simply did not understand, like the Crime Syndicate, but I assume that’s because I have never read them – either way, Owlman & Power Ring are dumb names in any universe. I also appreciated Wonder Woman & Scott’s narrative.

Whilst I understand that the length of the book meant there had to be a lot of moving parts, it all felt a bit forced together in the end and didn’t fall as naturally as I’d like.

Spoiler

The ending with the Frees was mean and I’m pleased it’s been ret-conned and Jessica very much felt like she was only included to be a sacrificial lamb and her whole arc felt a little … surplus?

The Gods arc was holistically interesting but while some made perfect, almost poetic, sense, others didn’t and there was little to no explanation, and then it was gone.



I don’t feel this is a great jumping on point for the JLA ...

To see my full review visit my blog, Bloodthirsty Little Beasts.