Justice League #22 Review

by Hussein Wasiti on April 17, 2019

Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Francis Manapul
Lettering by Tom Napolitano
 
At this point in the series, I'm not sure what I feel about these Legion of Doom interludes. They rarely show up at a natural point in the series, and to me they seem born out of the biweekly schedule rather than out of any natural desire for these stories to happen in the first place. Sure, they tell pretty pivotal tales like today's issue did, but I can't help but wonder if they can be folded into the main narrative in a more organic way.
 
This issue in particular was pretty great. James Tynion IV is handling script duties and he's slowly been impressing me with his more cosmic storytelling. I like his dialogue and his pacing, though he tends to rely on double page spreads far too often for my liking. This is a pretty essential DCU story much like January's Annual issue, so this shouldn't be missed.
 
Francis Manapul returns to the title for this issue and his work here is glorious. As Tynion does well with the cosmic stuff, as does Manapul. His colouring in particular contributes greatly to the sense of scope and imagination that I personally like about cosmic comics. This issue is very figure heavy; there are minimal backgrounds to be seen here and it goes along well with the wide scope of space. Since this issue takes place before much of the continuity that we've ever seen, this feels appropriate. Whenever Manapul has a new comic out, I can safely say that it's always the most unique-looking book on the stands, easily.
 
Another Legion of Doom issue interrupts the story at hand, but it's hard to be mad. This issue was pretty enjoyable and is essential reading if you want to understand the story behind Perpetua and the Source Wall. This issue was lucky enough to be drawn by Francis Manapul, so it's one of the more gorgeous releases of the week.
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside