Review – Justice League vol. 7: Darkseid War part 1 TP (DC Comics)

Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist(s): Kevin Maguire, Jerry Ordway, Phil Jimenez, Jim Lee, Jason Fabok, Scott Williams, Scott Kolins
Release Date: 9th March, 2016

The Justice League are once again under attack, and are about to undergo unparalleled changes. Of Amazonian blood, the daughter of Darkseid, Grail, has been cultivated into a weapon by another rogue Amazonian, and former assassin for Queen Hippolyta, Myrina Black. After searching for a being powerful enough to destroy her father, Grail sides with the Anti-Monitor and baits her father to face them. Alongside others who wish to see universal balance restored, The League must pick a side, as the battle between these two titans rages uncontrollably on the streets of Earth.

When telling a story of this magnitude, it’s important to bring in creators who can appropriately convey the sense of scale to readers, and DC have rolled out their big guns for this paradigm-shifting epic. Geoff John’s script crackles with energy throughout, shifting effortlessly from emotionally charged monologues, to bravado-filled exchanges, and even finding time to inject a little humour along the way. There is a lot of information to process, especially for new readers, and the story features a laundry list of characters, which might be overwhelming to some. However, Johns strikes just the right balance, providing background and motivation for the central players, whilst expertly exposing the legion layers of plot, in a masterfully efficient manner.

There are of course many artists contributing work to this volume, and there isn’t a weak link among them, but the main story work is done by Jason Fabok, whose stellar art is arguably the gold standard when it comes to defining DC’s house style, and there is perhaps no-one more suited to telling this type of story at this point in time. His precise, hyper-detailed figures lend exactly the right amount of God-like presence to the characters, especially those of Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, and a number of truly jaw-dropping double page spreads brings the scale of this universal-level battle into sharp focus. It’s not always about the grandiose panels and pages, though, thanks to Fabok’s gift for composition, and at times subtle storytelling. The experience is akin to reading two stories at once, with John’s script informing one element and Fabok’s art another. The magic is in how they dovetail together to accent story beats at just the right moment, or provide a tantalising visual or written hook.

Bringing a suitably vivid palette to complement the cinematic aesthetic is superstar colourist Brad Anderson, who is no stranger to a Justice League epic or two, and he brings his ‘A’ game to the table here. Characters and backgrounds have so many shades to them, with the effect that each one feels alive on the page, giving each and every panel a level of brilliance and depth to adequately match the epic scale.

The Justice League have rarely looked this good, and Geoff Johns has put together yet another awe-inspiring epic that will surely go down as one of the best. Volume seven contains many surprises and twists along the way, including a possible origin and identity of the Joker, and if that or the truly sensational art isn’t enough to persuade you to pick this up, nothing will.

Rating: 5/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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