Let’s start this off right: in my opinion, Justice League Dark is – right alongside I, Vampire – one of the most consistently beautiful books at DC. To my memory, neither series has had a lapse in artist and yet has remained pristine issue after issue. Mikel Janin delivers yet again in JLD #11, perhaps even topping himself with stunning layouts and pristine lines that formulate one of the trippiest – yet cleanest – looking issues yet. There is seriously so much detail packed into his characters that it’s astonishing to see this book arrive on time month in and month out. The editorial team at DC should take a bow for assigning Janin to this book, and issue #11 is precisely the reason.
Writer Jeff Lemire is certainly no slouch either, constructing what structurally amounts to “that issue where the good guys and the bad guys fight each other,” but is able to give it significant weight by keeping everything character centric. Only Black Orchid really gets the shaft here while Lemire carefully balances the rest of the team and their ulterior motives (in particular Constantine) for joining up with this squad in the first place. The only place the book trips up a bit is in the building Madam Xanadu plot thread, which forces Lemire to cut away from the action and create a new mystery that is left hanging for a future installment. In the end though, this issue leaves the reader with plenty of other things to ponder – namely just what kind of mess the JLD just got themselves into, and what the betrayal of one of their own means for their future.
Justice League Dark is the full-out exploration of the DCU’s magical side that I hoped it would be when it was announced, and I couldn’t be happier. All it needs now is some Ragman action.
Source : feeds.ign.com
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