Review: Justice League Vol. 4- Endless

Quick Summary

Pros: The opening story is interesting and has plenty of suspense. There are some great moments of decompression here.

Cons: Most of the interesting storylines end with a poor conclusion. The rest of the storylines never manage to rise above an average level of quality. The artwork is lackluster overall and brings down the volume’s quality even further.

Overall: This is another poor entry in the Justice League series. Within this book, there are multiple stories that come close to being worthwhile, yet most just end up being average. This comes from a few separate problems, ranging from uninspired conclusions to generic storylines. In addition, poor artwork makes the reading experience even worse. This might be a volume for those looking for low-key Justice League stories but is generally not worth picking up.

Story

Thus far, the majority of the Justice League series has failed to rise above a disappointingly lackluster level of quality. Unfortunately, Justice League Vol. 4: Endless is not the volume to change this trend. It tells multiple stories that start with a solid level of potential, yet each end with a conclusion that mars the work as a whole. It also tells a few stories that provide entertaining levels of decompression, yet are still only average in terms of quality. All of this makes for another disappointing Justice League volume overall.

(spoilers start here)

Endless, like Timeless (Review) before it, opens with a story about time travel and the implications it can have on the present. For the most part, this story is entertaining; it easily grabs interest and has a plotline that is filled with suspense. However, like Timeless (Review), many story elements are left completely unexplained and the conclusion ends up coming out of nowhere. These flaws turn an otherwise solid story into a mediocre one.

This opening story is followed by multiple individualized chapters focusing more on characters and decompression than on epic adventures of galactic importance. While none of these chapters are remarkable or incredibly unique, the change in pace is enjoyable. It is nice to see the members of the League acting as regular people and showing the friendships that have formed. Watching Jessica Cruz find her place on the team is particularly satisfying and fits in well with the overall narrative.

However, having multiple chapters of decompression all at once feels a bit out of place here, especially since the previous volume ended on a rather significant cliffhanger. It pushes off the “great darkness” storyline with little explanation and only addresses this problem at the very end of the book. This fault won’t really affect new readers but might be annoying for those who have been reading since the series’ beginning.

In addition, the final chapter of the volume is particularly disappointing. Though it does finally begin to address the complex narrative this series has been working toward, it fails to tell an interesting story outside of this. The main villain, appearing here, is presented as a major threat, yet is defeated with little trouble at all. It is another instance of the Justice League series building up stories with a solid level of potential and then completely falling apart when it comes to the conclusion.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Like the story, the artwork throughout most of Endless tends to range from lackluster to simply average. The vast majority of the volume features artwork that presents contorted facial expressions and unusual levels of emotion. It also doesn’t help that the volume features a number of different artists with little visual consistency, making each chapter feel disconnected from the rest.

The volume’s only saving grace is two chapters drawn by Bryan Hitch. These chapters are the highlight of the collection and do a great job in matching the art style with the story’s mood. In addition, these chapters are also wonderfully detailed and well structured. Though they do not make up for the rest of the book, they at least give readers something nice to start out with.

Continuity

Justice League Vol. 4: Endless continues the story from Justice League Vol. 3: Timeless (Review).

The story here continues in Justice League Vol. 5: Legacy.

This volume also references stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below.

• Simon Baz brings up the “contagion incident” which occurred during Trinity Vol. 2: Dead Space.
• Mera mentions the “Crown of Thorns” and Aquaman’s recent troubles. This is explained by the events of Aquaman Vol. 3: Crown of Atlantis.
• Molly brings up a few universe changing events:
  • The “Crisis” happened in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
  • “Flashpoint” happened in Flashpoint (Review).