Review: Justice League Vol. 6- Injustice League

Quick Summary

Pros: The new storyline is compelling from start to finish. Both Lex Luthor and Jessica Cruz’s stories are interesting and unique. Small character moments provide humanity and humor to the series as a whole.

Cons: Nothing significant.

Overall: Both story and artwork are on point in one of the best volumes of this Justice League series. Here, readers are treated with two separate storylines, both featuring plenty of thrilling battles and well executed suspense. Within these storylines, readers also get to see a unique evolution of Lex Luthor as a character and the debut of newcomer Jessica Cruz. Anyone looking for a good Justice League story can find it right here.

Story

In the aftermath of one of the best New 52 Justice League stories, writer Geoff Johns is tasked with keeping the level of excitement at its currently high state. Justice League Vol. 6: Injustice League proves he is more than capable of doing just that. This volume is bold and full of heroic battles, while also being character driven and heartwarming, even finding moments for comedy here and there. It isn’t all just flash and showmanship either, as the actual storyline involves a unique take on an old character and the ramifications of this character’s choices. This makes for an interesting storyline and a solid Justice League showcase. Thus far, the Justice League series has ranged from slightly above average to downright bad, but this volume continues the upward trending quality by introducing one of the series’ best storylines in a long time.

(spoilers start here)

The first half of this collection focuses on Lex Luthor’s redemption as a villain and his slow transition into his current role as a hero. This entire arc ends up being one of the most well done villain redemptions in recent memory. Lex has never been an evil to the core bad guy; in his heart of hearts he has always had the greater good in mind. His attacks on Superman and grabs for power are all justified by his belief that they will help humanity in the long run. With Forever Evil (Review) showing him the value in having a Justice League, he seems to realize the error of his ways and corrects this by becoming a real hero. It is a role reversal that is both true to the original character and uniquely different at the same time, a surprisingly satisfying combination.

Alongside all of this is the reintroduction of the Doom Patrol and debut of newcomer Jessica Cruz. The Doom Patrol’s presence is good, as seeing these characters again is always fun, but Jessica really steals the show. Already beset with numerous phobias, Jessica is further cursed when Power Ring’s malevolent ring bonds with her body. However, her story is not one of overwhelming fear but is one of conquering it. She is actually able to control the evil ring by overcoming her own fears, turning from potential villain to downright hero. It is a wholesome and uplifting story that I am excited to see continue as the series progresses.

The second half of the collection sees the accidental release of a virus from LexCorp labs. This virus spreads like wildfire, instantly taking down the majority of the Justice League and killing numerous civilians. What makes this story interesting is that, for most of the arc, the threat is not a physical villain but an undefeatable presence. This makes the stakes feel higher and the odds feel worse, thus giving the League one of their most intimidating opponents as of yet. The effects of the virus are also interesting to watch as it bestows superpowers on those who don’t have them, which is particularly noteworthy in Batman’s case. All in all, it is a great storyline that manages to maintain excitement and tension from beginning to end.

Interspersed throughout the collection are brief moments between characters that help make them feel like friends for the first time in this series. Cyborg and Shazam develop a quick, and often humerous, friendship; Bruce Wayne is able to upstage Lex Luthor in being a pompous businessman; Superman makes fun of Batman for putting “bat” in front of everything; Captain Cold has an adorable crush on Wonder Woman; and Green Lantern makes fun of Batman within seconds of his arrival. Small moments like these add an endearing quality to the team’s dynamic and make the entire collection more fun to read.

The collection is also peppered with teases for future storylines, something Johns is somewhat infamous for. The arrival of the Anti-Monitor, Jessica Cruz’s future with the team, Captain Cold’s involvement with Lex Luthor, and Green Lantern’s return are all teased here. The combined result of this kept me excited throughout my reading and left me ready to read the next volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The majority of the book’s first half features pencils by Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke. On their own, both of these artists do fantastic work, and together things are no different. My only complaint overall is that there are occasional moments where characters’ faces seem off, but this is not something that sticks out at all. For the most part, this portion of the collection looks great and very few will be disappointed with the outcome.

However, in the book’s second half, things get even better as Jason Fabok takes over on pencils and inks. Fabok’s work is beautiful through and through and makes every one of his pages look amazing. In particular, I really enjoyed his Wonder Woman redesign, which manages to bring in elements from the recent movie while still staying true to her modern look. The second half of this book is some of the best work that has been done on this series so far and will leave readers even more excited to see Fabok’s work on the next volume.

Continuity

Justice League Vol. 6: Injustice League flows directly out of the events of Forever Evil (Review). To an extent, the collection also continues the story from Justice League Vol. 5: Forever Heroes (Review); however Forever Evil (Review) is far more important.

The story here continues in Justice League Vol. 7: Darkseid War Part 1 (Review).

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

• A number of references are made to Forever Evil (Review), enough that understanding what happened in Forever Evil (Review) is almost necessary to reading this volume.
• Metallo’s origin and relationship with Lex Luthor is mentioned. This can be found in Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel.
• Shazam’s origin can be found in Shazam! (Review).
• The Flash’s statement that he has learned “all will be well” from dealing with power rings is a small reference to his time as a Blue Lantern in Blackest Night.