Review: Justice League Odyssey Vol. 2- Death of the Dark

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s first few chapters are a highly entertaining display of action. The next few chapters are compelling and incredibly tense. The book’s finale is great and builds even more excitement for the next volume. The artwork is mostly positive.

Cons: There are few small places where the visuals aren’t great.

Overall: This is a compelling volume on its own and an amazing way to continue this series. This volume launches straight into the action with a simply addictive narrative. It pulls readers in with some fun action and then keeps them intrigued as the stakes get higher and higher. All of this is then backed up by mostly positive visuals and a conclusion that leaves the reader wanting more. Readers who enjoyed the first volume or who simply enjoy cosmic comics should absolutely read this volume.

Story

Justice League Odyssey Vol. 2: Death of the Dark, by Dan Abnett, is a fantastic comic that elevates the series to a whole new level. The volume takes the reader through a carefully crafted narrative that starts with some fun action before evolving into pure suspense. It makes for a reading experience that you simply don’t want to put down, as you constantly want to discover what happens next. This continues through to the book’s conclusion, which made me want to read the next book even more. All in all, the entire read is awesome and is a great continuation of the series.

(spoilers start here)

Death of the Dark opens with some blistering action. The heroes contend with the citizens of the Ghost Sector while Darkseid is nearly killed by an ancient evil. Then, a massive battle erupts and is only stopped when Azrael manifests a new mind-control power. All of this makes the comic’s opening chapters a wild and highly enjoyable ride.

From here, the comic continues to deal out some action but achieves further success when it comes to suspense. The heroes and Darkseid form a fragile alliance, one where it seems like both sides plan to turn on the other as soon as their plan comes to fruition. Adding to this suspense is the unnerving feeling that Starfire, Cyborg, and Azrael are being subtly manipulated by Darkseid. Abnett’s writing handles this sense of unease incredibly well and makes the read even better.

Finally, Death of the Dark‘s conclusion sees the release of this tension. In the final two chapters, Darkseid reveals that everything has gone according to his plan and, with a few actions, he fully binds Starfire, Cyborg, and Azrael to his will. In doing this, he regains his full power, raises a massive army, and seemingly defeats Jessica Cruz. This finale is incredibly shocking and left me dying to find out what is going to happen next.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The vast majority of the artwork in Death of the Dark looks nice and suits the series. Both Will Conrad and Daniel Sampere put forth some great work, which is enhanced by colors from Ivan Plascencia. Their realistic approach to this volume’s visuals gives the events a sense of gravity and substance that makes the action feel more palpable. This really suits the space odyssey story being told here. Plus, the pages are all laid out well, in a way that also makes the action more interesting. A few problems are introduced through a dramatic shift in art style between the first chapter and the rest of the book, which feels pretty jarring, and in the coloring of the chapters not done by Ivan Plascencia, which do not look as good as the other chapters in this book. Overall though, the artwork here is solid and makes for an enjoyable reading experience.

Continuity

Justice League Odyssey Vol. 2: Death of the Dark continues the story from Justice League Odyssey Vol. 1: The Ghost Sector (Review).

The story here continues in Justice League Odyssey Vol. 3: The Final Frontier (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The entire volume makes several references to a break in the Source Wall and to the release of planets from Colu. The Source Wall was broken in Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order) and the planets were released in Justice League: No Justice (Review) (Reading Order).
• Several references are also made to Darkseid being reduced to the age of an infant. This happened in Justice League: Darkseid War (Review) (Reading Order).
• The Source Wall fully shattered in Justice League Annual #1, collected in Justice League Vol. 3: Hawkworld (Review).
• The comments about Lex Luthor’s (Reading Order) deal refer to the Year of the Villain (Review) event.