Review: Justice League Odyssey Vol. 4- Last Stand

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is wonderfully exciting and fun. The characters are great and their personal stories add a lot to the book. The conclusion is well-written and brings things to a satisfactory end. The artwork looks good and suits the series.

Cons: Some of the subplots feel slightly rushed.

Overall: The final entry in this series delivers on all of the potential built up over the last three volumes. It has fun action, entertaining characters, attractive visuals, and a narrative that remains exciting all the way through. The book’s conclusion also gives a solid sendoff to both the volume and the series. Readers who have enjoyed this series thus far should keep reading here and readers interested in this series in general should consider reading previous volumes so they can read this one.

Story

Justice League Odyssey Vol. 4: Last Stand, by Dan Abnett, is a thrilling and satisfyingly conclusion to the Justice League Odyssey series. This volume lives up to expectations by delivering a storyline that is every bit as fun and exciting as the ones that came before it. This is further enhanced by a great cast of characters and the simple fact that the narrative gets even more tense as the series reaches its end. The volume then closes with a finale that suits the series and even builds some excitement for future storylines. Overall, this is an enjoyable end to a series that has been enjoyable from the start.

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Last Stand mostly continues with the awesome parade of action and excitement that made the previous three volumes so enjoyable. The volume opens with Darkseid’s forces launching a small assault on the heroes’ base. This reaches its climax as Azrael, in a great series of quick and unexpected twists, nearly kills Epoch before being killed by Blackfire. Then, Darkseid launches a full-scale assault, putting him in direct conflict with the heroes and the Eskaton. This is exciting already but becomes even more exciting as Jessica Cruz travels back in time and is then joined, in the present, by uncorrupted versions of her companions. The result is a book filled with action and further enhanced by the crazy twists that take place in between these bouts of action.

Also like its predecessors, Last Stand centers around a great cast of characters. Jessica Cruz still shines as the book’s lead, utilizing her compassion and ingenuity to ultimately prevent the destruction of the Multiverse. Meanwhile, Cyborg has a great redemption arc, Gamma Knife makes a meaningful sacrifice, and even the technician stands out. All in all, the characters here simply help make everything else more enjoyable.

Finally, Last Stand is successful in bringing the series to a satisfactory conclusion. In the end, the heroes are able to defeat Darkseid in an awesome last stand. However, there are still plot threads open for exploration in future comics. This closes the volume well while building potential for other books.

The only downside is that some of the comic’s subplots feel slightly rushed when it comes to the series finale. Gamma Knife’s sacrifice made for a great moment yet was only briefly acknowledged by the rest of the heroes. Meanwhile, the deaths of alternate Jessica Cruz and alternate Cyborg are brushed past equally quickly. These aren’t major problems but make me wish that this series had one more chapter to better wrap things up. 

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Art

The artwork in Last Stand looks good and suits the series. Will Conrad gets the volume going with a wonderfully creative chapter. This chapter looks nice and does a particularly good job in depicting Epoch’s lab. Then, Cliff Richards takes over and produces equally impressive work for the rest of the collection. These chapters are bold and do an effective job in producing epic battle scenes, which is important given the number of epic battles within this book. In addition, throughout the book, Rain Beredo’s colors add to the creativity by giving the volume a unique and otherworldly coloring. All in all, the visuals here are positive and add to the reading experience.

Continuity

Justice League Odyssey Vol. 4: Last Stand continues the story from Justice League Odyssey Vol. 3: The Final Frontier (Review).

The Justice League Odyssey series ends with this volume and, as of now, does not continue in another other comic. However, a few of the narratives from this comic continue in other books. Darkside’s story continues in the Infinite Frontier event. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Starfire’s storyline continues in the Teen Titans Academy series, starting with Teen Titans Academy Vol. 1: X Marks His Spot.

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 map of the Multiverse, seen in this book, is originally from Multiversity.