Originally published on Patreon
The Dark Crisis: World Without The Justice League books have been a bit of a mixed bag so far, with it usually ending up with one of the stories being a lot more entertaining than the other, and the book feeling a but skewed in quality. This latest issue, however, might be the best yet, as not only are both of the stories really good, but they're easily the best in the series yet.
The Wonder Woman story takes us to a world of peace, where the Amazons are living happily together with all three groups on their new island, Etta Candy has just been sworn in as president, again, and everything is good. however, there's something dark being hidden on Theyscira by Hippolyta; something that threatens this perfect world.
I really like how this story does a bit of a bait and switch with us. It makes the reader think that this is the world of Diana's dreams, that she wants nothing more than to see her friend doing well, to have all of her sisters together, to have peace; but that's not really what's in her heart. Diana thinks that she wants that wonderful life, but part of her loves the strife, the conflict, of being an outsider in man's world, and her bubble universe not only reflects that, but makes her confront that idea.
The Martian Manhunter story is tonally very different, and you can tell as soon as you look at it. A black and white story where the only colours are flashes of red, it instantly looks like a gritty crime Noir type tale. And at first when you see J'onn and the cops investigating a brutal murder from above you don't think anything it amiss, until you see their faces.
It turns out that weird Cthulhu looking face we saw for a brief moment in issue four of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths was J'onn. This story is set on an Earth centuries in the future, where humanity has long since spliced animal DNA into their own, as well as having developed some psychic powers. So of course, J'onn has changed himself to match, and has a big squid face.
We get to watch as J'onn, who's openly the Martian Manhunter living as a cop, investigates a brutal murder with a cryptic message, getting to see how peaceful this world is, getting to meet his new family. The ending of the story is honestly, kind of amazing, and makes me think that he's not going to do well when the League gets broken out of these worlds.
The artwork on both of these stories are great, but the Martian Manhunter one absolutely stands out as the best thanks to its distinct look and style.
I'm glad that J'onn got to be one of the best stories in this series, as he's a character that often doesn't get given much of a chance to shine when he's on his own, being overlooked for his own series, and relegated to back-up features if he ever does get a solo title. Hopefully, we might get more stuff like this with him in the future.
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