Review: Justice League- No Justice

Quick Summary

Pros: The beginning is exciting and fun. The book’s unique story allows for a number of cool moments. The conclusion gives a great setup for future storylines. The opening chapters look gorgeous and perfectly match the cosmic adventure being told.

Cons: The middle portions of the book are uninteresting in many places. The book’s villains fail to live up to their potential.

Overall: This is an event that is a bit lackluster all on its own but works well as a point of transition for the Justice League. It features a solid beginning, some beautiful artwork, and a conclusion that works out well. However, the storytelling isn’t that interesting in a number of moments. Those looking for a cosmic odyssey that stands well on its own may leave this volume disappointed but those looking for a book to build excitement for the future of the DC universe will likely enjoy this volume.

Story

Justice League: No Justice performs well as a transition into a new era for DC Comics but is only moderately entertaining when it comes to storytelling. The book has a strong beginning and quickly establishes situations that provide a number of exciting or comedic moments. The book also has a strong ending that does a great job in setting up future storylines in the DC Universe. However, between these moments, the story is pretty lackluster and fails to significantly grab one’s attention. Overall, No Justice works well for those who recognize that it is a prelude to the future, rather than an incredibly satisfying story all on its own.

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No Justice starts out strong by gathering together some of the most interesting heroes and villains from all of DC Comics and forcing them to work together against a seemingly undefeatable threat. This allows for some great dynamics to form and ultimately creates a number of entertaining situations, such as Lex Luthor telling off Martian Manhunter, Damian Wayne threatening Doctor Fate, and Starro saving the entire Justice League. When moments like these occur, the story is entertaining and fun to watch.

However, the narrative quickly gets bogged down under the weight of its own complex mechanisms. The heroes’ work in restarting the various trees across the world is explained very briefly and feels a bit inconsequential to everything else that is going on. In some cases, explanation is nearly skipped altogether, which happens in the case of the Entropy tree. This portion of the book also feels rather rushed, as the heroes attempt to save two entire planets in only four comic chapters.

In addition, the entire adventure lacks a substantial villain for readers to fear. Brainiac 2.0 and Amanda Waller both engage in villainous activities but their motivations are too underdeveloped to get behind. This lackluster antagonism is further diminished through both characters’ rather vapid monologues, all of which make them come across as petulant children rather than credible villains. The Omega Titans could have served as great antagonists, as they start the collection by preforming well as malevolent forces of nature, but their threat is drowned out by the actions of Brainiac 2.0 and Amanda Waller.

The final chapter helps the volume’s overall quality but only does so by finalizing the collection’s status as a transitory work. It introduces a brand new Justice League, shows that there is potential in the world of magic, and even teases development in the cosmic world of DC Comics. This portion of the work ends up instilling the most wonder in readers and inspires a lot of hope for upcoming comic books. In this way, No Justice feels like a significant prelude to something larger.

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Art

Like the story, the artwork in No Justice ranges in quality. The opening two chapters, drawn by Francis Manapul, look simply gorgeous. They provide wonderfully stylized depictions of the various heroes and villains in the DC Universe and bring them to life with a beautiful array of colors. This same level of quality is also brought out in the backgrounds and environments in which these characters are found. This leads to stunning scenes where spaceships streak across the sky or gargantuan beings loom over entire planets.

Unfortunately, around the book’s halfway point, other artists step in and bring down the overall quality of the book’s visuals. These pages mimic Manapul’s earlier depictions of the characters but are not nearly as crisp and clean as the earlier chapters. This inconsistency interrupts the reading process and makes it incrementally less enjoyable. The visuals start to improve toward the end of the book, which has Manapul return to art, but even these pages are of lower quality that earlier chapters. Overall, the negatives here do not fully distract from the solid opening chapters but they do prevent this book from being the visual delight that it could have been.

Continuity

Justice League: No Justice directly follows the events of Dark Nights: Metal (Review) and references these events a number of times.

The story here continues in three separate series. These include

• Justice League Vol. 1: The Totality
• Justice League Dark Vol. 1: The Last Days of Magic
• Justice League Odyssey Vol. 1: The Ghost Sector

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Harley Quinn mentions the last time she worked with Robin. This was in the “Gotham Resistance” portions of Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance (Review).
• Task Force XI has its origins in the final chapter of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad (Review) (Reading Order)