As the war to stave off doom kicks off in the latest issue of Justice League, the mysteries of Metropolis deepen when the new owner of the Daily Planet reveals herself to her staff.
Justice League 30
Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV
Pencils and Inks by Jorge Jimenez and Francis Manapul
Colors by Francis Manapul and Alejandro Sanchez
Can you say “Time Heist”?
As I was reading the latest issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE, with the heroes getting ready for a momentous battle with the forces of evil Lex Luthor has gathered to tip the universe towards doom, I kept getting an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Maybe it was intentional and maybe it wasn’t, but with Starman sending members of the League to different points in time to gather bits of the Totality like the ones in his Star Rod, I flashed back to AVENGERS: END GAME.
Instead of facing past (or future) versions of themselves, though, the Leaguers are put in contact with heroes of different eras. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are sent to the future and encounter Kamandi, the last boy on Earth. Meanwhile, Flash and Green Lantern John Stewart go back in time and are confronted by the Justice Society.
Sending Flash and Green Lantern to the JSA makes sense, of course, because we never get meetings of Flashes and Green Lanterns of two eras.
This issue was filled to the brim as writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion fire off the first shots in the Justice-Doom War, to which they’ve been building since the start of their run. I don’t really have an opinion on Kamandi, but the return of the Justice Society has me excited. Will the Golden Age heroes have any ties to the upcoming end of DOOMSDAY CLOCK, where they’ve also been teased? Or will I just have a headache thinking about where everything fits in continuity?
I’m going to choose to ignore the potential migraine and just enjoy the story in front of me.
Action Comics 1014
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils and Inks by Szymon Kudranski
Colors by Brad Anderson
The title of this book has become a bit of a misnomer since writer Brian Bendis took over. All the action has been over in SUPERMAN, where the Man of Steel has been fighting an intergalactic war, while ACTION has featured the burgeoning mystery of Leviathan’s identity alongside other curious conundrums occurring in Metropolis.
But I’m not complaining, because Bendis has used the staff of the Daily Planet as the supporting cast of Action Comics, and he’s done a great job of capturing the feel of a major metropolitan newspaper in the digital age. But then he goes and reminds everyone this is a comic book. It’s fantasy. It’s not real life. Because the new owner of the Daily Planet decides that the venerable institution needs a higher operating budget. She hands out raises like candy. And she makes editor Perry White swoon at the thought of being able to do the damn news the right way.
There is the fact that the new owner of the Daily Planet is also secretly a crime kingpin who has been secretly trying to take down Superman. But that’s a trifle thing when she’s doing the Lord’s work by funding honest-to-God journalism.
I may be biased, because I work in a major metropolitan daily newspaper, but Action Comics continues to be one of my favorite comics.