Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: aquaman, Batman, bryan hitch, cyborg, dc comics, Fernando Pasarin, green lantern, Green Lanterns, Hippolyta, jessica cruz, justice league, mera, rebirth, simon baz, superman, The Darkness, The Flash, wonder woman

Justice League #31 Review: An Uplifting Finale

The Darkness has taken hold of the Justice League, and it's up to their children, the Sovereign, the future Aquaman, and Batman to free them from its grasp.

The Darkness wants the League to kill their offspring and Wonder Woman to kill her mother, Hippolyta (who is the Sovereign). Meanwhile, Green Lantern Simon Baz is on the verge of death and may not live to see another day.

I predicted that "Legacy" could only end in tears and that the Justice League would likely lose or be disconnected from their children in a way that would badly hurt them.

At the risk of spoiling the story a bit, I was wrong. It has a more "traditionally" happy ending, and the comic ends with a positive outlook on the future.

Some things are lost, mind you. The Aquaman of the future and the Sovereign both sacrifice themselves to hold the darkness at bay, but, given that this comic leaves the possibility open that the future is changed (while acknowledging the multiverse theory, which does muddle the ending a little), it's possible that Hippolyta and Arthur Curry will still exist in the future of the children.

You know what? I'm actually quite pleased with the happy ending. A darker one would be "less predictable," but, at the same time, it actually would have been far more expected for one or more of the children to have been sacrificed and things left unmended between Hunter and Wonder Woman. All of the children were allowed particularly emotional times with their parents, which seemed like the carrot to be followed by the stick beating them to death to mix my metaphors a bit.

However, this wasn't the case. Those happy moments of bonding were simply…well, happiness. They were humanizing and touching moments between Earth's greatest heroes and their children they may one day leave behind. And that's okay. Sometimes you can simply have character moments that don't necessarily feed the plot. Bryan Hitch remembered that here, and that made this comic more effective.

That's not to say there are no flaws in this finale to "Legacy." The Lantern children of Flash and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz seem to resurrect Simon Baz at no consequence. The Sovereign's motivation and status as the tyrant of the future world is confused by her behavior in this comic, as she turns out to be completely benign and only really concerned with the health of Diana.

The Darkness isn't a particularly compelling antagonist, as it turns out to be the hatred and fear of humanity somehow manifested with no explanation given yet. It's just evil personified, and that's not interesting on its own.

However, the good far, far outweighs the bad, and this issue of Justice League left me quite pleased.

Fernando Pasarin's artwork continues to be striking and effective. This issue of Justice League is just as gorgeous as the rest that he's done. Brad Anderson's color work is still eye-catching and explosive.

The finale to "Legacy" did not disappoint. Justice League #31 was a fantastic read and wrapped up everything quite well. Give this one a read. I highly recommend it.

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