New 52 – Justice League of America #7 review

NOTE: I hereby declare The Phantom Stranger #11 the first necessary tie-in to the Trinity War event. JLA #7 will leave you scratching your head as to what exactly Batman, Katana, Deadman, and Phantom Stranger got themselves into. No, it doesn’t play a vital role in this chapter’s story but it might give you a sense of “What the heck was that all about?” if you didn’t read the tie-in. So if you were at all curious about checking that book out then I recommend you do so before picking up JLA #7. Now, on with the review…

A great story should linger in your mind. It should give you something to mull over long after you’ve finished it and inspire you to get in touch with a friend and make them read it and discuss it with you. With Trinity War I’m getting the feeling more and more (and especially after Geoff Johns spoiled the big reveal from an upcoming Trinity War chapter) that this isn’t some great epic after all, but a prologue marketed as the main event. Justice League of America #7 is alright. It’s a pretty entertaining book that definitely has more action than previous installments and almost every character plays a part in the fight and even gets a line or two, but did this story ever cross my mind after I put it down? No. It’s been several hours since I finished this comic and only now as I write this article do I give it a second thought.

There have been 4 chapters and 4 tie-in sub-chapters and I just get the sense that we’re stalling for time here. Watching DC’s mightiest heroes race against the clock and stumble over themselves trying to figure out who the mastermind is behind Pandora’s Box/The Death of Doctor Light/The Explosion At Madame Xanadu’s was interesting at first. It got the point across of just how caught off-guard these characters were and how formidable an enemy this must be to confound so many brilliant heroes… but 3 issues in a row plus 4 tie-ins? There are only 2 central chapters left in Trinity War and it feels like they’re saving all the important stuff for the finale.

By looking at it as a part of a much larger story, JLA #7 doesn’t satisfy me as much as I had hoped but if I look at it as just any other action comic then sure! It’s pretty fun. There are a couple of lines that gave me a chuckle and some outright great moments with The Martian Manhunter and a very creepy villain. But while the glossy cover is nice, we’re getting less comic book for the same money we used to pay for all this plus a Martian Manhunter backup by Matt Kindt.

Just like last month’s issue, Doug Mahnke handles the pencils and is supported by a team of 4 inkers (plus he did some of the inking himself). I found this to be a better-looking issue than #6 and was really impressed with the level of detail on each individual character

whether they were the focus of the panel or not and how fully realized their surroundings were. Characters were also very expressive and while I say it’s an action comic first and foremost, there’s a great deal of emotion on display as J’onn taps into the minds of others and Atom struggles with the guilt of betraying the Justice League. The frequent shift between inkers only became noticeable in the comic’s final pages when all the lines suddenly became much, much more dense. Overall I thought the artwork of this comic looked fantastic except for a coloring mistake in which Martian Manhunter looks like Batman. Funny enough, this isn’t the first time this mistake has happened in a JLA book. Be sure to check your copy by the way and see if the mistake is there. I know that the last time this mistake happened the book got two separate printings and only some readers had the Batman-esque J’onn.

Overall

This has some terrific artwork and a fun fight scene, but given Geoff Johns’ spoilerific announcement (which I don’t recommend you Google) I’m honestly ready for Trinity War to wrap-up so we can get to the real story, Forever Evil. It’s taking too long to get this show on the road and as of right now the Throne of Atlantis storyline from earlier this year is looking like the more epic and captivating event.

SCORE: 7/10