DC Comics reviews for week of 9/21/16 – Batman #7, Superman #7, Justice League #5

Justice League #5

Easily the best part of The Extinction Machines finale is the arc is over. And in less than six issues. Getting to the arc’s conclusion though proved to be a major slog. Writer Bryan Hitch seemed to have this grand story in mind, but it never truly came to fruition.

Instead, the League battled four giants that stood in a circle presumably destroying the Earth. The Kindred’s purpose frustratingly remained unclear. In the end it took Superman exploding giant spheres in the Earth’s core, Cyborg assuming control of The Purge and Aquaman’s magic crystals to save the day. But even then the victory felt flat. Despite characters acting like this was an extinction level event, the League rarely felt truly out of their league.

That’s largely due to Hitch so poorly defining The Kindred’s end game and their abilities. They seem capable of leeching certain Leaguers’ powers, but the Leaguers simply have to focus harder to take them back. The struggle never felt real here.

Tony Daniel had a tough task trying to make some visual sense of Hitch’s plot, but his artwork is fine. Hitch doesn’t give Daniel a lot of opportunities to really flex his talents. Despite the arc’s conclusion, the bulk of the issue is dialogue heavy with the Leaguers standing around talking to each other.

Tomeu Morey’s colors seem somewhat subdued — the last thing this issue needed — but Morey pulls off some impressive effects. Superman wrapped in orange and yellow tones while in the Earth core is a highlight as is Cyborg and Batman dealing with an aftershock. The art is the standout aspect of the issue, but it’s largely wasted on a dull story.

Justice League’s first big arc is over and it wrapped in the same consistently disappointing fashion as the previous entries. Hopefully, Hitch can rebound with the next arc.

Rating: 4 out of 10