Justice League #22

Writer: Shea Fontana

Artist: Philippe Briones

Colourist: Gabe Eltaeb

Publisher: DC Comics

This is what I want from this title. Fun and character interactions, down time and not Earth-shattering stuff. That stuff can be done by excellent writers like Morrison or Johns, but not Hitch.

This is, bar none, the best issue of the series yet. It has everything the series has been lacking: fun, cohesive stories, great character interactions and, most importantly, a solid beginning, middle, and end. I never thought I would see Superman's son Jon play video games with Cyborg. Green Lanterns Simon and Jessica are still on the amateur side of things and writer Shea Fontana knows this, as she plays up their anxieties and uses it as a way to get Jessica in particular to become a more confident character. That doesn't mean the issue is perfect, since some of the dialogue was slightly off. I guess I can characterise it as a bit more playful that I was hoping for.

Bryan Hitch didn't write this issue, probably due to him not being able to meet a deadline. Fontana's writing is fresher and makes full use of the characters on the Watchtower. She wisely doesn’t overcrowd the issue, as Aquaman and Flash only appear in holographic form. It's smart and limits the infestation problem the Watchtower is experiencing to the characters who use their brain rather than their brawn.

To praise Fontana some more, this is the kind of story I'd like to see told more often. The characters are ultimately friends and should act like so. The threat in the issue shouldn't be on the world-shattering scale, but should make the characters take some time to assess the situation and come up with a solution. The infestation of the Watchtower by these tiny microbes is only the backdrop, allowing the Simon and Jessica to spend more time with Wonder Woman which leads to quite the nice ending.

Philippe Briones is the artist here, and his work has previously been seen in the current Aquaman series. I don't think he's the right fit for a team book but the art was nice enough and I liked the movement Briones would able to capture in the more funny, simpler moments of the story.

Shea Fontana and Philippe Briones come aboard the series for a simple one-shot story, and manage to fit a slightly chunkier story into one issue. The smaller moments are the ones that shine and the artwork was consistent throughout.