Justice League #24

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Ian Churchill

Colourist: Adriano Lucas

Publisher: DC Comics

This is the third non-Hitch issue of the series, aside from the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad tie-ins, and this book is the better for it. Now, that doesn't mean that each non-Hitch issue is great, since every one of them have been one-shots and thus tell smaller-scale, less important stories. This also applies to this issue, written by Dan Abnett with art by the awesome Ian Churchill.

DC has been pushing the current Underworld arc in Aquaman, and this issue is the biggest step yet. Taking place directly after Aquaman #25, Mera is going on a rampage trying to break the Crown of Thorns that had imprisoned an exiled Aquaman inside the now domed city of Atlantis.

This story involves the Justice League trying to stop Mera from destroying a coastal city in an attempt to save Aquaman. For those not reading Aquaman, Arthur has been deposed as King of Atlantis and is now trapped within the city, hunted down as a vigilante.

As a story, it felt a bit contrived. The ending of Aquaman #25 was an awesome hint of things to come, but now knowing that Mera basically went on a rampage and almost destroyed a city seriously deflates the momentum of Mera's mission. I fully expect Aquaman #26 to portray a different journey when it comes to Mera's mission to save Arthur.

Ian Churchill is an artist that I would love to see more of, possibly on a DC ongoing series. He did an issue of Action Comics after Superman Reborn, and he provides the art for this issue. Churchill's art is, as usual, completely stellar. I love his rendition of Superman and a lot of the action in this issue was portrayed really well.

In this tie-in to the current Aquaman storyline, Dan Abnett deflates Mera's journey in this unnecessary action-heavy issue, which is made up for by Ian Churchill's awesome art.