Justice League #26

Writer: Bryan Hitch

Artist: Fernando Pasarin

Inker: Oclair Albert

Colourist: Brad Anderson

Letterer: Richard Starkings

This was certainly interesting. This is the beginning of Bryan Hitch's final arc on the series, which is something that readers should celebrate and take pride in. If DC's playing their cards right, we might finally get the book we want.

That being said, at least his closing arc seems interesting. We spend most of our time with the children of the Justice League. The children hold some kind of grudge against the League, claiming that the League ruined their children's future. This is a concept I have a hard time accepting, since a lot of these characters are meant to embody hope to a certain degree, mostly Superman and Wonder Woman. The children are led by someone who seems to be the son of Superman, who already exists and is named Jon Kent. Hitch doesn't explicitly name most of them.

There's just a lack of information here, so I can't really say if I'm against this idea or not. The children could come from an alternate future, or they might come from a different Earth, so I reserve my judgement. A lot of what happens during the first half or so of this issue seems like ideas that would come from an Elseworlds-type story. There's a certain character mashup who we meet early on that I was simply confused by, which leads into my major issue with the story. It's this weird blend of over-exposition and lack of information. The characters tell the reader small things they'd want to know to peak their interest, but not enough so as to actually explain anything that is happening on the page.

Hitch really wants to hammer home the idea of this dystopian future, as we cut back to the present and see the League vaguely talk about a certain attack involving people getting superpowers and killing each other. It leads into a conversation about the future and what world they want to leave for their kids, which was very contrived.

Fernando Pasarin, relating to my recurring struggle with this issue, is an artist whose work I have a weird relationship with. Most of the time it can look very stellar, but a lot of his faces simply fall apart. They can look downright ugly and terrible sometimes, but he seems to be getting better in the face department, despite some off faces here and there.

I also applaud the complete lack of Batman in this issue. It demonstrates how effective the League can be with him, and it gives the chance for other characters to take the spotlight.

I'm personally very divided on this issue, which I think is impressive. I want to see where the story goes yet I'm hesitant to the very idea of these characters hating their parents. The art was quite fantastic and I'm cautiously looking forward to the rest of this story.