Justice League of America #15

Writer: Steve Orlando

Artist: Felipe Watanabe

Inker: Ruy Jose

Colourist: Marcelo Maiolo

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Ray Palmer is finally here, but unfortunately a good story didn't come along with him. The issue opens up with the ending of the last issue, with Ray lambasting Ryan Choi about him bringing along a certain doctor character. The rest of the issue is a flashback, an entirely uncompelling one at that, and we still don't know why Ray holds this animosity towards this character.

This issue got me really confused at times. The hilariously terrible character and location names had me second guessing each and every establishing shot and subsequent panels. So much of the genuine motivation for Ray concerning himself with the Microverse is somewhat lost on me. I don't understand how Ray even managed to discover the Microverse and why he simply assumed that there were sentient beings living in this reality is beyond me. His actions don't really match up with the message he left for Ryan in DC Universe Rebirth #1. Why didn't he just leave a message before he left, explaining why he was going to be away for an extended period. He's a teacher. Surely an extended absence would be noticed by his superiors?

Some of the art was really gorgeous, particularly the splash pages which had a very colourful look to them, thanks to Marcelo Maiolo. Ivan Reis didn't draw this issue, and I don't know why he couldn't manage to draw more than three issues of the series before needing a break. Other than the splash pages, the art looked quite bad at times, with some faces looking too blocky for my taste.

Just avoid this. This arc may seem important but a quick recap would serve your brain better than to read this nonsense. It's offensively boring and the art isn't consistently good.