Justice League #35

Writer: Christopher Priest

Artist: Pete Woods

Letterer: Willie Schubert

Christopher Priest continues his run on JUSTICE LEAGUE, which based on my understanding is somewhat divisive with the release of his first issue two weeks ago. I'd recommend this issue to anyone who thought the last issue wasn't exactly their cup of tea; Priest is making his story a bit more visible here and the seeds planted in the last issue are beginning to make themselves known. This, coupled with Pete Woods' stellar artwork, makes for a fresh and exciting Justice League story despite some of the issues I had here.

I'd like to get the bad out of the way so I can just praise this book. There's a running gag between the Flash and Simon Baz that felt very overdone, and I didn't think that Barry would be the person to be at the butt of the joke; I thought Cyborg would be a more suitable player, but that wasn't the case. There are two instances in the story where the dialogue just completely and utterly takes a left turn and the characters talk about something completely different, instances which involve the Flash and Wonder Woman.

I praised the last issue for seemingly throwing us another typical giant threat until its subversion of the idea, but Priest does indeed throw us some giant monster action. Normally I tune out during these kinds of scenes but Priest layered this section of the story with a logic and approach that I really haven't seen done before. When thinking of trying to drown this giant creature, Simon is informed by Barry that doing so would poison the water which would eventually damage the economy of this particular city. This kind of progression was very fresh to me and it made whatever plan the League was coming up with seem different and fun.

The effect of Batman's mistakes in the last issue can be felt here. I'm a really big fan of this slow story progression which Priest has done very well in DEATHSTROKE. It looks like it could be leading to some conflict between these characters which I think Priest will handle very well.

Pete Woods somehow did a better job this time around. Woods colours his own work and the art here is slightly more muted than the last issue, probably to reflect the darker tone the story will take. He does a great job with the action and I love the expressive nature of his art.

Priest and Woods have outdone themselves with this instalment. I think this is an important story that everyone should be checking out; the writing is so unique and the art is simply superb.