Justice League of America #6

Writer: Steve Orlando

Artist: Andy MacDonald

Colourist: Hi-Fi

Publisher: DC Comics

While the last issue was kind of a disaster, this issue impressed me on some levels.

Steve Orlando pulled back the focus on Aegeus and we spent more time with the characters, namely Lobo, Atom, and Ray. Batman was barely in this issue, which I really appreciated. I wanted to see relationships formed between these people, and I loved Lobo's interactions with everyone in this issue. He isn't a crazy guy all the time, and appreciates when people spend time with him and learn from him.

However, the art was disappointing. It just wasn't good. Faces were off and it was hard to tell what I was reading at times. I don't know whether I should blame the penciller or the colourist, but the art confused me. You can have rotating artists, but at least make sure they're consistent.

I was shocked when I found out that this was a two-part arc. Orlando attempted to tell a really big story in these two issues, which should never be done unless a writer is very good with pacing and dialogue, which Orlando hasn't demonstrated in any of the books he has done for DC. I think he feels the need to set these social issues against a big backdrop in order to make an exaggerated statement. Orlando is trying to say something about big corporations and their monopolising tendencies with the villains, but he doesn't get his point across.

While this was a better read due to the character moments, the story and art still frustrated me. The villains so far haven't been compelling in the slightest, and the inconsistent art is making it harder for me to be invested in the story. I appreciate Orlando keeping it fresh by utilising different characters for these confrontations, but they need to be more developed.