Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #5
Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Robson Rocha
Publisher: DC Comics
Just as the world burns to ashes, a new team arises that may just be humanity’s last hope at resisting a fully restored Eclipso. In a series that has focused on three teams of super powered individuals going head to head, while Max Lord’s background machinations worked to lunge the world into complete darkness, it is only fitting that a fourth team made up of the cast offs and least powerful must come together to save the world from Eclipso’s darkness. Although the penultimate issue of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad shows that there are still some heroes, and villains, left to oppose Max Lord’s new world order, we are left to wonder “if it is too little, too late”?
After only thirteen minutes, and with the help of the Justice League, Maxwell Lords finally has complete control over the United States and the “security” he has always sought. After taking up residence in the White House, he dispatches Superman to retrieve Amanda Waller from the rubble of Belle Reve so that he has someone to share his accomplishment with. As the man of steel burst through the rubble of the penitentiary, we get our first look at the power the Heart of Darkness truly has over the Justice League. Although it was obvious that it made them the mind puppets of Max Lord, what was not clear from the beginning is that it also caused them to let go of any caring about their own wellbeing. When once these heroes could have been slowed down or even stopped with pain, the painted face versions seem impervious to such distractions. After tossing aside a kryptonite equipped Batman like a rag doll, Superman flies off back towards DC and leaves Batman, Lobo, and the remaining members of the Suicide Squad to contemplate their next move.
As he has been for much of this limited series, the most interesting part of this issue is Max Lord. Although his motivations of security through absolute power have been clear from the very beginning. It is hard to believe that even a man who is so morally skewed would believe that a country engulfed in flame and turmoil could ever be considered safe. As he makes clear in his braggadocios way to Amanda Waller, he believes that he has bent the Heart of Darkness to his will and through it has brought about an era of peace that the world has never seen. Of course, this could not be further from the truth, and when Max surveys the destruction and sees only an illusion of tranquility it become clear that he was not using the stone for his own ends, but rather that the monster within it was using the psychic for its own.
As Earth’s heroes become the tools of a fully restored Eclipso, it is up to Batman and the newly Justice League to stop them, but will the Dark Knight’s band of villains be enough to stand up to such power and rage? With only one issue remaining in the Justice League/Suicide Squad crossover Joshua Williamson is not holding anything back. The series has already seen the return of Max Lord, Lobo, and now Eclipso to the DC Universe so there is no telling what surprises he has in store for the finale issue, only that it will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the future of the DC universe.
Art by: Robson Rocha
Publisher: DC Comics
Just as the world burns to ashes, a new team arises that may just be humanity’s last hope at resisting a fully restored Eclipso. In a series that has focused on three teams of super powered individuals going head to head, while Max Lord’s background machinations worked to lunge the world into complete darkness, it is only fitting that a fourth team made up of the cast offs and least powerful must come together to save the world from Eclipso’s darkness. Although the penultimate issue of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad shows that there are still some heroes, and villains, left to oppose Max Lord’s new world order, we are left to wonder “if it is too little, too late”?
After only thirteen minutes, and with the help of the Justice League, Maxwell Lords finally has complete control over the United States and the “security” he has always sought. After taking up residence in the White House, he dispatches Superman to retrieve Amanda Waller from the rubble of Belle Reve so that he has someone to share his accomplishment with. As the man of steel burst through the rubble of the penitentiary, we get our first look at the power the Heart of Darkness truly has over the Justice League. Although it was obvious that it made them the mind puppets of Max Lord, what was not clear from the beginning is that it also caused them to let go of any caring about their own wellbeing. When once these heroes could have been slowed down or even stopped with pain, the painted face versions seem impervious to such distractions. After tossing aside a kryptonite equipped Batman like a rag doll, Superman flies off back towards DC and leaves Batman, Lobo, and the remaining members of the Suicide Squad to contemplate their next move.
As he has been for much of this limited series, the most interesting part of this issue is Max Lord. Although his motivations of security through absolute power have been clear from the very beginning. It is hard to believe that even a man who is so morally skewed would believe that a country engulfed in flame and turmoil could ever be considered safe. As he makes clear in his braggadocios way to Amanda Waller, he believes that he has bent the Heart of Darkness to his will and through it has brought about an era of peace that the world has never seen. Of course, this could not be further from the truth, and when Max surveys the destruction and sees only an illusion of tranquility it become clear that he was not using the stone for his own ends, but rather that the monster within it was using the psychic for its own.
As Earth’s heroes become the tools of a fully restored Eclipso, it is up to Batman and the newly Justice League to stop them, but will the Dark Knight’s band of villains be enough to stand up to such power and rage? With only one issue remaining in the Justice League/Suicide Squad crossover Joshua Williamson is not holding anything back. The series has already seen the return of Max Lord, Lobo, and now Eclipso to the DC Universe so there is no telling what surprises he has in store for the finale issue, only that it will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the future of the DC universe.
A Look Inside
