Justice League: No Justice #3 Review

Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson

Breakdowns: Francis Manapul

Artists: Riley Rossmo and Marcus To

Colors: HI-FI

Letters: ANDWORLD Design

Published by: DC Comics

After two fantastic first issues, No Justice continues to roll along story wise, but the art unfortunately takes a massive nose dive with the third issue.

I try not to spoil previous issues with my reviews, but with a weekly miniseries like this one, and the importance of the final page of issue 2, it is entirely impossible to review this issue without at least revealing the character that returned.

Surprise! Vril Dox, the son of Brainiac, last seen almost a decade ago, is back! And with his return, hope is returned to our four Brainiac built teams as they now believe that with his help, they can fulfill what they set out to do: save Colu from the Omega Titans. However, we come to learn pretty quickly that this is something that is easier said than done as Brainiac’s plan relied quite heavily on him being, well, alive to put it into action.

However, this is the Justice League and pals, so the word quit is not amongst their vocabulary. Team Wonder, led by Wonder Woman, continues to try and reactivate their tree by trying to circumvent their lack of magical powers; Cyborg and Team Wisdom plug into Colu itself to try and reactivate their tree (with some fun Harley advice mixed in); Team Entropy led by Batman was successful in their mission; and finally, Team Mystery has some decisions to make with all the imprisoned worlds that they have stumbled upon.

Again this issue, the stand out character is Starro with some great interaction with not only Martian Manhunter, but also with the Omega Titans themselves.

Oh, there’s also a subplot with Amanda Waller and Green Arrow back on Earth, but it’s not impactful on this specific issue but clearly setting up for the finale next week.

As for the art. Boy, where to start. Francis Manapul is credited with the breakdowns in the issue, but really, I’m not sure how much he actually did versus how much Rossmo and To just took his breakdowns as suggestions and did their own thing. The difference in style  between Rossmo and Manapul is really jarring and took me out of the story on almost every single page. It’s not often that art accomplishes that for me. It’s not that Rossmo is bad, not at all. It’s just, Manapul is one of the best in the business and has quite a unique style that when a miniseries is heavily promoted with his name, getting Rossmo in his stead is no consolation prize.

To, on the other hand, is a known quantity to me, and you can tell which pages were his (the last 7 or 8 pages of the issue).

In the end, the story continues to showcase some pretty high stakes for all characters. involved and is setting up quite nicely the new launch of Justice League in two weeks. It’s just disappointing that this bait and switch with the art happened in such a highly touted mini.