Justice League Dark #23 is a Showcase for Mikel Janin’s Artistic Talents

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Mikel Janin

Colorist: Jeromy Cox

Publisher: DC Comics

There are some interesting developments in Justice League Dark #23, but the comics is primarily an extended fight scene with some bickering and the  plot twists for good measure. Even though it has the most action of any of the “Trinity War” books, Justice League Dark #23 acts as a table setting issue for the earth shattering event finale next week. The characters also occasionally feel like ciphers to move the plot and not living, breathing people. However, Jeff Lemire still manages to explore a few of the characters who have been neglected in this event, including Zatanna, Stargirl, Frankenstein and Madame Xanadu. Despite all its mediocrities, Justice League Dark #23 is redeemed by Mikel Janin’s glorious art and enhanced by Jeromy Cox’s colors.

Approximately 75% of this issue is the fight between the Justice League Dark, Pandora, and Wonder Woman over Pandora’s Box that began at the end of JLA #7. There are some plot twists and bickering thrown in for good measure, but it’s mostly punching while the other Justice Leagues continue to investigate Dr. Light’s death. The predominance of action means that some of the characters’ motivations are lacking. Why does Shazam return after he left earlier because he didn’t want to be involved in the conflict between Justice Leagues? And why does he want to “help Wonder Woman? Shazam is vitally important in moving the plot and action along, but his initial appearance is jarring. Also, some characters, like Aquaman, Hawkman, and Black Orchid, have nothing to do except be punching bags for whoever’s holding Pandora’s Box. The lack of characterization of A-listers, like Aquaman and The Flash, is one of “Trinity War’s” biggest problems. Even though Justice League Dark #23 is quite action packed, the issue acts as a glorified set up for the inevitable earth shattering “Trinity War” finale next week. This development limits Lemire’s options with his script, but he manages to throw in several plot twists that slowly unravel the mystery of the “evil behind the evil”.

Despite focusing on fisticuffs and juggling a huge cast of characters, Lemire manages to develop several underutilized female and Justice League Dark

characters. Madame Xanadu returns as the narrator of the issue and reveals her vulnerabilities despite the fact that she is an immortal sorceress who can see the future. This ability is a curse when she can’t do anything to change the dark visions that she sees. Like in earlier issues of Justice League Dark, Lemire does an excellent job humanizing this almost godlike character. Frankenstein gets a powerful scene where he thinks that he can resist Pandora Box’s evil because he is undead. However, the corruptive power of this object affects him even after he acts as the voice of reason on the team. Stargirl gets her first real characterization of the series. With her bright colored costume, she acts as a ray of optimism on the Justice League Dark team, but even she falls prey to Pandora’s Box. Whatever its origin, Pandora’s Box continues to blur the line between good and evil that has been pretty shaky throughout “Trinity War”. One of the characters straddling this line is Zatanna, who reveals the full extent of her power in this issue. The combination of her power, intelligence, and pragmatism moves the plot while she is simultaneously struggling with her ties to all three Justice Leagues (friend of Batman and Deadman, ex-leader of Justice League Dark, Justice League reservist). Zatanna’s ability to remain a decent person in the face of all this power makes her the most compelling character in Justice League Dark #23.

However, Justice League Dark #23’s greatest strength is its art. Mikel Janin turns in some of the best work of his short comics career. His figures are rendered flawlessly, and each characters has a distinct face and body composition. This ability to draw large casts of diverse characters is a skill shared by some of the greatest artists in comics, like George Perez and Kevin Maguire. His use of shading also adds weight to the fight scenes involving punching or flying. But Janin’s greatest strengths are his panel compositions and splash pages. Instead of a plain white gutter, Janin uses crackles of lightning or magical energy to divide the panel on any page with Pandora’s Box. Jeromy Cox uses different colors on the lightning depending on who has the Box, like gold for Wonder Woman and white for Shazam. He also experiments with panel layouts, like using a lightning bolt panel to reintroduce Shazam and using small inset panels to show Madame Xanadu’s emotional reaction to the events of the Trinity War. Janin’s splash pages are poster worthy. They are detailed and full of kinetic energy, both literally and metaphorically. A two page splash featuring Shazam even foreshadows future plot developments as well as describing the full extent of Shazam’s magic potential and the power of Pandora’s Box. His action splashes are perfectly blocked, and even side characters, like Black Orchid and Hawkman, get inset panels to show off their unique power sets. Janin and Cox’s art is the perfect combination of otherworldly and epic which fits the tone of a book that features both traditional superheroes and supernatural beings.  Because of its art, action, and plot twists, Justice League Dark #23 is an entertaining read, but it lacks substance.