Justice League #61
The League finds themselves on a new world with new problems in Justice League #61, by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist David Marquez, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Josh Reed. In the backup, by writer Ram V, artist Xermanico, colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr., and letterer Rob Leigh, the Justice League Dark gets a new member and a lead on Merlin. This issue sees both teams realize exactly what they're dealing with and takes them to some interesting places.
In the main story, Brutus speaks to McMurph, who created the way he travels between worlds. He wants to keep going to Earth, so they can take the planet over. McMurph detects the Justice League on the planet and sends out teams to respond. Each member deals with their new surroundings in their own way, with the ones with powers realizing that their abilities are that much greater on this world than their own. Brutus finds Superman, and the two battle it out before the rest of the League shows up. In the backup, the JLD saves Ragman at the bookstore, and Detective Chimp realizes what Merlin was looking for: the Book of Eternity. Meanwhile, a knight awakens in the ruins of priory, and she makes her way to America to go after Merlin. Constantine takes them to a place where every book ever written is, the Library of Babylon, but Merlin has already been there.
Bendis is really making this story work for him. The dialogue can be a little Bendis-y with the wisecracks, but other than that, it all works. There's a lot of fascinating stuff about this new Earth the Justice League have found themselves on. To begin with, there's the fact that superpowers are enhanced on it- the Canary Cry is even more devastating than usual. At first, Superman can't even open his eyes because his heat vision is out of control, and Naomi's powers react strangely to the place as well. It's intriguing, and the question is whether Brutus is more powerful as well? He's already been slapping around the League, so if he is more powerful, that's bad news.
Elsewhere in the issue, Aquaman has a very adverse reaction to being there. Brutus and McMurph's conversation relays that their world has survived a lot, especially after their defeat of Zumbago. There's a good chance the oceans are gone, and that may be what's affecting Aquaman, but maybe it's something else? It's an intriguing plotline to play with, as he's the only team member who is overcome by his attackers. In the backup, things are building nicely with what is apparently a new Shining Knight showing up and another excellent set place for the team to play in.
Marquez and Bonvillain's art is excellent throughout. Marquez works with Bendis beautifully- he knows how to make the characters look good and get across what's being said. His action pages are pretty nice too. Bonvillain, as usual in her work, is the book's secret weapon. This is a dark, ruined world and her colors get that across wonderfully, with the bright colors of the heroes' costumes a contrast to their surroundings and the inhabitants. In the backup, Xermanico is still firing on all cylinders. The best scene in his pages is the one with the Library of Babylon. It looks amazing.
Justice League #61 is yet another great issue of this book, both in the main story and backup. Both creative teams are expertly building their respective stories, doing a great job of keeping readers invested. Seeing where both stories go is going to be great.
