Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Justice League: Odyssey #1 Review



Opera in Space

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Stjepan Sejic and Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 26, 2018


I have been waiting for this book to come out for what feels like forever.  Well, it's finally here and I am going to just jump right into it.  Is it any good and worth the wait?  Let's find out...


The issue opens up with a reminder of the worlds that were freed when Colu was destroyed in No Justice and I am glad we got this right away because quite frankly, I kind of forgot about all of that.  Yea, I have an awful attention span (where are my pills?!?), but the delays this book suffered through to get this eventual release were long and plentiful.

We move on seeing that Jessica is the new Sentry of the Ghost Sector and if you are a fan of her (like I am), I'm sure you will be pumped!  Of course, we get the usual reminder of her anxiety that fans will likely be used to and sick of all the same, but I get it...Joshua Williamson has to get everyone up to speed here.  The one thing that feels off here is the lack of talking from Jessica's ring that made her even more interesting in the Green Lanterns book.




After a quick talk with Simon Baz, things pick up even more as Brainiac's ship enters the Ghost Sector with Cyborg and Starfire and...they stole it!  Then Azrael pops up and boy, I am already loving the "team".

Every time someone enters the scene, they do kind of state their name and why they are in the book, but I am okay with that since I love all the characters and want to know what angle each is playing.  Cyborg feels guilty for helping endanger the Universe, Kori wants to find Tamaran, and Azrael is on a spiritual journey.  Works for me!




Jessica ends up joining the rest on the ship as a matter of survival and it's all hands on deck as they are attacked.  I do have a problem with what's going on here.  It really feels like this bit was a bit rushed and forced to get Jess on the team.  She is the GL assigned to the Ghost Sector and yet she is blindsided by the fact that she is not safe here.  I don't think that she should have known, per se, but I do think she would have had a partner (Simon still?) or a lot of partners.  Plus, she doesn't ever ask her ring anything about what's going on and that's GL 101.  

They combine their abilities to escape the Maelstrom and crash land on a mysterious planet.  The book then ends with the team getting on the same page and finding out what lead them all to this exact moment from the start.  If you have paid attention to who is on this diverse team, it is not a big shocker, but I still won't spoil it for anyone.




This was a really good first issue.  Joshua Williamson introduces his characters and the beginnings of why they have joined together.  Yea, some of it is a little forced, but that is going to happen when you put a team together like this.  My worries that the delays would hurt the book were unfounded and I can't wait to see what's next.

Stjepan Sejic's art is great.  I don't know if this makes sense, but it really fits the Ghost Sector concept here and it's a shame that he won't be on the issues coming up in the series.  

Bits and Pieces:

This is an exciting start to a series that I've been looking to get my hands on.  It's not perfect, mind you, but Joshua Williamson gets the team together and moving forward in one issue and Stjepan Sejic's art is great as usual.  I can easily recommend this book especially for those looking for some space opera fun.


8.5/10



1 comment:

  1. I actually really enjoyed JLO, from the beginning of the issue everything felt like it had an importance and it only ramps up in the second half of the book with a sense of urgency. Only negative in this book is Azreal to me. He feels forced in the story. He has no connection to space or any of these characters. But art was amazing, but other than Azreal I see no flaws with the issue.
    8/10

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