Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Justice League Dark #5 Review and **SPOILERS**


I Made a Mess of Myrra

Writer: James Tynion IV 
Pencils: Daniel Sampere 
Inks: Juan Albarran 
Colors: Adriano Lucas 
Letters: Rob Leigh 
Cover: Nicola Scott & Romulo Fajardo Jr. 
Variant Cover: Clayton Crain 
Assistant Editor: Andrew Marino 
Editor: Rebecca Taylor 
Group Editor: Marie Javins 
Cover Price: $3.99 
On Sale Date: November 21, 2018

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Hecate is suppressed, and Circe is probably gonna chill out…for now, so what’s in store for the Justice League Dark from here? Probably some creepy magic shit. Get a clue from my review of Justice League Dark #5, which is posted below!


Explain It!

Since dispatching Hecate and saving the world’s magic (mostly), it’s time for the members of the Justice League Dark to go back to their respective lives. For most of them, it means a return to their part-time jobs and doing children’s parties on the weekend. For Bobo, it means going back to running the Oblivion Bar, which is to say that he goes back to drinking and feeling sorry for himself at the Oblivion Bar, while Traci 13 takes care of operations. While the other members of his team hector Bobo about some magic whatsitz or another, Detective Chimp reminisces about how he acquired this inter-dimensional watering hole. 
Seems it used to belong to Jim Rook, the Nightmaster, a sword and sorcery character who protected the fantasy world of Myrra in his off-hours. Sort of like an Adam Strange, but for the knights and dragons set. First, Bobo remembers Jim’s funeral, attended by many of DCU’s spiritual luminaries, like the Phantom Stranger and Blue Devil. After a while, he remembers the good times with the Nightmaster, how he gave Bobo his magic sword that can cleave reality and, among other things, gain everyone entrance to Myrra. And suddenly, that’s exactly where everyone wants to go. 
Bobo is dead against going to Myrra—he says the scene is lame, too many tourists, there’s a lot of disruptive construction…but his team doesn’t bite. After some time, Bobo reveals that he hasn’t been to Myrra himself for some time, since he sort of left things on a bad note last time he was there. Seems he was pressured into casting a horrible spell on Myrra that caused it to be infested with dragons and undead warriors—and its current steward, Blue Devil, isn’t thrilled to see the chimp back in the area! 
There were also some interesting side stories, doubtlessly seeding for later, of Man-Bat asking for occult guidance from Traci 13, and John Constantine and Swamp Thing tangling with Dr. Fate. The main story, however, was pretty cool, especially for folks like myself that want to know more about the backgrounds of these weird characters. Indeed, I could have done with more of that, but I guess it’s better to feel that way than to be inundated with information. The dialogue between characters is pretty good, and I find myself really likening to a lot of them. This isn’t a high-action book (though it does have the two requisite fight book scenes) but if you’re a fan of these characters, then you should be as happy as a pig in Circe’s sphere of influence. Folks looking for a book more like the traditional Justice League may be disappointed.

Bits and Pieces:

A look at Detective Chimp's past reveals that he's been a bad monkey. What? That's offensive? What do you mean, "a chimpanzee isn't a monkey?!" They swing through trees and eat bananas, don't they? Well whatever he is, Bobo has done a bad thing, and now it comes home to roost.

8/10
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