Pew Pew
Written By: Ram V
Art By: Amancay Nahuelpan, June Chung, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 25, 2020
The Justice League Dark is finally taking the fight to the Upside Down..... Well, initially they were just going after Giovanni Zatara, but believe you me, the fight is there and our heroes are going down swinging against the Upside-Down Man if they have to. Let's jump into this issue and see if we understand any more about what is up with Swamp Thing since he's been reborn and if Bobo and John Constantine will join the fight in the Upside Down with Wonder Woman and Zatanna. Let's check it out.
Like Batman Beyond this week, this issue moves pretty fast and like Batman Beyond this speed in storytelling just makes things happen because they need to without really expanding on why this is possible or what it really means in the long run. What I mean is, we were told in the previous issue that Swamp Thing is now using all the other Parliaments of Life and not just the Green that we've been used to, but we never got the idea about what that meant previously and in this issue...... you continue to not really know what that means beyond that Swamp Thing is pretty damn powerful and somehow uses the Green to penetrate the Upside Down to help Wonder Woman and Zatanna with their attack against the villain of this story.
Weirdly though, it's brought up how Wonder Woman had previously made a pact with the Upside Down man where she would "fix him" and make him whole as he always should have been instead of just Hecate's dark reflection and if she couldn't achieve this goal, she would give the world to the Upside Down Man....... Well, it turns off that Diana bit off more than she could chew previously and is now just going against her word, which feels weird, even though you know Wonder Woman wouldn't let evil just eat the world, but it seems like Ram V was written into a corner and now we're just getting rid of that little bit of the story and moving on. Hopefully, they can win the day because with whatever Swamp Thing has become with his new powers and the fact that Zatanna's magic seems to work better within the Upside Down, it looks like our heroes will actually have a chance here...... At least these heroes. Bobo and Constantine seem to be dealing with someone else by the end and she wants to do more than read their future.
All in all, I enjoyed the art in this issue, but the story just seemed like it needed to move forward and in doing so sacrificed some of the explanations that I would have liked in understanding what's going on with our heroes and the new status quo of Swamp Thing....... you know, beyond, "Use Green, Upside Down apparently has Green, I'm in Upside Down" It just felt weird and forced, but by the end of this issue I am really interested to see how our heroes are going to win the day against the threat they've been facing since the beginning of this series. I just wish that things felt like they were thought out more overall and appeared on the page.
Bits and Pieces:
We get fantastic art as we continue the fight against the Upside Down Man in his home turf, but with the newly reborn Swamp Thing, this may be easier than ever........ or maybe not. I need more information about what Swamp Thing is playing with and how our heroes ultimately intend on winning this battle by the end. There's some fun to be had here beyond my problems though and I look forward to seeing what will come next.
7/10
I'm pretty burned out by the whole "Magic has a price/cost" angle from both DC and Marvel. Kinda takes the fun out of magic, a little too much. It's true this comic moves pretty fast. I think this series prioritized all the wrong things and now is trying to skip to the finish line.
ReplyDeleteWhen Wonder Woman made that deal with the Upside-Down Man during her fight with Circe, I was genuinely shocked they did absolutely no follow up to that. This is a better angle with a deadline than just, "let's go fight him in his home turf" which no one knows anything about.
And the thing with Swamp Thing is pretty unimaginative, in my opinion. It all comes down to, "Swamp Thing grows big and grabs him." Nothing creative about that. In fact, I think it mirrors the first time they fought and the Upside-Down Man turned Swamp Thing into mulch. I expect something more gruesome to happen to him in the next issue. But at least they're making progress.