RWBY / Justice League #7 Review

 

Written By: Marguerite Bennett

Art by: Meghan Hetrick

Colors By: Hi-Fi

Letters By: Gabriela Downie and Becca Carey

Cover By: Mirka Andolfo

Cover Price: $3,99

Release Date: October 26, 2021

Reviewed By: Michael G

Our heroes are on clean-up duty after their battle against Starro, goodbyes are seen but not heard, and an issues-long mystery gets ignored in a wholly underwhelming conclusion to a series that had so much potential.

After the last issue's big battle with Starro, I imagined that this final installment would probably give us some nice little character moments and interactions.  Maybe even leading to an endpoint where the Justice League characters would be whisked away from Remnant, leaving behind the RWBY characters to continue their adventures as seen in the TV show. But, boy, was I wrong! Instead, what we get is an entire half issue spent on what is essentially clean-up duty, as Flash and Batman run off to help Nora Allen and Jessie Quick evade the citizens still brainwashed by Starro until the effects wear off. Then, we see Ruby somehow single-handedly fighting off Team JNPR, when just last issue, all of team RWBY lost a fight to them. We then see Vic and Jessica teaming up to imprison the defeated Starro in a dust-created cage and fling him off to space where he won't hurt anyone again. It all seems unnecessary and feels like it's just there to pad out the page count and give us a bit of action in the last issue.

As the issue reaches its closing pages, we get a montage of panels showing the newly formed Remnant Justice League building their Watchtower and saying their goodbyes to team RWBY. The goodbyes are pointless, though, since they can seemingly visit each other whenever they want. This ending also firmly cements this story as an Elseworlds tale for both franchises since it's hard to fathom future RWBY seasons' events happening without these ultra-powerful characters' intervention. This seems like a huge wasted opportunity since not being canon means this story could have taken much more significant risks than it did. 

Adding to the issue's problems is that a big chunk of the conclusion gets told through dry narration. We get a nice scene of Jessie Quick becoming the new Flash (despite Barry still being active, albeit focused on much bigger problems), and Bruce establishes a new orphanage in what feels like less than a day. We hardly get any heartfelt moments between the characters, or fun banter, something that, when done right, was among the better parts of the series. We don't get any conclusion on the simmering romances hinted at throughout the previous six issues, nor do we get any answer at all to the prophecy of the White, Black, and Gray that Diana kept bringing up. I assume it's left for a potential sequel series; otherwise, it was a completely pointless plot point.

As if all of that weren't enough to make the finale feel like an afterthought, we also get a new artist taking over from the previous three we've had so far. Credit where it's due, Meghan Hetrick does an admirable job keeping the art consistent to what we've gotten before, but four different artists for one miniseries seems like way too much. Even so, the art is probably the best thing about the series as a whole, particularly when it comes to the Justice League character designs. If this whole series was to create a new Justice League design inspired by the world of RWBY, then mission accomplished. But we probably didn't need seven issues for that.

Bits and Pieces:

A crossover series that started with such great potential ends with a resounding thud.  This was a rushed, padded-out issue that leaves too many questions unanswered, forgoes meaningful character interactions in exchange for empty narration, and sets up the Remnant Justice League for future adventures we may never see. Luckily, the art remains consistent despite yet another new artist taking over. In short, RWBY/Justice League failed to do much besides introducing a few cool Justice League character variants and most likely won't leave any impact on either franchise.

4.5/10