Justice League #20
Robert Struble
Recap
The Justice League stands in the Hall of the Justice, but it’s nothing like theirs. Future Superman (of course they think he’s theirs, just aged) explains briefly how they reached this point, how the multiverse was started by the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, the World Forge, and Perpetua. But he first encourages the League to explore the future world. And so each one goes off with their future counterpart (except since “Superman” is the original one and now aged, he has no young counterpart). Future J’onn and Hawkgirl have a child together. Future Flash is making use of the Still Force. And Future Batman? Dick Grayson has taken up that mantle.
Still, not everyone is convinced as Batman asks a seemingly important question: where are all the villains?
Meanwhile, back in our normal time, Mr. Mxyzptlyk is stirring in his cage, his slumber interrupted by the Legion of Doom’s machinations.
Review
Time travel stories are really starting to wear me down. It’s a trope that is done far too often (and my last experience with time travel in Justice League was really, REALLY, unpleasant).
But that being said, whereas usually we get a dystopian future, Snyder and company give us what appears to be more of a utopia. Bright cities (even Gotham has lost its usually gloomy demeanor), bright costumes, no villains (we’ll get back to that in a minute), and a Hall of Justice that’s no longer truly needed (it’s a museum now).
And yet, it’s a twist because there is something ominous about this future, something bubbling just under the surface, barely out of sight, beyond the horizon. The child of J’onn and Hawkgirl warn them to not trust what they are seeing. Batman notices a surprising absence of criminals (which would usually suggest the loss of free will, some sort of fascist government…anybody remember Injustice). And Superman. Well, as we discovered last issue (and are teased a bit more here), this future Superman is not what he seems.
So while a reader’s first inclination may be “great, another future”, there’s more to this world than meets the eye. And while it may be done to death, Snyder (along with absolutely fantastic art from Jiminez and colors from Sanchez) has given us something different, a chapter in a massive undertaking that anybody but Snyder would have failed attempting.
Final Thoughts
It’s not necessarily mind blowing, but what do you expect from the second issue in an arc. There are enough thrills to keep you entertained and secrets are revealed a little bit at a time. Snyder is definitely doing a good job with this series, even if this one isn’t as jaw dropping as some of the others.
Justice League #20: The Future Is (a little too) Bright
- Writing - 7/107/10
- Storyline - 7/107/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
