Justice League #43: Eradicated!

The League comes up with a plan to defeat the Eradicator and his army of genetically-enhanced Daxamites. They execute that plan. The threat is neutralized. They story-telling here is tight but simple in a beautiful way given the results of the previous run on Justice League. Many fans who were turned off by Snyder’s complex, epic storytelling are back and greatly enjoying this bare-bones style of grand narrative. But now it has been revealed via Twitter and the June DC Solicits that Robert Venditti’s run on Justice League will be short-lived. There are a number of reasons for this but at the heart, the bi-monthly format is beginning to become a real problem for DC Comics.

Simple narratives of the sort many expect in the pages of a Justice League book (for good reason) are better served by a monthly book. If this sort of storytelling– widescreen action, punch ’em up narratives with strong visuals– is what the fans want, the book would be best served to fire monthly, giving artists more time to develop the visuals. The strain on the artists is mitigated by armies of artists while the strain on the writing team remains the same. It is a logistical mistake that isn’t difficult to suss out. We see similar issues with Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, The Flash and other titles currently. The same pattern repeats over and over yet no course correction is in sight.

This book has been fun and I believe Venditti could have had an excellent multi-year run of exciting Justice League stories. Alas, we get five more issues (followed by three from rising star Si Spurrier) and then who knows what the future holds? The flagship team of the DC Universe should not be this difficult to sustain.