Justice League Odyssey #19: Time Will Tell

Justice League Odyssey’s strong suit has always been its art. If a comic is taking place in space, then the art better be stellar. For the most part, Justice League Odyssey has delivered on this, so hats off to Cliff Richards and Rain Beredo. For this issue, the only time the art seemed to be lacking was when the team was with Epoch. Epoch’s suit looks ridiculous, but sometimes the art just seems off. Fortunately, the whole issue is not a closeup of Epoch’s face. Justice League Odyssey #19 features a really great fight between the team and Darkseid’s assassins, which includes Starfire. For one, it is always a blast to see Dex-Starr blindside Darkseid’s assassin, followed by a panel of Arla Hax staring in horror as blood sprays across the panel. My favorite moment, however, was Orion’s dialogue after taking down one of Darkseid’s assassins after Gamma Knife cut through their armor. It’s this corny overkill that keeps me coming back for more.

While readers are often frustrated with the countless reboots and changes, having alternate universes and timelines is essential to a comic book universes. Justice League Odyssey #19 acknowledges this. On rewriting time, Jessica Cruz asks Epoch, “Leaving out the bits you don’t like?” Epoch responds, “Just so. The bits you don’t like either. The infinite crises, the great darknesses, the calamitous deaths and wrenching rebirths.”

It will be interesting to see where this leads, because so far it seems like Epoch is saying, “those things are annoying, so let’s do the same thing.” At the same time, Dan Abnett seems like he knows what he’s doing. Epoch seems almost comedic, so Abnett could be poking fun at the constant rewriting and revisioning of timelines. That being said, how is Justice League Odyssey any different than what Abnett is poking fun at? Someone with the ability to rewrite time could do more damage than good. I guess time will tell.