Justice League Odyssey #25: All For One

I am always an instant fan of books consisting of a ragtag group of heroes with some new names and old. Justice League Odyssey hit that mark. What made this series so enjoyable was the stakes: time itself. Darkseid has the chance to rewrite history and time anyway he’d like. There are many times in the series when the team really doesn’t seem to know how they’ll stop him, and not that they just don’t have a plan yet, but they really don’t know if it’s possible. Justice League Odyssey #25 throws you into a fight with a team that is ready to die for each other.

There are a lot of characters in the fight, so at times pages can seem overwhelming. Despite this, seeing a bunch of cosmic characters fighting a flaming Darkseid is a blast. The Justice League is fighting for their lives, and it seems like they know they can’t win. There is no master plan for them other than holding Darkseid off as long as they. Hax, Gamma, Dex-Starr set out to destroy the thing Darkseid wants, even if it means they all die. There are times when you really do not know if they can hold Darkseid off long enough.

The duplicates of characters and Gamma never really belonging make their deaths feel rushed to correct the timeline. However, their deaths do not feel expendable, which only added to the heaviness of the issue. Everyone wanted each other to live, so their sacrifices held extreme weight. There was some form of all for one and one for all when the team is back in their universe. Normally, I wouldn’t enjoy something like this, but everyone immediately breaks into smaller groups and go do what needs to be done. What needs to be done seems very uncertain, especially for Starfire and Cyborg, who take a wrong turn home and a quick taste of what is to come. Is it really a post-apocalyptic alternate universe without mohawks and leather dusters?