- Written by Bryan Hitch
- Pencils by Matthew Clark, Tony Salvador Daniel & John Trevor Scott
- Inks by Sandu Florea, Sean Parsons & John Trevor Scott
- Colored by Adriano Lucas & Tomeu Morey
- Cover by Tony Salvador Daniel, Sandu Florea & Tomeu Morey
“STATE OF FEAR” part one! Following a harrowing battle with a monster from beyond the stars, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz decides to unwind by taking on another unbelievable challenge: overcoming her anxiety and asking The Flash out on a date!
Pickup your copy of ‘Justice League’ #6 at Comixology now!
After a pretty heavy story with its last arc ‘Justice League’ #6 drops us right in the middle of the action as the titular team battle an unnamed foe. It makes for a pretty disorientating beginning to this new arc but all becomes clear the battle is not the focus of the story.
This first part of ‘State of Fear’ may at first glance appear to be about who are heroes are up against next. But quickly you realise this is a story about their dark sides.
For anybody who has read any of my recent DC Comics reviews I’m sorry but I’m going to continue to sound like a broken record. What DC are doing really well in ‘Rebirth’ is to take a long hard look at its characters. ‘Justice League’ is by no means immune to this style of storytelling.
The focus of part one are Barry Allen and Jessica Cruz. They’re an interesting pairing. There have been a few sparky moments between the two since Cruz became a focus of the story, now with her fully fledged (and ending) participation in the JL team there’s been room for more development between the two.
As the cleverly crafted story moves on from the battle to their date it seems like ‘Justice League’ #6 will be a run-of-the-mill love story to break up the action. But all is not what it seems. Quickly the characters personalities begin to twist on themselves and quickly the story escalates to its final panel which leads the audience on the intentionally punned ‘next: BATMAN V SUPERMAN!’ line.
It’s an interesting story. As a reader we’re left completely bemused as to who the villain at the beginning was and why they might want to affect the League in such a way. There’s always a master plan at work so it will be interesting to see it unravel in the next few issues.
One gripe I had whilst reading this issue was why Barry Allen seems so at ease with dating Jessica. Over in ‘The Flash’ he’s currently upset over the potential death of love interest Meena. Neither series has made the claim to be running concurrent storylines but as far as continuity goes its a shame what’s happening in the main series isn’t feeding in to ‘Justice League’. It’s a small gripe but a valid one nonetheless.
Artistically ‘Justice League’ is par for the course. The action scenes are big on scale, small on character. Character moments tend to feature less immersive environments and much stronger character models. The double-page splash of the full League team is the highlight of issue. It’s not bad but it’s not groundbreaking. There’s very little else which can be said.
Verdict
‘Justice League’ #6 is little more than an interesting read. It looks okay and reads better. ‘State of Fear’ part one is an interesting jumping off point to attack our characters from a new angle, whether it has the potential to be a standout story remains to be seen.
