Justice League Dark #2:
What Happened: The various magical beings in this series(Zatanna, Constantine, Deadman) all wind up having various bad things happen to them. Much of this issue revolves around Deadman's relationship with Dove, and their relationship troubles. In the end we discover that Madame Xanadu appears to be working with the evil Enchantress.
The Good: I liked the swerve with Madame Xanadu apparently being evil. I didn't see that coming. The parts with Zatanna and Constantine were, as I'd expect, my favorite parts of this issue. Xanadu's actions make me somewhat intrigued to see what happens next issue. The art was good.
The Bad: Pretty much everything else... I could give a rat's ass about Deadman or Dove. And unfortunately, most of this issue(inexplicably) revolved around them. I'm not exactly sure what happened to Zatanna, nor was I sure why Constantine had come to the States. In general this issue was just plain boring.
The Verdict: When I was about 3/4 of the way through with this comic book I was positive that I wouldn't be picking up issue #3. The Deadman stuff was that brutally bad. The twist at the end, with Xanadu apparently pushing the Enchantress to attack the other mystical beings in the DCU is the ONLY thing that saved this title from joining the LONG list of DC comic books that I was dropping. As it is, this series is probably the closest one to being dropped by me as I'll keep reading it on a month by month basis. But if we get another issue of the Deadman and Dove show, I'm finished with this series.
Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.
Hey look, it's one of the two pages John Constantine appeared in...
Am I the only one who hopes that DC decides to bring Captain Marvel to the the New 52, and drops him into this book? It's fairly natural a fit, as his powers are magic-based, and it separates him from the campy crap that always bogs his runs down. He wouldn't have to carry a series by himself, but would add a big name to the cast, and gets a chance to become more of a grown-up hero.
ReplyDeleteI could definitely see that, and I like your reasoning a lot, Vancelot... Unfortunately I don't think DC would do that. With their "back to the basics" approach you know that DC is going to reintroduce CM as an annoying kid. That's why I liked it so much when they made Freddy Freeman into CM. He was a more adult version of the character, which I liked since I was never a fan of the "Holy Moley!" annoying Billy Batson version. Since DC actually had a grown-up version of the character, and didn't bother to use it, I just don't see them doing that here, although I wish they would!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I see so much they could do with CM, if they'd stop with the campy stories and childish plots. I'm not sure if this has happened, so forgive me if it has, but since Batman has been shown to have contingencies in case the heroes go rogue, shouldn't his first call in case of a rogue Superman been to CM? That could make for an interesting story IMO at some point. It's just disappointing that they don't use him more effectively. I've always been a big fan.
ReplyDeleteI like this issue way more than the first one,
ReplyDeleteYes I hated the Dove interventions (Havent got any problem with Deadman) but I think the Madam Xanadu evilnes is a plan to bring all the characters togheter so Im looking forward to that.
I know I'm in the minority, Vancelot, but I was a HUGE fan of the 12 issue series that made the switch from Billy to Freddy. I liked the more adult feel of CM afterwards. Even Billy was more bearable after he lost the powers and ended up back on Earth(I still can't stand Mary, but meh.). Sadly I think Geoff Johns was a big fan of the older, childish Silver Age CM, and when Johns wants something, he gets it, meaning we'll get plenty of "Holy Moley's!!" and stupid plots... As for the Bats thing, I like it! It makes sense, provided Bats could get CM to keep quiet about their plan. That's the thing people don't seem to realize about CM(probably because he's usually written as a goofball), he IS Superman strong!
ReplyDeleteUgh, the Dove/Deadman stuff KILLED this issue for me, Alien... Killed it! When Dove gets six times the amount of pages John Constantine gets, there's a HUGE problem!!
Also agree about Dove. It makes sense for an appearance I guess as Deadman's GF, but I think that much was overkill. As for CM being Superman strong, you nailed it. He's the one guy with a legitimate shot to kick his behind in a straight up fight. Oh well, I'm sure we'll get something eventually, and probably won't like it. This series is a good premise, but if execute wrong, could be really bad too. We'll see I guess. I'm still on board for now.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I'm definitely in for at least another issue, but I'm REALLY hoping we get some serious Zatanna/Constantine action! They're the two characters I want to read about the most, it's unfortunate they've both been little more than afterthoughts to the Dove/Deadman show thus far...
ReplyDeleteWasn't Constantine and Zatanna on the cover?
ReplyDeleteYup, they sure were, Jermox. And Constantine appeared in a grand total of TWO pages. Z had a few more, maybe 4 or 5. The rest was ALL Deadman and Dove... So that right there is my main gripe with this issue!
ReplyDeleteWHAT! Are you sure X-man? This issue was good I thought - it had a bit of jovial splendor that really kicked ass.
ReplyDeleteGranted, it did not progress the story all that much - but it did have some charm
Check out mine when you can - http://www.comicbookandmoviereviews.com/2011/11/justice-league-dark-2.html