Justice League #66
The Justice League takes the fight to Synmar in Justice League #66, by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Phil Hester, inker Eric Gapstur, colorist Trish Mulvihill, and letterer Josh Reed. In the backup, by writer Ram V, artist Sumit Kumar, colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr., and letterer Rob Leigh, as the Eternal Knight works to free Randhir Singh, the JLD deals with Merlin’s attack on Atlantis. Both stories are action-packed bangers that continue to prove why this is the premier team book on the market.
The main story sees the Justice League regroup after Synmar destroys the Hall of Justice as Green Arrow and Black Canary regroup from their fight. Naomi checks on her parents, Superman discovers why Synmar attacked Earth and tries to talk him out of it, Black Adam shows up, and business picks up. The League reinforcements arrive, Synmar goes nuclear, and then help shows up as the UP’s Justice United joins the fray. In the backup, Eternal Knight and Randhir Singh travel through his mind breaking through the barriers the Brothers of Ambrosius put up. After he’s freed, he reveals what Merlin is doing in Atlantis. Meanwhile, the JLD beats Merlin’s Amhuli as Tempest, and the Kingsguard arrives to help out. Meanwhile, Constantine confronts Merlin as he prepares to open the Atlan Templus.
Once again, Bendis proves just how much his style has evolved as a writer. Justice League is a big action book, and Bendis delivers that with this issue. He keeps upping the stakes in the battle with Synmar, as first Hippolyta takes the field and gets slapped down, then Superman tries some diplomacy, and finally, Black Adam shows up to do what he does best. It’s a series of exciting sequences that keep building and building. It works wonderfully and makes for great reading.
He also doesn’t skimp out on character. Naomi is still his viewpoint character, and his captions do a great job of building her up. He captures her emotions about being in the Justice League expertly- the fear that she’s not good enough and the resolve that shows that she is. If anyone isn’t sold on Naomi up until now, Bendis is so far using his Justice League run to prove why she’s great. Over in the backup, V continues to prove why he’s one of comics’ best new talents. The amount of storytelling he fits into the scant few pages he gets in this book every month is amazing. For Titans fans, Tempest shows up, and it’s honestly about time for him to at least cameo in a Justice League Dark story. The Randhir Singh and the Eternal Knight section of the story is just wonderfully imaginative. The stuff in Atlantis gets across the desperation of the situation and moves the plot ahead. This backup is the icing on the cake of an already great book.
Phil Hester comes on for penciling duties and knocks it out of the park. He and Bendis have worked together before, and this issue proves that their artistic relationship is very fruitful. The action scenes have just right the oomph, his character acting top-notch as usual, and everything looks amazing. In the backup, Kumar and Fajardo Jr. give readers some brilliant imagery. There are two amazing examples of this- the double-page spread of Eternal Knight and Randhir Singh traveling through his mind and killing the other versions of him the Brothers of Ambrosius placed in there has to be seen to be believed- it’s an amazing spread, just a wonderfully drawn, colored, and laid out two pages. They kill it again in the opening spread of the Atlantis battle. These two work great together, and this issue is yet more proof of that.
Justice League #66 is yet another clinic in how to make an amazing team book. Both stories and creative teams are putting out some straight-up wonderful work, and there’s pretty much no other team book on the market that gets close to it. Justice League is the cream of the team book crop, and this issue is yet another example of why that is.