OK, this mini-series has been one cool surprise after another. And yes, that continued even up to the penultimate issue.
Issue:Â Â Justice League:Â Last Ride #6, October 2021
Writer:Â Chip Zdarksky
Artist:Â Â Miguel Mendonca
The Plot:Â The mastermind behind all of the Justice League’s problems stands revealed!
Commentary: There are a lot of things I have enjoyed about this series. It’s got great art, great character work, and a plot with a lot of neat and cool surprises. Last issue ended with Batman finding Desaad’s lab was full of Darkseid clones in tubes. Darkseid was supposedly taken care of once and for all in the same mission that cost the Martian Manhunter his life. In the present, the League’s mission to protect Lobo until he could stand trial on Apokalips looked like a good idea at face value. Granted, it was a set-up, but was I expecting it to be Darkseid?
Well, maybe. It’s not that surprising. Darkseid’s skills run more towards plotting than brute force even though he can dish it out whenever he has to. So, Darkseid having a contingency plan after whatever he was doing in the flashbacks failed wasn’t that surprising.
I was not expecting Darkseid to have been possessing Hal Jordan’s body the whole time.
Man, I knew it was never good when Hal had the power of the entire Central Power Battery running through his body.
However, as much as this story has shown the League at odds with themselves, or at least Batman and Superman, it also shows the pair can and will work together when the crap hits the fan. Batman’s self-sacrifice to the point of suicide won’t work when Superman swears no one else will be dying this time. Does this mean the pair have patched things up? Well, it shouldn’t, but there’s only one issue left, so unless one or both of them dies in the finale, it will.
But there was one last page reveal, one that was hinted at before, and while it didn’t surprise me…well, even if Darkseid has revived Apokalips and has the power of the Central Power Battery at his fingertips, reviving scores of parademons and at least one formerly dead minion, plus lots of people who still want Lobo dead to the point where Batman will hire Lobo to help fight back (yes, Batman brought the money), there was that final page that says yeah, the League might have this in the bag. It’s not a question of if but how.
I hope I enjoy it as much as I have all the others.
Grade:Â A
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