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Justice League Dark # 3 Review

By Koppy McFad
December 3, 2011 - 01:43

 

  The Justice League Dark (stupid name) recruits a deadly new member as John Constantine and Zatanna get naked together.

   The threat of June Moone, the Enchantress, forces the magically-empowered members of the DC universe to resort to drastic measures. This involves Constantine and Zatanna using some tantric magic which conveniently involves sexual overtones even as Deadman's misgivings grow and Rac Shade seems to be losing more and more of his marbles.

   This book has an intriguing mystery, a lot of moody atmosphere, a well-cultivated sense of dread and enough gore to satisfy the horror fans out there. But it still seems to be short on plot-- or at least a plot that can be easily understood. Sure, it is a 'mystery' book, not a straightforward action story, but a lot of the story seems padded with dark shadows, angst and violence. With DC Comics as slim as they are, they should not be dragging these stories out, unless they want people to grow tired of them again.

   And is anyone else bothered by the sad transformation of Zatanna? From a joyful, self-confident, beautiful woman in her own title, she has become another angry, fearful female who does not even look that good anymore. Partly, it looks that the creative team feels the need to make her more dependent on Mr. Bad-Boy John Constantine. Frankly, I get tired of so many people in the DC universe basically bowing down to this guy just to make him appear so smart and bad-ass.

   The art has the required sense of darkness and impending doom but also doesn't have anything that really grabs the reader. This could be a standard detective-noir story if not for all the phantoms flyng around.

Rating: 7 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12