This issue picks up where last week’s Aquaman: Drowned Earth left off, which I feel is an unfair marketing ploy by DC. How many faithful Justice League readers must now go back and pick up a chapter that should have been included in the normal run of the title. Come on, DC, it’s not that hard.

Bus as this issue launches, Batman is trying to hold things together in the Hall of Justice, while the rest of the team has other missions to fulfill. It reminds me of the Bronze Age story pattern, in which the JLA was broken into smaller teams to address a crisis on multiple fronts. Nevertheless, once again, one of those fronts is the Legion of Doom. Which reminds me how disappointing the old Super Friends cartoon could be. Every Saturday morning, the Super Friends would win, only to have the Legion escape because no one checked Brainiac for a transporter device. As super-heroes go, they sure did suck.

The artwork and coloring by Francis Manapul is impressive, though perhaps a bit uneven. It’s almost as if he adopts modifies his style for every scene. It works, I guess, enabling him to convey a different sense of place each time, but it also creates a bit of visual inconsistency. I’m not sure which strategy I prefer, so your mileage may vary.

This issue reinforces to me one of the pitfalls of modern comics. IT’s a single chapter in a larger story. As such, I’m not terribly moved toward picking up subsequent installments. Casual readers may feel the same, content to wait for the trade. But if everyone felt that way, would there even be a trade to wait for?