Justice League #4
DC Comics
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Jorge Jimenez
Colors by: Alejandro Sanchez
Letters by: Tom Napolitano
The villains rise in this issue as we get a history of Grodd in the beginning of this issue. Much like the short history of Sinestro we got previously, this is the moment when the cruelty of Grodd manifests itself and the philosophy behind that cruelty is formed. Back in the present, a series of miscalculations have Superman and Martian Manhunter fighting for their lives inside the Totality and Batman and Hawkgirl dealing with their own problems on a microscopic level inside the two heroes. Lex and Joker have taken control inside Superman and J’onn and no one, not even Batman, was expecting it. The only person who has seemingly made all the right moves recently has been Lex.
Outside the Totality, the Earth has a bigger problem and John finds himself sidelined after another encounter with Sinestro and the new power he wields. They don’t get the chance to rest when Grodd, Black Manta and Cheetah arrive. Flash experiences a new power from Grodd and the tables are turned on the heroes with Lex seemingly on top.
Scott Snyder has been doing a great job of ramping up the suspense and the stakes in the stories he’s writing. He’s challenging everything we know about these heroes, the villains, the relationships between them and ultimately who is right and wrong. Every cliffhanger is more intense than the last one and the uncertainty of where it’s going to go next makes the read more exciting. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Luthor this realized, Sinestro this scary or Grodd this menacing. This is a legion of doom that will haunt your dreams. They almost seem to work better as a team than the League because it doesn’t look like Luthor is hiding as much from them as J’onn seems to be and that is scary.
Jorge Jimenez’s art is both brilliant in its detail and surreal in its beauty, especially in the backgrounds and space scenes. He has a great use of focus in many of the scenes, but leaves so much visually to consume that you are able to take in the focus and enjoy the backgrounds equally. This is definitely a series that continues to grab my attention with each issue.