Ambushed Circe, Wonder Woman must fend for her soul against the power of Hecate and Circe combined. Minor spoilers for Justice League Dark #16 follow.
Justice League Dark has continuously been the best series that DC has been publishing for the past year or so. Every issue channels horror and superheroes so well that it can’t really be defined by a singular genre. Now, genre-bending does not a good comic make. Rather, story and character does. And that’s what this series has always done well, bringing excellent story and characters to the page. Now, with so much character work having been done over the past year, plot takes over and it’s still great.
This present storyline, “The Witching War,” is basically an encapsulation of everything that’s occurred up until this point of the series. Even still, it is continuing to add to the lore of the DC universe in an effective way. Everything that’s added makes so much sense within the universe and its honestly shocking that this is the first time its being explained. It all just feels natural to have these explanations in universe.
But where this issue thrives is with Bobo and Wonder Woman. Despite being chased by a mutated Man-Bat, Bobo is still his old, drunken, detective self. It’s very fun watching him figure out how to trap Man-Bat in a way that’s very fitting for the character yet still effective. And even past that, this issue really puts emphasis on the idea of how smart he is. He’s one of the smartest people on the team, so it would only make sense that he would understand that what’s going on in this issue, and previous issues, is just a first volley.
As for Wonder Woman, this issue focuses entirely on her tense, gripping fight with Circe. Not a physical fight mind you, or even a fight that Diana even has a chance to win, but a fight for her soul. It’s a tense, exciting sequence that really sets up the stakes of the arc, as well as allowing for Diana to be beaten. With one of their strongest hitters off the board, it makes the Justice League Dark’s situation all the more precarious.
Once again though, Alvaro Martinez Bueno’s art expounds upon the fantastic ideas that James Tynion IV is putting down on paper. His mutated Man-Bat is absolutely horrifying and channels some of the best elements that he’s done on the series so far. The chase is quick, but exhilarating because of his art.
In the spiritual world though, it’s completely different style that accompanies the horror. The way that he shows a captured Wonder Woman as prism-like is a great visual, but also very unsettling. It’s perfect for what’s happening and keeping in line with visuals presented prior in the series. Fernando Blanco also joins Bueno during this section for a couple of pages and it’s not really noticeable. Their styles are different, but they don’t clash at all and work very well together.