The Justice League Dark is on their back foot unsure of how to win the coming fight. It turns out though, they’ve already lost. Spoilers for Justice League Dark #17 follow.
The first couple of parts of “The Witching War” have been very much a slow burn. Now with this latest issue, Justice League Dark is picking up the pace and throwing the team into the deep end with no way out. This issue takes everything that the series has been doing well and does it yet again. The combination of horror and effective character work is why this series has always been great and it is again in this issue.
Much of this issue revolves around Circe, who has now taken over Wonder Woman’s body. Not only that though, it details what is essentially her origin story. It’s suitably horrifying and perfect for the character while also tying it into the mythology that has been built into this series. Then when it comes to present, her possession of Wonder Woman is creepy as well in subtler ways. Probably the creepiest thing that this issue does with that is by having her transform Wonder Woman’s outfit. It’s incredibly subtle, but it emphasizes that Circe is transforming Diana’s body to fit her own.
The scariest parts of this issue though are when Circe transforms others. First, when she transforms the ancient city that betrayed her into sheep, it’s terrifying. Then when she takes away Zatanna’s mouth, forcing Zatanna to literally cut her mouth open. This issue doesn’t have moments that are quite as scary as previous issues in the series but is still very effective. There’s a lot of fun to be had with the horror in this series and this issue proves why.
While Alvaro Martinez Bueno isn’t present for art duties in this issue, Javi Fernandez fills in quite well. His art is as mind-bending as much of Bueno’s art is, but it doesn’t need to be in this issue. His art is much simpler and more stylized than many of the artists who have worked on this series, which works well. The layouts in this issue work well at conveying both the horror and the story, making for an extremely well-paced read. His art feels right at home in this series and it shows.
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