The Justice League Dark is on its heels as Circe’s forces drive them further into desperation. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman must bargain with the Upside-Down Man for the soul of the universe. Spoilers for Justice League Dark #18 follow.
Since the series began, Justice League Dark has been one of my favorite, if not my favorite, series that has been released. Every issue has been great with not a dud of the bunch, which is kind of incredible in comics. Now, with “The Witching War” hitting its climax, Justice League Dark could easily fall apart as many endings do. However, the series somehow keeps its quality high while also building upon everything that’s come before.
Magic can automatically make traditionally standard scenes more interesting and that’s what happens here. Basically, the entire issue is a stand-off between Circe and a door, the Justice League Dark trying to make a plan, and Wonder Woman negotiating. Described like that, this issue sounds awful, and it easily could’ve been. However, because James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno are a great team and know to use magic, they manage to create a wonderful issue. There are plenty of horrific sequences as well which fit perfectly into this story.
The two best parts of this issue though fall onto Wonder Woman and Zatanna. It’s rare to see Wonder Woman in such a vulnerable position, as she is in this issue, and her character manages to stay the same. Sure, she’s hedging her bets, but seeing her try to negotiate her way with a creature that doesn’t follow her rules was never going to end. It’s a great look into how far Diana is willing to go and how confident in herself she is, unlike everyone else on her team.
As for Zatanna, her conversation with Constantine is just brutal. Zatanna is one of the strongest characters in DC canon, both power-set and spiritually, so to see her tore down as low as she is her, it hurts. It also builds very organically into her potentially letting loose Eclipso, which is obviously a bad idea. But, given how desperate she is shown to be in this issue, it would make sense for her to think that this is the way.
As mentioned, Bueno’s art is once again terrific in this issue. He’s one of the rare artists that can handle both the larger than life, grandiose aspects of comics, while also playing around with the medium in the same issue. As he’s done several times before in this series, there are times where he plays around with 2D space to make striking visuals that make the horror visceral. This goes the same for the fantasy elements in this issue. Basically, it looks like it could straight out of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, which is high praise.