Now that their mysterious new member has been revealed, the Justice League Odyssey must protect their ship from the Eskaton. Spoilers for Justice League Odyssey #15 follow.
Over the past couple issues, there’s been a lot of change happening to the team in Justice League Odyssey. Who we thought were going to be the heroes of the series have become the villains and the antagonists have become the protagonists. And the series, while it was good before, has become much better ever since Dan Abnett has been able to forge his own way on the series.
The best part about this issue, like the past couple of issues, is that there is finally a focus point. Prior to the turnover in the team, there really was no focus on which character was supposed to be the audience’s eyes for the series. Now though, that character has become Jessica Cruz, which is very smart. Much like Jessica is right now, the audience is thrown into an unfamiliar situation and team, so by giving the focus to Jessica, the reader feels what she is feeling. Learning new powers? The audience learns along with her. Adjusting to the new team? The audience adjusts with Jessica. She’s always been the heart of the book, so it’s wonderful to see the series actually acknowledging that now.
The rest of the team does get some really fun play in this issue as well. Blackfire and Orion have some great banter between each that’s often darkly comedic and puts Orion in his place. Then there’s Dex-Starr. He’s such a cat in this issue. At one point, he negotiates with the Eskaton in order to delay the rest of the team’s death. It’s a very cunning move that is very fitting of a cat. It’s also ridiculous in such a perfect way for a book like Justice League Odyssey.
Will Conrad makes his return as an artist for the series after taking last month off and it’s a welcome return. He’s really made this series his own over the past six months or so and it’s easy to tell that he’s passionate about the series. He manages to make every issue he draws bombastic and exciting, but also very focused on the characters involved. It’s rare when his characters are small in the panel which really helps pull the reader into the issue and emphasize with the characters. There are times where his art isn’t perfect and could use some more emotional emphasis, but so much of it is great and draws you in.