Despite a major player in the Darkseid War seemingly meeting their end, there's still plenty left to the story. We just had a series of one-shots showing several of the Justice League characters adjusting to becoming gods and we still have Grail and her mom plus Metron running around. If that wasn't enough, other familiar faces on Apokolips have arrived to add to the trouble and fun.
There are some very cool moments in this issue such as the reunion of two characters, the return of some of the transformed Justice League members, and a lot of the dialogue that builds up the anticipation for the rest of the series. Francis Manapul's art and colors are fantastic, as always. The main issue I had was it felt like a lot of smaller moments in an arc where we've seen some pretty big developments. Also, at no fault to this particular issue, the one-shots have kind of made it feel like it's been even longer since issue the last issue was released.
Being that we're in the second act of the overall story, it's easy to dive in and lose yourself in the story. There are moments we've been looking forward to seeing. With the additional characters showing up, there's room for the story to continue to develop.
I'm still torn over how this book is isolated from the rest of the DC Universe. I try not to dwell upon it because the story is so enjoyable. I feel like I could just get lost in this series and not have to worry about the characters' appearances in their solo books. Still, as a comic book reader, we can't help but think about continuity. I do want to see what's developing here explored further but selfishly, it's hard to wait on the monthly schedule (although issue 47 is scheduled for a 12/30 release).
I mentioned Manapul's art. He does a great job with the characters. At times the backgrounds felt too empty but I'm just eager to see Manapul draw every single character in the DC Universe at some point. With all the characters popping in here, we're off to a good start. Just keep in mind before you get used to Manapul here, Jason Fabok is returning next issue. How about they each handle the art and the book comes out twice a month?
Geoff Johns' big story continues to deliver. Despite the big death a few issues ago, we're seeing there is still a lot left to the story. Francis Manapul has been doing a great job with the art. We see a lot of seeds planted in this issue. There's clearly set up being done for the rest of the story. The moments are cool but don't quite contain the bombastic caliber we've seen so far. Things go at a steady pace throughout and escalate quickly at the end, leaving us with a bit of a cliffhanger. This is has been an extremely satisfying event. It's not often we can say that. I'm already counting down the days until the next issue.