Mind Games
I don't think David Finch really understood the point of the foldout covers. What's on the other half is painfully obvious alone, not even mentioning that Catwoman #19 was released BEFORE this issue which this issue sets up, continues, and partially contradicts. But I'm willing to lay the heavier part of the blame on Ann Nocenti for that because, as I've said before, she's just awful.
So, explain to me how Steve Trevor and most of the team is dumb enough to think they're fighting the real Trinity? Batman's freaking face is so blatantly robotic that... oh wait. Between issues his face changed from robotic to realistic. So there's a plot hole there either way. Wonder Woman's costume is totally different, and I feel like... Martian Manhunter couldn't take two seconds to say "HEY GUYS THESE ARE ROBOTS SO DON'T HOLD BACK" ? Would've saved them some trouble. And I liked the idea, but when it leads to Steve Trevor having his epiphany that "It's the Justice League vs. the Justice League" to spell out the meaning behind the battle it kind of ruins it. The point of the team IS to fight the Justice League, and you're JUST NOW realizing they can go toe-to-toe with them? Vibe's inexperienced attack kind of saved the tone by digging better into the interactions and variety on the team.
But speaking of that, where the hell is Baz? This could EASILY be said to take place after Green Lantern #20, having him gone from the series for the first three issues is so damn awkward.
The scene repeated from Catwoman #19 plays out much better than in that issue, because it manages to sneak in some more big developments and play around with the dynamic a bit more. But seriously, why don't we know who the leader is yet?
Once again though, Matt Kindt with the Martian Manhunter backup steals the show. We all know why Scott Clark can't continue (R.I.P.) even though his art was PERFECT for it, but Manuel Garcia does some pretty damn fine fill-in artwork with the right tone. Especially in the flashbacks to Mars. This story almost ends up being more about Catwoman than J'onn, but it all ties itself together really well, digging deep into a vision of things that have passed and things to come.
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
There was still a lot of the same good, some excellent developments on so many fronts, but there were more holes in this issue than the first two. It's a bit of a transitional issue that's stretching out a lot of things beyond their effective length. But it's still a solid series.
