blurred_view's Justice League of America #56 - Eclipso Rising, Part Three: The Battle for Emerald City review

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    Eclipso Rises, The Justice League Keeps Falling

    After being derailed by the Reign of Doomsday crossover, the Rise of Eclipso tries to get itself back on track and is basically successful. However, regaining the story's momentum is a whole different matter.


    Eclipso resumes being the star of this story arc. What little narration there is in this issue is mostly his, and he certainly comes off as being a genuine threat to everyone. So far, this story arc seems to be more about elevating Eclipso's status as a villain than anything else, and James Robinson is doing well in that regard.

    The action is entertaining but also very chaotic. Besides a big fight, it is hard to get a sense of what is actually happening. Eclipso is presumably conquering the emerald city on the moon, but we only see that going on in the background of a select few splash pages. The arrival of some reserve members of the Justice League makes for a cool moment but also only serves to make things more chaotic. It is hard to say how much the plot actually progresses in this issue, since if it does at all, it is mostly obscured by a bunch of fighting.

    Alan Scott, Jade, Obsidian, possession, guest stars galore. It almost feels like we are reading the Dark Things again. While the Dark Things was a pretty solid story, revisiting so much of the same material here is really not appealing. It makes the book feel like it is running in place, only Eclipso has shown up now.

    Another major problem is this story is so busy that it does not leave Robinson much room to focus on his Justice League. The team is this book is poorly realized and in desperate need development. But this story has Supergirl out of the picture, Jade possessed and Jesse Quick basically a nonentity. The inclusion of reservists and Saint Walker really only make it worse. Robinson seems more concerned with plot and guest appearances than having this team come together as a cohesive Justice League.

    Eclipso and the action are the strong points of this issue. The plot staggers along, getting back on track from the Reign of Doomsday issue but not really recovering from it. The Justice League continues to be a disjointed mess of characters with only Starman and Congorilla having anything resembling a group dynamic, and this issue shows little hope of that situation improving. It is becoming rather clear that James Robinson and team books probably should not mix.

    Other reviews for Justice League of America #56 - Eclipso Rising, Part Three: The Battle for Emerald City

      Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Story 0

      Now that Doomsday has come and gone, we can get back into the Eclipso storyline. The Good Just when the anticipated Eclipso story began, it felt like the story was put on hold in order for Doomsday to come in and fight Supergirl. While we did get some awesome insight into Supergirl's character, I wanted to see what was happening with Eclipso and Emerald City. It feels like James Robinson and Brett Booth have been working together for months as the art seems to flow and capture each action scene....

      7 out of 7 found this review helpful.

      Rooting for Robinson 0

      The Good: Action scenes are HUGE and crazy.I LOVE the use of the JLA reserves. It makes this feel more like a 'JLA' story instead of the ragtag team of mostly second stringers we've been seeing. And I love the use of Zauriel.The inner monologues we get from Eclipso and Bruce are new and interesting as well as extremely entertaining. It's different to get so much into the head of a villain, especially one on this scale, and especially in this kind of series, but like Omega Man before, it works re...

      5 out of 6 found this review helpful.

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