The Good
JUSTICE LEAGUE #29 gives readers the fight they've been waiting for: Cyborg versus Grid. Luckily, Cyborg has a bit of help from the Metal Men, who are a joy to see in this book. Even though these characters are a bit goofy, at times, it's a nice juxtaposition from the overly-dark and gritty storyline which offers little to no hope to the reader. These elements balance each other out very well.
This is actually a great place for new readers to jump on. Sure, it's in the middle of an arc and ties in heavily to Forever Evil and recent events in JUSTICE LEAGUE, but fans who have been curious will notice that Johns does a great job at catching new readers up to speed and making them feel right at home during this issue.
The art here really gives this book a a nice feel. Doug Mahnke (pencils), Keith Champagne (inks), Christian Alamy (inks), and Rod Reis (colors) do a fine job at telling this story. Mahnke is great at giving the reader establishing shots which a stoic attitude that will really stick with the reader. Reis, as always, dominates the book with his color work. He is fantastic when working with an on-panel light source and setting the tone of a scene with his palate.
The Bad
While this book is great for new readers, it is a ton of repetitious dialogue for those who have been reading since before the Forever Evil story line. You'll feel like you've read all this before. For loyal JUSTICE LEAGUE readers, may be a boring issue.
The scenes of Grid and Cyborg fighting in the "mindscape" are pretty dull and a tad silly. Spoilers: The whole idea of Grid trying to understand why the Metal Men have emotions seems a tad pointless for that character. Grid, who seemed like a real tough cookie for Cyborg, becomes this robotic villain who is beaten by the same trope over and over again: "He can't get an answer to the question 'Why?'"
The Metal Men are a little goofy and that's expected from those characters, so there's a pass there; however, these characters get caught up a lot in describing their powers to the reader, over and over again. It's insulting to the reader, at times, when they have to be told what Mercury is or that Gold and Platinum are made of expensive metals.
The Verdict
JUSTICE LEAGUE #29 is fun and pretty good, but not great. It provides a story that is much more suited for brand new readers than anything else, since it feels more like recap and reintroductions rather than brand new story. The last portion of this book was a bit silly, but overall, readers do get the fight they're waiting for and it is a bit of fun. The art is pretty solid throughout, but the colors of Reis really shine here. Overall, it was an ok read and gets a mild recommendation.
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