Scott Snyder continues to dish out one exciting and action-packed read after another on Justice League. The Justice/Doom War is hitting its crescendo. I am confident that Justice League #37 is going to be another fun read. Let’s go ahead and hit this review!
Words: Scott Snyder
Art: Jorge Jimenez
Colors: Alejandro Sanchez
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Lex telling our heroes to not be stupid and to surrender. Jarro says that Batman is nowhere near that smart and that they are about to get stupid in here. Batman agrees and says they will be getting so stupid it hurts. (Seriously. This is the panel of the month. Fantastic.)
Lex, in the Hall of Doom, attacks and orders his hybrid human/martian soldiers to kill all of the heroes. Batman, in the Hall of Justice, attacks and our heroes then rush into battle.
Inside of the Hall of Justice, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Alan Scott, original Starman, and alternate Earth Starman hold hands and stand around the Totality. Our heroes are all connected to a positive universal force. That if they channel those forces through the Totality they can supercharge it and the symbol of Justice will appear in the sky.
We see the symbol of Justice beginning to appear in the sky. Suddenly, there is a massive explosion. The totality begins to break apart. Our heroes’ connection has been broken and Miss Martian says that she can no longer reach anyone. Our heroes realize that they need Shayne and Kendra in order to succeed.
We cut to far out in the universe where the Anti-Monitor is attacking Kendra. Anti-Monitor says that once he strips Kendra’s wings off of her that she will no longer have a connection with the totality. Anti-Monitor is just about to kill Kendra when the Anti-Monitor looks around and asks if they hear a car horn.
Suddenly, John Stewart, in the Flashmobile, bursts on the scene. John drives the Flashmobile into the Anti-Monitor causing a giant explosion. The massive impact causes the Monitor and the World Forger to be separated from the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor says that he will absorb his brothers once again.
John Stewart then tends to Kendra. Shayne says that the World Forger has the power to open portals and can send them back to Earth. The World Forger says that his powers are drained from being absorbed by the Anti-Monitor. The World Forgers says that he will use his remaining power to kill the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor then calls out for help from his mother, Perpetua.
We cut to Perpetua holding Earth-44 in her hands. Perpetua asks Dr. Will Tornado if Earth-44 will side with Doom. Dr. Tornado says that Perpetua can go to hell.
Suddenly, Perpetua hears Anti-Monitor’s cries for help. Perpetua then takes Earth-44 and throws it at the location in the universe of John, Kendra, Shayne, the Monitor, the World Forger, and the Anti-Monitor. (It appears that this kills everyone on Earth-44.)
We cut to Shayne saying that he heard the psychic pain and screaming from something Perpetua has done. The Monitor says that Perpetua has hurled an entire planet at them. The Monitor says that the impact will kill all of them.
The World Forger says that he may not have the power to strike his hammer hard enough to create a portal. But, that the impact of Earth-44 might be enough to create a small gateway. World Forger says that he has reformed in the past. But, with Perpetua in control that may no longer be possible. Still, the World Forger is willing to risk his life.
The World Forger picks up his hammer. The World Forger then hits Earth-44 right as it is about to crash into them.
We hop back to our heroes battling Lex’s army. Our heroes are getting overwhelmed by the human/martian hybrid army. Lex, in the Hall of Doom, has the upper hand on Batman, in the Hall of Justice. Inside the Hall of Justice, original Starman says that he can feel something. Superman, Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman all say that they can feel a strengthening, too. Superman tells the heroes to reach out again. Miss Martian then uses her powers to direct Shayne and Kendra to their location. We see a massive white flash appear in the room.
We see Lex shooting down the Hall of Justice. Lex exits the Hall of Doom and walks to the crashed Hall of Justice. Suddenly, there is a massive flash of light from the Hall of Justice. We then see the symbol of Justice appear in the sky.
Perpetua contacts Lex and asks what has happened. Perpetua says that the energy in their area has tilted away from Doom.
We then see Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, John Stewart, Kendra, and Miss Martian walking out of the bright light. Our heroes are all glowing bright with the power of the totality. Kendra is holding the totality in her hands. Superman says that the heroes now have a fighting chance. End of issue.
The Good: Justice League #37 is a blast to read. Scott Snyder is clearly having an insanely fun time writing this title. Snyder’s joy shines through on every page of this story. It is great to see a writer who loves the superhero genre in such an unabashed fashion.
Justice League #37 is another incremental installment in Snyder’s epic war between Justice and Doom. Snyder’s approach to this massive war is much like how Dragon Ball Z would handle major fights. There are constant power-ups. Constant swerves. Constant sudden comebacks. Snyder has an amazing feel for the natural ebb and flow of a large scale war. I know this approach may not work with all readers, but it certainly is a success for me.
There is no doubt that the main focus of Justice League #37 is placed upon the fighting. However, Snyder also delivers plenty of his usual quality character work, too. Snyder does a nice job with all of the characters despite the fact that this is not a character-driven story. Snyder clearly understands the personalities of each character and the role that they play in such a large scale conflict.
I also appreciate the few moments of levity and comedic relive that Snyder delivers in Justice League #37. This is a serious story dealing with a war to determine the fate of the Multiverse. It is smart for Snyder to pick his moments judiciously to insert some well-timed comedic relief in order to keep the story fun. Snyder also does a fantastic job making sure that the comedic relief in Justice League #37 never feels forced and is consistent with the characters in those scenes.
The panels with Jarro talking about how Batman is not smart enough to surrender and how they were about to get real stupid was more fantastic comedic relief from Jarro. Batman’s one-line response to Jarro that things were about to get so stupid that it hurts is pure gold. Snyder continues to make Jarro the breakout character of his run on Justice League. And there is no team-up that can compare to the father/son duo of Batman and Jarro. Sorry, Damien!
The other bit of comedic relief is when John Stewart runs into the Anti-Monitor. Having the Anti-Monitor hear a car horn beep first was excellent. This was a nice playful moment that worked well with that scene in the story.
Justice League #37 is well-plotted and paced. Snyder delivers a tightly written issue that is focused and drives forward with a purpose. Snyder manipulates the pacing of this story perfectly. This is a quick-paced read that logically assembles all of the chess pieces on the table for the climactic final battle between Justice and Doom.
The five-page opening scene kicks off Justice League #37 in an exciting fashion. Snyder is able to quickly convey the massive scale of this conflict. This scene helps set the stage and the scope for this issue that continues the epic feel of the Justice/Doom War.
The three-page scene of our heroes trying to reach out to the various Universal Forces and trying to channel them into the totality is well done. This scene helps set up the tension with our heroes failing in their initial endeavor. Snyder is able to place feelings of hopelessness in the reader. Snyder also uses this scene to stress the importance of rescuing Shayne and Kendra. Also, Snyder is able to effectively continue the theme of our heroes having their faith tested once again. The theme of faith in justice is a long-running important theme to Scott Snyder’s run on Justice League. This scene helps to reinforce that theme and to show that even in the face of defeat that our heroes shall never give up their faith in themselves or in Justice.
Next is the three-page scene with Anti-Monitor, Kendra, Shayne, and John. This was a cool scene. I love the Flashmobile. Seeing John use the Flashmobile to take out Anti-Monitor is a great moment. John Stewart also gets a nice moment to shine, as well. With this scene, Snyder is able to deliver the first sudden setback for Perpetua with the Anti-Monitor being split apart from the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor. This is the scene where Snyder gives the reader some hope that the tide may be beginning to turn for their heroes.
Snyder then gives us a four-page scene of Perpetua attacking Earth-44 and then throwing it at our heroes. This is an excellent scene. Snyder delivers some strong character work on the World Forger in this scene. This is a perfect ending to World Forger’s character arc. Back in Justice League #25, the World Forger revealed that he had no faith in the Justice League being able to defeat Perpetua. The World Forger had no faith at all in the Justice League’s plan being successful. Well, in this scene, Snyder has World Forger full of faith in the Justice League being able to stop Perpetua. It is World Forger’s faith that allows him to sacrifice himself in order to send John, Kendra, Shayne, and the Monitor back to Earth. Snyder absolutely stuck the landing with World Forger’s character arc.
Snyder ends Justice League #37 with an exciting five-page final scene. This is a well-orchestrated scene that properly sets the stage for our heroes’ dramatic comeback. Again, Snyder shows a deft touch for the organic ebb and flow of war. This ending also delivers a strong hook ending that gets the reader pumped to come back for the next issue to see the climactic showdown to this epic tale.
Jorge Jimenez delivers tons of strong artwork. Jimenez delivers several dramatic double-page splash shots at the beginning of Justice League #37 that properly set the massive scale for this conflict. Jimenez injects tremendous amounts of energy into the story, too. This is a vivid looking issue that has creative panel layouts and plenty of dramatic and cool shots.
Lastly, I know that I never comment on an issue’s cover. However, I absolutely must address Justice League #37’s cover. I love it. Dialogue bubbles on a cover is an old school approach. This is something that has rarely been seen in covers in decades. Justice League #37’s cover is a brilliant example of how dialogue bubbles can add so much drama and entice the reader to pick up this issue. Lex’s line and Perpetua’s line are both fantastic and certainly got me excited to read this issue.
The Bad: I have no criticisms with this issue.
Overall: Justice League #37 is another entertaining read. Scott Snyder is about to take this story to another level as we head to the massive final conflict in the Justice/Doom war. If you have not hopped aboard this title then you definitely should do so. Justice League remains the gold standard for superhero team titles.
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