Justice League: Last Ride has delivered a fun “final” adventure for DC Comics most iconic team. This adventure has led the Justice League to fall for Darkseid’s big final plan that he had brewing for years. That plan included Darkseid gaining a power up as he has essentially absorbed the power of the Green Lantern Power Battery. With this latest power up to the already unstoppable Darkseid can the Justice League come together one last time to stop the big bad from Apokolips? Let’s find out with Justice League: Last Ride #7.
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Miguel Mendonca
Colorist: Enrica Angiolni
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: With the power of Oa giving him a new form Martian Manhunter helps Wonder Woman fight Darkseid.
Meanwhile, seeing Cyborg Superman carrying a kryptonite knife, Batman tackles Cyborg Superman. In the process he plants a bomb on Cyborg Superman before the villain throws him to the side. Batman calls out to Superman. Seeing what Batman did, Superman fires a powerful heat vision blast that destroys Cyborg Superman.
Batman then collapses as Cyborg Superman stabbed him with the kryptonite knife.
Back in space, Martian Manhunter gets overwhelmed by Darkseid. Seeing this John Stewart unites with Martian Manhunter to fight Darkseid together.
Elsewhere Hal Jordan asks the power of Oa flowing out of Apokolips to help him stop Darkseid.
Elsewhere, Lobo mocks Flash and Wonder Woman about having done his job. Lobo is rewarded by getting his head chopped off by Wonder Woman, knowing the villain would survive but take time to grow his body back.
Wonder Woman and Flash then join Superman as they try to tend to Batman’s wound.
They don’t get a lot of time as Darkseid has defeated Martian Manhunter and John Stewart. Darkseid then opens up Boom Tube portals to launch Boom Nukes to destroy the Justice League.
Hal Jordan suddenly appears as a Green Lantern again and has created constructs of all the Justice League members past and present to help fight Darkseid.
Martian Manhunter sees that Batman is injured and goes to help. He convinces Superman to let him heal Batman with his new powers while Superman and the others fight Darkseid.
Darkseid gets overwhelmed by the team work of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
Seeing that that Boom Nukes are about to touch down Darkseid decides to escape. Hal uses all of his power to grab all of the Boom Nukes and follows Darkseid into space. Once close enough Hal throws the Boom Nukes at Darkseid, killing him when they go off.
The Justice League all reunite and get ready to go home.
One month later, Lobo final stands trial at the United Planets Assembly. Hal and John reveal to Flash that the United Planets have given the Green Lantern Corps a clean slate and recognize Apokolips as the new Oa.
Over at the abandoned Watchtower Bruce Wayne meets up with Diana Prince and Clark Kent. Bruce admits that he realizes that the Justice League existed not for a show of power but because of trust. Martian Manhunter, who reveals he has essentially become a new Guardian of the Universe as he has bonded to Oa, says that the Justice League are needed. Bruce agrees and thinks it is time to take the Justice League beyond Earth and create the Justice League Universal. End of issue.
The Good: One of the things that Chip Zdarsky and Miguel Mendonca nailed throughout Justice League: Last Ride is creating a massive scale for this series. They both understood from a dialogue and artistic standpoint a Justice League story has to feel like the biggest event going on in the DC Universe. And with Last Ride being a standalone series taking place in its own Elseworld Universe that is the opportunity Zdarsky and Mendonca took full advantage of. Justice League: Last Ride #7 really showcases how that was a major strength for the series.
It really doesn’t get bigger than Darkseid in the DC Universe. And even with how often we’ve seen Darkseid positioned as the big bad of a major event Zdarsky and Mendonca found a way to elevate him as a threat. The addition of Darkseid being powered by the power of Oa and the Green Lantern power battery took him to a new level. You understood how Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and John Stewart trying to take Darkseid on alone was foolish. The power on display in the first half of Justice League: Last Ride #7 really made Darkseid appear unstoppable on a whole new level.
That aura that was created for Darkseid made the major reveal of a newly powered up Hal Jordan going all out by creating constructs of every former and present Justice League member work as a “Wow” moment. You got that sense of hype that things were at least turning around for the Justice League as we saw the team spiritually united in a way we’ve never seen before. This developed further put over Darkseid as the big end boss that it took everyone to defeat.
It also made the point of how the Justice League are really even more powerful together rather than fighting as individuals. From Hal’s constructs all fighting Darkseid to Superman and Wonder Woman punching Darkseid at the same time it all pushed the narrative of the Justice League being stronger together. That is a payoff that Justice League: Last Ride was building towards the entire time and its success speaks to the great work Zdarsky and Mendonca put into crafting this story.
There were also a lot of great character specific payoffs that made the entire reading experience of Justice League: Last Ride #7 even more enjoyable. The big one that stood out is obviously the reconciliation of Batman and Superman. By working together to stop Cyborg Superman and Batman sacrificing his life to do so it brought the World’s finest together. This opened the door for Batman and Superman to put aside their differences in a way that felt permanent rather than just the temporary alliance they held for most of this series.
It led to an even more satisfying ending for Justice League: Last Ride #7 with Bruce, Diana, and Clark reuniting in the Watchtower to finally make amends. Bruce being the one to do the reaching out and admitting why he was wrong with his view of the Justice League was something that felt like a long time coming. Diana and Clark understanding how genuine Bruce was being further exemplified how well the Trinity know each other even if they spent so much time away from each other.
I was also glad that it was Hal Jordan that got the final blow on Darkseid rather than Superman or Wonder Woman. Hal was the one who was manipulated by Darkseid for the villain to gain his power up. It was only right for Hal to be the one to get the final shot to give him some sense of revenge so he can move on rather than dwelling on feeling like a traitor to the DC Universe.
All of this made for the fact the United Planets recognize the Green Lantern Corps and Oa again a much deserved conclusion for them. Both Hal and John having spent so much time struggling to reconstructing the Green Lantern Corps has made them realize the weakness of the group in the meantime. We see that maturity with how Hal and John tell Flash that they won’t be making the Green Lantern Corps into the sole policing force in the DC Universe as they once were.
This led to the conclusion of Justice League: Last Ride #7 being Bruce announcing that he wants to take the newly reformed team’s scope beyond Earth an even more intriguing direction. This ending plays into how we saw the United Planets established as a major power in this DC Universe. Now with Bruce looking to take the team into a new direction as the Justice League Universal it looks like we are another step closer to the future that is seen in Legion of Super-Heroes. Which hopefully means we get a sequel series as I would love to see if Zdarsky and Mendonca plan to go that direction or something else entirely.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: The conclusion to Justice League: Last Ride certainly did not disappoint. Chip Zdarsky and Miguel Mendonca did a great job elevating Darkseid as a big bad that made the Justice League’s reunion even more satisfying. This final adventure turning out to be what needed to happen to move the DC Universe forward into the future, as shown with the ending of Justice League: Last Ride #7, was a great way to wrap things up. If you are a Justice League fan, I highly recommend checking out Last Ride when it comes out in trade if you can’t get the single issues.
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