Justice League Unlimited got off to a hot start as the first issue fully put over for the DC Universe iconic superhero team. Expanding on the idea behind the Justice League to become similar to their JLU counterparts in the DC Animated Universe was a great next step. It showed that Absolute Power did have great consequences to the DCU and that the DC All In direction is about stepping forward rather than back to the same-old thing. Let’s see if that momentum is continued with Justice League Unlimited #2.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #2 SOLICITATION
“INTO THE NEST OF THE PARADEMON! As the Justice League grapples with the ramifications of the Atom Project, a strange alert brings the team to the jungles of South America… and a horrific discovery. Can the elite Justice League strike force save a village from total slaughter? Plus… the mystery of the Darkseid heir deepens, and dissension in the ranks forces Batman’s hand.” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Justice League Unlimited #2 not only continued to push the momentum created by its debut issue forward but elevate it to an even higher level. Reading through this comic book genuinely felt like you are getting multiple comic books all in one. It is done in an approach that is reminiscent of an anthology comic book but all with one cohesive narrative through seamless transitions between different scenes.
It is truly impressive seeing how Mark Waid and Dan Mora is so on point that everything in Justice League Unlimited #2. There isn’t a moment where one character seems less than. That is not an easy thing to pull off now that the team has been expanded to include just about every hero in the DC Universe.
A great example of this is the splash page that included Superman, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Martian Manhunter, Mary Marvel’s Shazam, Star Saphire, and Doctor Occult. This team was presented as a big deal even if they are not all the classic seven originals. A lot of that credit to that goes to Dan Mora’s excellent artwork. He just makes the team look larger than life as they charge in to help Batman stop the rampaging Parademons.
Showing an understanding of how to keep up this momentum Waid makes sure to emphasize Batman’s greatest strength as a Justice League member. That is quickly creating a strategy to optimize the team powers and chemistry. Batman immediately having Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel find and destroy the Parademons nest while Martian Manhunter and Dr. Occult track down the missing showed this.
This in turn also helped elevate the threat level of the Parademons the Justice League were fighting. The reader understood that it couldn’t simply be the Justice League overpowering or outnumbering their foes to win the day. They needed to have a careful plan that was executed with urgency. Something that Batman could only pull with the unique roster that was assembled with this roster.
Through this Waid was also able to dive further into the fallout from Absolute Power and DC All In. On the DC All In portion, the Parademons being led by one of their own who gained sentience gets across how destabilizing Darkseid’s status quo is. Not having Darkseid in the current DCU has led to a big void in the universe. This Parademon threat the Justice League faces appear to just be the start of how the universe could fill the void Darkseid left behind.
On a more personal level, learning that Martian Manhunter is one of the characters impacted by the superpower shifting fallout from Absolute Power was eyebrow raising revelation. Having a major character as powerful as Martian Manhunter impacted gives more credibility to this problem created by what Amanda Waller did to the heroes. Even though he has his shapeshifting and strength powers back not having all his abilities back is a big problem.
With how powerful his telepathy has been shown to be the revelation someone else may have this Martian Manhunter power could be game changing depending on who it is. We even get an example of this danger with the mission Atom Smasher and the Atom take on. While they are able to stop the person that went out of control with their new powers it likely won’t always be this easy. Especially for whoever has Martian Manhunter’s former telepathy will be a big challenge.
How this changes Martian Manhunter as a character added to the problem. It was really hard seeing the way Martian Manhunter tried to make up for his loss of powers so he wouldn’t be, as he said, sidelined. There is clearly more going on with Martian Manhunter and he can no longer hide his personal problems. It is a strong subplot that is hopefully explored to its fullest in Justice League Unlimited.
The sub-plot with Air Wave being a mole on the team continues to be handled well. Having him being the obvious mole not being hidden from the reader does create more questions about this subplot’s direction. This double agent story wouldn’t have been given away so quickly if there wasn’t more than a villain or another organization keeping tabs on the Justice League Unlimited. What more there is to this story will be interesting to see.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Justice League Unlimited #2 is no doubt about it home run follow-up to its debut issue. Mark Waid and Dan Mora masterfully juggle multiple plotlines with a massive cast without any issue. Everything about this comic book feels like a reading a big event, exactly how the Justice League should be presented.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10
For more opinions on anime, comic book, movies, and sports you can follow Kevin on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X.