Justice League Unlimited has instantly become the premiere comic book series for DC Comics. Mark Waid and Dan Mora have given the Justice League the big event vibes with each issue of JLU thus far. That is exactly the vibes to expect from a series like the Justice League and Avengers. The question is if that can be kept up as we get deeper into the DC All In direction and beyond. Let’s find out with Justice League Unlimited #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #3 SOLICITATION
“ENTER: THE ATOM PROJECT! The global terrorist group Inferno has taken its next step toward world dominance with an ecological disaster! Will Superman, Wonder Woman, and the others have to sacrifice the life of Swamp Thing? Plus: Plastic Man and Beast Boy work with The Atom Project to fix their scrambled superpowers!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
The timing of Justice League Unlimited #3 telling a story of a squad of the top DC Universe heroes dealing with a wildfire in the Amazon Rainforest hit on a deeper level. It is certainly tough to see this specific story knowing what is going on in California. To Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s credit did made sure this story was executed in a way that shows this was always the planned story for the third issue.
What made the entire story work was how the superheroes responded to this wildfire crisis. Just with the previous story in the first two issues, there was no time wasted with how this Justice League squad dealt with the wildfire. This was a serious crisis that is again showing why we have seen the Justice League Unlimited formed. Mister Terrific and Red Tornado made sure to assemble the best squad possible to respond to this crisis.
Even when seeing the initial squad of Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Star Sapphire, Shazam, Star, and STRIPE the deployment didn’t stop there. As soon as his squad arrives Superman identified the wildfire was caused by hundreds of magical pillars planted across the Amazon. Mister Terrific immediately responds by deploying Zatanna, Xanthe Zhou, Dr. Occult, and the Metal Men from the Watchtower. It’s these little things that help get across how this wildfire was part of a greater plot that takes requires these specific heroes to respond.
This further establishes how the Justice League Unlimited are living up to their mission statement. They aren’t just detailing with stories where Superman and Wonder Woman can punch harder once the enemy is found. Having every hero on call helps make it easy to adjust to whatever developments happen in way that’s not out of left field. Characters like Zatanna and Xanthe Zhou aren’t just plot devices. They are needed characters for this story that is going on.
Seeing the response made the ending with Swamp Thing being lit on fire such a striking visual. It made the scale of this story feel even bigger with Aquaman and Air Wave only being able to watch in horror Swamp Thing consumed by magical fire. Mora really made it look like this was the end of Swamp Thing that will lead to an even bigger magic-based story.
Justice League Unlimited #3 also made a great way to establish Air Wave’s power set, especially for those who didn’t read Absolute Power. It was needed as thus far Air Wave has been treated as someone who is using their minor character status to work their mole sub-plot. While that sub-plot is very much part of Air Wave’s character, we at least see his powers being utilized well. His powers are shown as a powerful communication asset for such a big crisis that we can now picture him involved in future JLU stories even more.
Adding to the JLU mission statement is how we see two other stories going on. One of them was only briefly touched on with Batman looking for a missing Martian Manhunter. Knowing how hard of a time Martian Manhunter is having with his current power problem made this short segment hit hard. It made you want to see this story of Batman finding Martian Manhunter in full. And hopefully we do see more time dedicated in future issues with other Justice Leaguers helping out.
Then there is the Atom Project segment we have seen going on in the background of the last two issues. The way Justice League Unlimited #3 presented got over the importance of this story. That was done by showing how the power swap can have horrifying results as we see that Phantom Girl suffering from being unable to use Plastic Man’s powers correctly. It shows how important training to control powers are. And with how sudden the power swap happened it meant that the people who get different powers would immediately lose control. With how the Atoms helped Plastic Man and Phantom Girl’s power back to one another it was the best selling point for the spinoff Atom Project mini-series.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Justice League Unlimited #3 drives home why the current state of the DC Universe requires the heroes to be united under the JLU banner. The efficient way the JLU dealt with the magical wildfire gave big event vibes for a monthly ongoing series. It is exactly how a Justice League comic book should come across. The additional sub-plots helped get across this is DC Comics most important comic book.
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
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