By: Matthew Rapier
Justice League #13 sets the end of the extensive battle with David Graves and welcomes in a new threat from a classic familiar foe, Cheetah. Wonder Woman has generally been associated with the character and she makes it known to the leaguers that they don’t have to step in and help because this is her problem to handle. They gladly show encouragement with facing this threat with her as Steve Trevor seems to be getting lost in the shuffle and left out because of his recent capture by Graves and the condition his body was in afterwards.
The League gathers to form a plan in bringing down Cheetah and during the battle Superman is bitten, turning him into a cheetah being as well.
Sometimes you go out to a bar to have some good fun and as the night progresses you realize how smoky it has become inside, which causes you to step out for a big inhale of fresh air. That’s exactly what Justice League #13 feels like to me. I am glad Johns decided to bring in a new threat for the League after strongly opening with Darkseid, but the story seemed to go on longer than it needed to and Jim Lee’s art became increasingly less pleasant to look at.
This can all depend on art preferences as well and me not being a huge fan of Lee probably has effect on me enjoying Tony Daniel’s art here. The splash page of Wonder Woman and Cheetah colliding is phenomenal and his Batman is on par with his recent work in Detective Comics. If I have a gripe it is with his rendition of Steve Trevor, who never has one definitive look in any of the panels he appears in. Other than this little hiccup Tony Daniel is welcome back on this book any time as far as I’m concerned.
Johns crafted a pretty fun and standard story which reminded me a lot of pre New 52 tales you’d find in the JLA book. There is a moment where Wonder Woman and Superman ask Cyborg and Flash to step out of the room while they can speak in private and the banter between the latter two is top-notch. Cyborg questions whether or not he can be considered human and Flash helps him to lighten up with a clever joke.
This story is planned as a two-parter so I’m hoping the second installment is just as strong as this one. Having Darkseid as the first main threat would be a tough act to follow from anyone and that may have caused the David Graves story to seem a little flat by comparison. With a long-established villain and solid writing combined with stellar art, Justice League seems to be back on track to earn the spot at the top.
Overall Grade: 8/10
Superhero SciFi 