Dark Horse Comics/DC Comics: Justice League Volume 2 TPB Comic Review
Summary: An assortment of you favourite DC characters tangling with other franchises gives rise to some interesting stories.
3.7
Super Variety
Crossover stories are always interesting… sometimes for better sometimes for worse. In this collection of Dark Horse and DC Comics cross over there’s a grab bag that should provide entertainment for all readers. Though starting with a story that feels very familiar in idea or matched opponents, like for like seemingly being unstoppable.. til a change of partners (trying to be a little cryptic to not give it all away). Moving on to Green Lantern quite rightly being sent out to stop one of the universes biggest known pests… or “bugs” if you will. Batman then teams with Tarzan to help restore justice to the people of Memnon. Rounded out by Young Justice there is certainly something here for everyone.
Writing
I would have to say my favourite of all the stories in this collection for the sake of writing is Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-woman. The idea of putting Bruce Wayne in a position in which he has helped fund a wonderful museum exhibit only to find that in doing so he has supported the attack and abuse of a remote peoples and trying to figure out how to right that wrong creates a great sense of unwitting conflict for Batman. As mentioned earlier, the first story rings very familiar… I’m sure the core notion has been played out in other stories… but in saying that it is still entertaining.
Artwork
The artwork is bit hit and miss to be blunt. While some stories look quite lovely, namely the Green Lantern Versus Aliens, others have a bit more of a rushed or unpolished look such as the Batman/Tarzan tale. Young Justice is suitably full of bright colours and feels very vibrant throughout. Everyone has their own style and taste and the different stories each have a different feel through artwork alone. For some the clean precision images may be their taste… for others that more frenetic, edgy style might be more their thing. Again because this is a collection, if one style doesn’t suit your taste there should be another that fits your preferences.
Final Thoughts
There are some interesting cross over stories here and some of them work so well together that they seem a real natural fit (Batman and Tarzan… especially their banter about their different styles all for the sake of protecting their homes). Some familiar foes get a new twist, others are the same as they always are… but are fearsome none the less. If you like your Justice League characters but want something a bit different… to see them battling someone or something they don’t normally have contact with… this could be the book for you.
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Ron Marz, Peter David, John Ostrander
Artist: Pop Mhan, Todd Nauck, Rick Leonardi, Graham Nolan, Igor Kordey
Colourist: Guy Major, Dave Stewart, Chris Chuckry, Jim Sinclair
Cover Artist: Graham Nolan, Randy Elliot
Genre: Superhero
Format: 336 Pages FC, TPB
Release Date: 8th March 2017
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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