Justice League: Throne of Atlantis

Background

The Justice League has fought Darkseid and faced their own failures. Now, it is time for one of their own to choose to fight by his people or by the side of the Justice League.

Review

This book starts off with Wonder Woman in battle with her nemesis The Cheetah. What should have been enough of a battle for a solo Wonder Woman comic, the Justice League had to get involved and honestly it seemed like it was just a point to get Superman bit by Cheetah so he could go crazed and fight his own teammates. Not that the fight and story with Cheetah wasn’t good, it just seemed like she wasn’t enough for a Justice League team-up.

That then morphed into Superman taking Wonder Woman to Smallville as their relationship continued to blossom. This was a nice interlude, with Superman showing her why he fights as a hero. This is also where we learn that Batman is always watching his teammates and proves how untrustworthy he really is, even with his best friend.

However, the book really kicks into high gear in the next issue as a sabotaged missile is launched and strikes Atlantis. That brings Aquaman’s brother Mantis to the surface with the armies of Atlantis to declare war on America. Now, this story is all kinds of exciting and I loved Aquaman trying to explain the attack while Batman just sees it as an attack on American soil and Atlantians being the villains.

I will be honest, I normally don’t like issues like this because I see Aquaman’s point of view. The people of Atlantis feels they were attacked and that America was declaring war on them. They retaliated, taking American lives in exchange for those lost when the missile hit Atlantis. However, at the same time, it really gave this book more depth than I am used to in a comic and worked well as a story.

I did like the twist, and who was responsible, but I didn’t like the fact that Mantis was imprisoned above land for the crimes against America since he was defending his own country (by lethal force though). It is an issue filled with more questions than answers and that makes it – in my eyes – great storytelling.

I also absolutely loved when Cyborg called in the Justice League reserves. People like Green Arrow, Firestorm, Black Canary, Hawkman (who Batman hates), Zatanna and more came into fight in place of the Justice League after they were swept into the depths of the ocean. I also loved the artwork and felt the art really made this entire story feel even more epic. Fantastic work all around.

The prologue set up the trinity war that is coming between the Justice League and Justice League of America. It also showed the battlelines drawn with the villains and brought Amanda Waller into the mix.

Next Week’s Preview

The Trinity War is underway in a very disjointed book.

As always, if you have any ideas for books you want to see reviewed in the Renegade Rack or you are an independent comic book creator with a book you would like considered, feel free to get in touch with me either in the comments or drop me an email.

Until next week, keep reading.