REVIEW: Justice League Unlimited #5

Justice League Unlimited #5, “Ghosts Of The Past” launches us into the ‘We Are Yesterday’ crossover event as we get our first introduction this universes take on The Legion Of Doom.

But before we get into the issue itself, let’s take a look at the covers. The standard cover is by Dan Mora and is nothing short of awesome! Here we see the Trinity look up to their next opponents, The Legion Of Doom. What I love about this is the fact that we get to see Mora’s take on each and every single one of them and absolutely no detail is spared.

The variant by Jenny Frison is just gorgeous, what better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than with a stunning piece of art featuring Wonder Woman. I adore the detail on this and the way that her armour and lasso glows is just spectacular.

Mark Spears’ variant feels like a homage to that iconic Superman vs The Flash race, but it is safe to say that he has certainly put his own spin on it. This photorealistic take on the race is just breathtaking! The details in the background are simply stunning and he has really brought these characters to life.

There are also variants available by Salvador Larroca & Pasquale Ferrara and Nathan Szerdy.

The issue opens up as the Justice League attend to some of their political duties, it’s always interesting to me to see what they get up to when they aren’t saving the world. Here we get some fun commentary between The Flash and Impulse and an introduction to a new member, but of course that downtime doesn’t last long as they find themselves transported to an alien location. With world leaders and superheroes missing, the League has to spring into action to find out what is going on and where to find them.

Our heroes are on a mission protect the world leaders, so of course we get some incredible action as the heroes that have gone missing try to hold off a hoard of monstrous creatures and the interior art during this entire issue is excellent. Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain are an absolute dream team when it comes to artwork, the pair work so well together and both really bring this mind-blowing alien atmosphere to life. This issue acts as gateway into the ‘We Are Yesterday’ crossover and here we get our first glimpse of The Legion Of Doom along with an update on where each of them are and how they may be involved in what has happened.

What is also so impressive about what Mark Waid and letterer Dave Sharpe does with this series is throw the reader around the world during multiple but consecutive tragedies without it giving you whiplash. This is the first time I think I’ve really felt that this is a worldwide operational Justice League and I really enjoy seeing how one team can do so much. Waid also does an excellent job of showcasing the determination of these characters, among twists unknown to them they find that glimmer of hope in everything even if they are in an unfamiliar place at the hands of Inferno… or should I say The Legion Of Doom!

(9/10) Whilst Justice League Unlimited #5 is an insanely exciting issue, the real standout is the artwork. Mora and Bonvillain create some really mind blowing pages here and that combined with such an intriguing story so far has me on tentahooks for the next issue.