REVIEW: Justice League Unlimited #7

Justice League Unlimited #7 is the fifth and penultimate entry in the ‘We Are Yesterday’ crossover. Gorilla Grodd is itching to claim his price in this one and the window is closing to beat him. 

Dan Mora adds to the giant illustration that will be completed when all ‘We Are Yesterday’ covers are put together. This one looks like it’s placed opposite of the last World’s Finest entry and completing the countdown. No crazy out-of-time characters here, just the actual antagonists of the story. Here, they take the battle directly to the Watchtower. 

Jorge Molina handles a very special part of an incredible variant series from DC that has been teased on social media – the Superman mashup series! This series features comic lines’ respective heroes in their own costumes mashed up with Superman’s emblem. Since this is Justice League Unlimited, we get five heroes for the price of one The Flash, Batman, Wonder Woman, Star Sapphire, and Black Lightning. Batman will wear the House of El symbol but not the colors which is kind of amusing. This is an essential variant for Superman fans. 

Another special variant series is the Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month line as May wraps up. Cliff Chiang spotlights Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Kid Lantern (Tai Pham), and a third character who needs a little more detail to be identifiable. The bow in the lower left-hand corner and the cape and glove in the upper right-hand corner must mean that this is a companion piece to a single illustration. Since it’s the last week of May, it must be one of the last pieces. 

Other Trinity and Justice League centric variants are available from Tiago da Silva, Ejikure, Yanick Paquette, Travis Moore, and Phil Hester. 

Batman and Superman were just the beginning. Gorilla Grodd and the Legion of Doom have taken the fight straight to the Justice League’s Watchtower and have scattered heroes all across time and all around the world. With no immediate heroes to stop him, Grodd moves in on the Omega Rift left by the death of Darkseid to claim its power, which Bizarro gets a taste of. Grodd reveals that he has a fragment of Apokolips, which Darkseid had destroyed before his insane universe-creating rampage. This can be used to siphon the power to the Legion. Even in their scattered state, the Justice League may have found an answer in someone thought to be gone. Perhaps he never left. 

Now, it’s beginning to feel a little bit like a Crisis event, but with the complexities I feel like Mark Waid could bridge the two series together in ways that do not use an asterix. It’s easy to fill in the blanks, but some of the best comic book series cross-over events do it seamlessly. While it’s been hard to pick out who the given main character is in Justice League Unlimited given the sheer number of heroes, it’s safe to say that it could be Gorilla Grodd and the Legion of Doom. The villains’ journey here is more showcased than the heroes’ struggle. At least back in World’s Finest, stopping them seemed plausible. I do have an idea of who the main hero could be, and so may several readers. Waid is about to give him his moment. Letters are by Ariana Maher. 

Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain continue to win fans hearts with the pages of Justice League Unlimited. An untrained eye may assume that Dan Mora didn’t stop drawing this issue after the cover with the quality of Moore’s art. What is actually a very chaotic 21 pages can be made sense thanks to Moore’s art. It’s not just the number of heroes that shine here. With all the time displacement, Moore is being put through the settings gauntlet with various locations and eras of history that reflect them. The Legion of Doom’s main method of attacks being retro-styled time guns is for all the Super Friends fans out there.

(8/10) The villains’ journey comes ahead in Justice League Unlimited #7 and the penultimate chapter in “We Are Yesterday.” At this point, it’s fair to assume that the “we” could refer to the Legion of Doom since this has been their story the whole time. The how and why of Grodd’s master plan have been revealed, but it feels like the “what” has yet to be revealed.