REVIEW: Justice League Red #3
Justice League Red #3 “Blood Sacrifice” is the third issue in the ongoing DC Comics series written by Saladin Ahmed and artwork by Clayton Henry. In the first two issues, the first three members of the black ops Justice League, (consisting of Cyborg (Victor Stone), Green Lantern (Simon Baz), Power Girl (Kara Zor-L), has slowly been brought together through what appear to be deceptive and misdirecting missions by who they thought was their friend, the superhero Red Tornado. But, with friends like Red Tornado, who needs enemies? Apparently, Justice League Red does.
Henry and Arif Prianto’s standard cover shows Cyborg, Power Girl, and Green Lantern Simon Baz racing for their lives as a massive pink, flying lizard-like creature closes in. The energy, movement, and urgency make this cover explode off the page. Henry and Prianto deliver pure superhero chaos and teamwork at its best.
Juan Ferreyra’s variant cover captures Red Canary mid-motion, balancing effortlessly on the edge of a building, against a bold red-and-white backdrop as red canaries flutter through the sky. The style is sleek, confident, and modern—showing off her agility and attitude. It’s clean, striking, and instantly iconic.
Cully Hamner’s variant cover reveals a Red Canary who stands her ground, baton ready, as soldiers close in. Cully Hamner gives us raw tension and defiance in one powerful image. It’s a perfect snapshot of her grit, courage, and street-level strength.
The more I read this series the more I see how it is showing the road to DC KO and the upcoming return of Darkseid and Apokolips. It’s the greatest future calamity that Red Tornado’s calculations have determined is a great possibility. He doesn’t know exactly how it will come about, but he declares the missions he’s sending the heroes on is greatly reducing the probability of the cataclysm.
Ahmed, is keeping the intrigue of the story going as the team members continue to wonder if Red Tornado has lost a screw or if he is has a virus because to them, Red Tornado is running them ragged and sending them on missions that make no sense. They also have lost trust in him and his logic. In this issue, he also does something that seems very manipulative, further angering someone he calls friend and he does it for selfish reasons as well as for the future of the world, according to him. This is a real-world dilemma, as we readers adapt to a world that is embracing artificial intelligence at break-neck speed. The question of how much you can trust a soulless machine, that has no feelings or emotions, is something that the heroes are battling with within these pages and humans in our reality are dealing with also.
Henry and Prianto, along with Lucas Gattoni’s lettering, give us powerful imagery and panels throughout the issue that keep the action going and Ahmed’s espionage story going on full tilt toward a monumental cliffhanger. This series is like a great thriller with superheroes. It has not slowed down at all and has been going at such full speed that in these first three issues, the team has not had time to power down, eat or just sit and have a real talk. Which is exciting and shows that things are serious and the future is at stake, at least that’s what Red Tornado believes and says.
(9/10) There’s so much going on in Justice League Red #3, that I think that the heroes and readers need a breather to stop and really hash things out. I’m hoping that moment comes, because in order to truly save the world, these heroes have to get to know each other better, learn teamwork and strategy and be able to truly trust each other, especially Red Tornado.
