James Tynion IV's Justice League Dark coming July 2018

[Mar-Vell]

Still hate the line-up

Good for you.

I love it for the fact that it's a very unique lineup using unexpected characters. Bravo, James Tynion, for stepping out on a limb and making it work. The first issue was so fun, and I can't wait for more. This is going to be a great series.

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

Yeah, i’d prefer dr. Fate, the demon and frankenstein over this bunch.

Yeah... I kind of want my Justice League Dark like the JUSTICE LEAGUE, the big players...

Zatanna
Dr. Fate
Etrigan
Deadman
Amethyst

Happy for Wonder Woman to lead and would also add Captain Marvel (aka Shazam)... however still willing to see how Tynion's story pans out

[WallyWestFlash]

I loved the first issue. It had so much packed into it and really has high stakes. This is my second favorite series now. Hawkman just barely beat it to the top spot. Tynion did not disappoint and the art is great as well.

As far as the roster goes I'm just happy Zatanna is in it. The others are not my preferred choices but they are interesting so I'll see what can be done with them.

But I would love Dr Fate or Etrigan to be added or at least make regular guest appearances. They are great characters and fit right in.

[Witchfan]

Zatanna and Wonder Woman are the only characters this book needs to keep me interested in it. I loved the first issue.

[Lee Stone]

Looking forward to Dr Fate in the next issue



Source: http://www.impulsegamer.com/justice-league-dark-1/

That has got to be the most iconic image I've seen, yet, of the Tower of Fate...

[kjn]

Every issue of JLD but the first one has started with a flashback to the youth of one of the team members. JLD #2 and the Wonder Woman/JLD crossover issue used Wonder Woman, and JLD #3 used Zatanna.

So I think we will see flashbacks all through the entire run. Since the next issue in Witching Hour is Wonder Woman #56, I expect that will also use her again, but JLD 4 sounds like it will use Swamp Thing, and the conclusion to The Witching Hour mentions Zatanna again. Then Detective Chimp seems to be the focus of JLD #5 and #6, leaving me to wonder when we will see any flashbacks with Man-Bat.

[DragonPiece]

Really enjoyed the first part of witching hour...also as a constantine and zee fan, I liked the little kiss at the end, even if it doesn't mean anything and they'll just ignore it the rest of the series.

[kjn]

Four issues in, we also are getting some good handles on the roles within the group, and how Tynion pushes the characters in various directions.

Wonder Woman is of course the big hitter and the leader, but it's also rather clear that she isn't used to feeling out of her depth or that people turn her down. Thus she isn't the strength of trust and social relations that she should be. So Tynion is working slightly against her character, but it feels he has set up good causes for her acting the way she does. I'd say that this is the best depiction of Diana since Rucka's Rebirth run. (Well, except that she calls herself "daughter of Zeus".)

Zatanna is treated as #2 by the Justice League, but she's even more rattled than Wonder Woman in confidence in her skills and abilities. However, she has shown that she can think on her feet and improvise, and shows quite a bit of social awareness towards Diana and Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing is the loner in the group, the only one he seems to have had a connection with earlier is Zatanna. Given that he is a plant elemental, it's understandable that he is somewhat aloof. Here Tynion puts in the idea that Swampt Thing wants to retire into the Parliament of Trees as another distance-forming element.

Detective Chimp is really interesting. He's set up as highly observant, able to think on his feet, and improvise plans. He is deeply grossed out by the things he gets to see, but still manages to function. He is also set up as the sarcastic relief. I wouldn't be surprised if he is the one who keeps the team together when they have to deal with Hecate possessing Diana.

Man-Bat has had the smallest plot role so far, but he is set up as a true innocent who sees everything around him with wonder, and adds a bit of comic relief. He combines really caring about people with no social skills at all, a combination I find endearing.

[Vordan]

Was a bit skeptical of a crossover so soon but I liked this first issue. Hecate showing up makes me hope that Circe will show up as well. Art is really damn good so far.

[Jackalope89]

Really enjoying it so far, with quite the line-up too.

And can't forget Diana leading her own team, but still out of her depth in her own, yet believable way.

Was a little iffy on Man-Bat being part of the team at first, but his comic relief scenes have convinced me. Plus, the scientist part was never really a bad guy in the first place. It was just the bat part that made him a threat. Though it seems they found a balance, where he can have his Bat powers but still retain his sentience.

And it seems Constantine will be at least a semi-regular as well.

[Lee Stone]

Four issues in, we also are getting some good handles on the roles within the group, and how Tynion pushes the characters in various directions.

Wonder Woman is of course the big hitter and the leader, but it's also rather clear that she isn't used to feeling out of her depth or that people turn her down. Thus she isn't the strength of trust and social relations that she should be. So Tynion is working slightly against her character, but it feels he has set up good causes for her acting the way she does. I'd say that this is the best depiction of Diana since Rucka's Rebirth run. (Well, except that she calls herself "daughter of Zeus".)

Zatanna is treated as #2 by the Justice League, but she's even more rattled than Wonder Woman in confidence in her skills and abilities. However, she has shown that she can think on her feet and improvise, and shows quite a bit of social awareness towards Diana and Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing is the loner in the group, the only one he seems to have had a connection with earlier is Zatanna. Given that he is a plant elemental, it's understandable that he is somewhat aloof. Here Tynion puts in the idea that Swampt Thing wants to retire into the Parliament of Trees as another distance-forming element.

Detective Chimp is really interesting. He's set up as highly observant, able to think on his feet, and improvise plans. He is deeply grossed out by the things he gets to see, but still manages to function. He is also set up as the sarcastic relief. I wouldn't be surprised if he is the one who keeps the team together when they have to deal with Hecate possessing Diana.

Man-Bat has had the smallest plot role so far, but he is set up as a true innocent who sees everything around him with wonder, and adds a bit of comic relief. He combines really caring about people with no social skills at all, a combination I find endearing.

Nice assessment.
But, you had me running to Comixology to get #4. Lol.

[BatmanJones]

This series has been a great surprise. Tynion seems like he's at his best and the art has been wonderful. I've loved every issue so far. Kirk Langstrom is so endearing in this.

[kjn]

Some more comments on WW / JLD The Witching Hour #1 (that title is too damned long).

I like how the art gets a Pérez-like feel in the opening flashback, most apparent with the background in the scene with Hippolyta. And though the first few pages of the flashback recapitulates the flashback from JLD #2, it's done relatively quickly, we get some additional info, and the synopsis of the JLD #1–3 is done well, since we get it in a way that also shows Diana's and Zatanna's reactions to the events and it makes sense in the narrative. I think Tynion managed to recapitulate earlier events for new readers in a way that also moved the story forward.

One review picked up on the spoilers:

massacre of low-level magic users to show off the villain, though given the emphasis on body horror earlier, such a massacre at least fits the story and serves an organic part of it; it's not only for shock value like in "Heroes in Crisis".

end of spoilers I also liked the way that Hecate's magic was shown, with the whispering and repeated faces.

As a person with a liking of mythology, my far biggest issue here was with Hecate. spoilers:

Her iconography was done well, as a triple goddess facing three different directions, with torches and keys, but the way she is used is very much a modern interpretation of her, as a malicious goddess of witchcraft that sees humanity as beneath her. Hecate in Greek mythology was one of the nicer deities, several times acting out of pity and compassion, she is described as tender-hearted, and statues and minor shrines to her were very common. One of her main roles was to shield the home from the horrors of the night: in many ways she and Hestia were the two most important household gods: Hecate for the doorway, and Hestia for the hearth. Her association to the dead, ghosts, and magic was mostly benevolent, as she guided the ghosts and could assist the living in communicating with the dead. Yes, if she was angry with someone she could open the door to let the horrors of the night in, but that was not her default position. Here, her large role as a protective goddess has been entirely lost.

end of spoilers

Now, Wonder Woman has reinterpreted the Greek gods and goddesses since the beginning, and rightly so, but I think it's important that such reinterpretations should be done with an awareness of the ancient cult, removing prejudices that had been added in later times, and above all from a feminist viewpoint. The vision of Hecate that Tynion provides feels like it fails in both those respects.

Another thing I picked up was that we only got to see one of Hecate's faces: the second is half turned away and shielded with hair, and the third faces away from us. I'm not sure if that will become a plot point later on.

[kjn]

Nice assessment.
But, you had me running to Comixology to get #4. Lol.

Thanks! And don't blame me for DC's confused issue numbering system.

[Lee Stone]

Thanks! And don't blame me for DC's confused issue numbering system.

Ah! I didn't realize Witching Hour #1 came out.