DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #26

The Second Coming, Part Five:  Spiritus Mundi

December 2008

Written by Dwayne McDuffie

Pencils by Ed Benes

Inks by Ed Benes

Cover by Ed Benes

Synopsis

On an alternate world created by the Trickster God Anansi, Vixen searches for the Justice League of America, or at least echoes of them.  When she finds them, she finds Paladin, the ruthless killer cleaning up the streets of Gotham City, and David Kin, the Green Lantern of sector 2814.  When she tells them what happened to her, they don’t believe her.  However, they take her to Wonder Woman and the lasso confirms Vixen is telling the truth.  Vixen then pleads with them that needs help to defeat Anansi and convinces them to join her.  When they get to Anansi’s world, the Trickster God turns her allies into foes, forcing Vixen to fight them.  At first Vixen does fight them, but then she realizes she needs to do something else.  So she threatens to destroy the Tantu Totem unless the Justice League is brought back.  Anansi agrees.  Vixen realizes that Anansi was testing her.  The Trickster God admits it is true.  The world is changing and Anansi will needed someone to guard the totem, so Anansi test Vixen in case that day is ever needed. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue was a mixed bag for me.  I liked the opening, with Vixen on the run, by herself, and then finding the different versions of the Justice League.  Great build-up.  The story seemed to be heading somewhere, suggesting that perhaps McDuffie was going to explore this alternate reality.  And then we get to Anansi and, bam, the story was over before I think it actually began.  Granted, I am not sure a Vixen story on an alternate Earth is the type of story to be telling in the Justice League book, but it was getting kinda interesting up until the ending.  And this is where I think the issue both succeeds and flops, at the same time.  It flops because the ending is so abrupt.  One minute we are getting the big fight and the next moment Vixen pulls out the totem and suddenly it is over.  It was so abrupt that it almost felt like McDuffie had longer, larger plans for this story but for some reason it got scuttled and he was forced to end it sooner.  But a page later McDuffie redeems that moment with Anansi’s explanation of what it was doing/had done to Vixen and why.  This was a good character study of Vixen, of her recent struggles to find herself and confront her insecurities and fears, and then doing just that in her fight against Aanasi.  I think it could’ve been stronger with a bit longer story, but as I said, in a team book, McDuffie just doesn’t have the space to concentrate on one character for several issues.  But he was able to craft a good story with the space he needed. 

What was the deal with the Brown Bomber?  I suppose that scene was a meta-textual poke at the 70s black superheroes who didn’t seem to have superpowers except for being black, but it really, really felt out of place and didn’t really lead anywhere other than the quick laugh. 

The tag on the cover “Not an Elseworlds!” was an interesting choice.  I wonder if that was done because the cover features the alternate heroes and DC was afraid people would get the wrong idea of the story’s contents?.  I would guess that DC thinks people might not pick up this title thinking it was an Elseworlds title?  What about the ones that would?  Does the former group outweigh the latter group? 

In the Milestone universe (in which Dwayne McDuffie is most noted for), David Kim was a scientist trying to create a virus capable of regenerating tissue.  After getting injured, Kim is injected with the virus and turns into Xombi.  He starred in his own title from 1994 to 1996. 

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