DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #32

Welcome to Sundown Town, Chapter 4: Nyctophobia

June 2009

Written by Dwayne McDuffie

Pencils by Rags Morales

Inks by John Dell

Cover by Ed Benes

Synopsis

At the Hall of Justice, Superman confronts Black Canary about her decision to disband the JLA.  Black Canary defends her decision, citing Hal’s new team is operating and league members will be available for emergencies.  Elsewhere, John Stewart, Zatanna, Vixen, Dr. Light, and Firestorm discuss continuing the league despite Black Canary’s decision.  Their first decision is to recruit new members.  Later, John and Vixen discuss the situation.  John thinks Black Canary is the perfect choice to lead the team and wants to keep the position open until she returns.  At Van Kull Prison, Dr. Light and Firestorm talk to Shadow Thief to find out how he was able to tap into the Dark Matter dimension.  He shows her, tapping into the dimension to incapacitate Firestorm and then kidnap Dr. Light.  The Shadow Thief then opens a portal for Starbreaker so he can feed on Dr. Light’s power.  Afterwards, Shadow Thief and Starbreaker prepare to leave when Firestorm arrives with the rest of the team.  Starbreaker stops them, but fails to stop Dr. Light, who follows them into the dark.  Except she is afraid of the dark.     

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue still contains housecleaning from the fallout of other DC comics, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.  From the story perspective, McDuffie is at the very least keeping the plot of missing Leaguers at the forefront, with the Superman debate and the others discussing their options after Black Canary disabanded the group.  McDuffie may have been forced to shuffle his story due to DC mandates, but rather than address it and move on, he has decided to incorporate it into what he is doing, which I admire.  Thus, the Trinity being missing becomes an integral part of the story and to the characters.  However, and I am sure this sounds like a broken record, I really would like it if McDuffie could shed outside intrusions and actually tell the story he wants to tell.  This issue is fractured, with the discussion at the beginning followed by the Milestone/Starbreaker plot kicking back into gear at the end.  Reaching this point of the issue, it is like a shock to the system with the realization of how much momentum that McDuffie has lost.  It has been at least two plus issues since we last saw Shadow Thief.  The Milestone story had shown so much promise and given what happens here, it still does.  Hopefully, McDuffie can get the story back on track without having to worry about whatever else DC might be doing. 

Nyctophobia is the technical term or medical for the fear of the dark.  I do not know enough of the history of Dr. Light to know for certain if the stated fear of the dark is something new or if it had been established before in the past.  Given her name and powers, I am actually inclined to believe the nyctophobia had been introduced.  It has the feel of a silver age story.  In other words, it is silly and stupid, but in such a way that makes it fun.  I am curious to see what McDuffie does with it. 

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