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Justice League #17 Review

Comic Books

Justice League #17 Review

Bryan Hitch’s time traveling epic continues this week and Superman is frustrated as hell with the entire process. He wants his wife and son back dammit, but even more is at stake than he could possibly imagine.

Justice League #17 (DC Comics)

Justice League #17 Review

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So what’s it about? The official summary reads:

“TIMELESS” part three! The Justice League’s epic war through time continues as Superman confronts the leader of the Timeless army, who gives the Man of Steel an impossible choice: save Krypton from exploding—or save his friends!

Why does this book matter?

This is part three of a story that has certainly made our god like heroes very small; they’re facing an entity that lives in all time and is attempting to crush the heroes in multiple time streams at once. Hitch is very good at escalating the scope of his stories which makes this book feel all the more important and big.

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Justice League #17 Review
I hope he doesn’t have bad breathe.

Fernando Pasarin’s pencils continue to be highly detailed and very good at showcasing the size and scope of the threats at hand. From Superman floating in front of the giant head of the enemy to Wonder Woman needing to stop Cronus from his infernal 12 story tall machine, Justice League #17 feels epic in a visual way that makes the story feel like a blockbuster movie with a never ending budget. Pasarin is very good at the finer details, which makes giant machines and the Timeless soldier suits look futuristic and realistic at that. I can’t imagine how much time it takes to draw this comic as every page looks like a million bucks.

The story continues to escalate matters, with Superman taking up an interesting conversation with the Timeless. This story takes place before Superman Rebirth, which puts things in perspective (though it certainly takes a bit of the teeth out of the story since we know everything resets anyway). Hitch gets all of the key heroes involved with this story and their placement in time helps break apart the plot in an interesting way. The issue concludes with a cool reveal which helps drop an interesting detail about one of the members of the Infinity Corporation folks. Their inclusion continues to help flesh them out, though they aren’t in this one too much.

Justice League #17 Review
Wow, he’s huge!

It can’t be perfect can it?

I had two major issues with this issue that took me out of the narrative. The first involves the Timeless, who gets to chew up the scenery early on and make promises. Strangely his entire strategy changes in the later half of the book seemingly conflicting with what he said before. He’s the bad guy so that isn’t entirely out of the ordinary, but the heroes don’t seem surprised either. It seems like a scene was rewritten or something was changed at the last minute that throws this off.

The second involves the heroes who are at different times in history. Superman and Batman are right there with the Infinity Corporation so they have a bead on what’s going on, but how do the other heroes know what is happening? They seem to know what a giant energy blast is and how to stop it (by rushing into it…doesn’t seem smart) which ends up seeming to be a big plot hole. Largely the plotting here seems to flow in a good way, but without a lot of internal logic to have it make sense.

Is It Good?

The size and scope of Justice League #17 is unreal, setting it apart from other team books on the shelves. You have to respect the epic nature of the story, though there are a few plot holes that will leave you scratching your head.

Justice League #17 Review
Is It Good?
This is a good issue when it comes to epic storytelling but a few plot holes pull you out of the story and make you scratch your head.
Awesome detailed art that's very good at showing the size of things
The plot pushes forward in an epic way cutting between heroes at different times well
The bad guy explains his plan, then changes it without anyone questioning it
How the heroes know what is going on without any communication is beyond me
7.5
Good

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