Broken Frontier

A lack of focus hinders the second step in Justice League: Dark.

The unifying character trait which described every member of the yet to be formed Justice League Dark was that each and every member was somehow half-broken or half-insane.  After the apocalyptic cliffhanger from issue #1, readers could have expected issue #2 to expand on the characters and oncoming magical storm.  Writer Peter Milligan, however, chooses to spotlight the crumbling relationship drama of Deadman and Dove, instead of offering any paranormal excitement.

Justice League Dark #2 lacks the necessary focus to maintain the urgency and fear that issue #1 laid out.  Issue #1’s intense battle which left the three most powerful Justice League members “cut to ribbons,” for example, is not mirrored in any fashion is this follow-up.  Instead, Milligan spends the majority of this issue attempting to establish Deadman as half-broken, but the direction turns out to be more teenage-esque relationship drama than supernatural character work.  In all honesty, the entirety of Brightest Day was spent dissecting Deadman’s character faults; is it necessary to back tread in Justice League Dark?

The treading of water is not limited to only Deadman and Dove; Zatanna proves to be ineffective, John Constantine purposely gets a beating, Shade the Changing Man is absent, and antagonist, Enchantress, is stuck merely floating in some mystical space-void.  If Milligan was using his time to explore interesting aspects of his team this pacing could surely be forgiven, but when each character does little more than take up space, it drags the book down to a snail’s crawl.

Justice League Dark, along with the entirety of DC’s new “Dark and the Edge,” stood out because of its eclectic cast, paranormal tone, and proposed mysterious direction.  Those elements still exist in issue #2, and with only a little more focus and direction, could come to dominate the series.  The fearsome antagonist, motley crew of heroes, and unique tone will hopefully come to dominate Justice League Dark in future issues.