Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA Sparkling Tribute to Neil Gaiman
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 20, 2014
The second volume of Justice League Dark, Jeff Lemire takes the reigns from incumbant John Constantine writer, Peter Milligan. Justice League Dark is very much a John Constantine book with the wayward con man magician headlining the story. We see him seriously take over the team, refering to them as "his" Justice League and tasking them with missions that follow Constantine's usual MO of doing terrible deeds that work toward a greater good while also gaining him quick short-term benefits at the expense of others.
This book also spotlights Constantine and Zatanna's first look back into their shared past and origins within the New 52 as threats present themselves from a shadowy figure who seeks to destroy the pair. This culminates in the Zero Month issue, reprinted in the graphic novel, that builds on John and Zatanna's relationship and introduces several of DC's magician folk who will come to play a larger, antagonistic role to Constantine in his own series (see Constantine, Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame).
Jeff Lemire creates a wonderful story that spans the globe from the jungles of South America to the mountains of Nanda Parbat; one that will leave keen observers and Vertigo fans to go absolutely giddy over the sheer amount of tributes and references to the works of Neil Gaiman. Firstly you will notice that this volume is called "The Books of Magic", a title created by Gaiman for DC/Vertigo and this story features both the titular books and "The Books of Magic" protagonist Tim Hunter (in his New 52 debut). This story also sees the New 52 introductions of both the Black Orchid, Gaiman's first work for DC, and the Houses of Mystery and Secrets, which Sandman fans will recall as the homes of Cain and Abel, regular cast members of what is perhaps Neil Gaiman's most widely recognizable work in the world of comic books (and perhaps literature as whole).
All in all, this story was exactly what I had hoped to see when I picked up Justice League Dark, full of magical wonder, classic comic book hero team action, dramatic suspense, a powerful climax, and shining tributes to the great Vertigo comics of yore.
