“Aftermath: Part One”
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Clayton Henry
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher
What They Say:
In the aftermath of DC K.O., the Justice League has to work even harder to protect mankind—and that means it’s time for new blood to face new challenges! Who will join Wonder Woman and Batman to lead the new JLU?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having read Justice League books and watched the cartoons going back to being a kid in the ’70s, I’m always game to check out a new run of the property. This one comes from writer Mark Waid, who obviously has the skills to handle both big team books and big stories, but also to make it personal and engaging with the right hook to it. He’s joined by Clayton Henry for this issue, and having enjoyed their artwork for quite a few years, it’s a welcome addition to the ranks with a definitive style that can work well in a team book like this. Tamra Bonvaillain’s color design is something I always look forward to, and they do some great work here with some of the more unique elements, but also the familiar characters. Ariana Maher makes this a very easy-to-read book with great lettering and some neat design moments.
Justice League Unlimited has spent pretty much all of its run since the start focusing on the lead-up to the DC KO event, so what does it do afterward? Thankfully, there’s a lot of fallout to cope with when it comes to that event, and as a sprawling team book, it’s ideally suited to present itself as a light-touch kind of guide. With the heroes coming back from the tournament and the planet restoring itself, we get a lot of general chaos from there. For those who didn’t go and fight in the tournament, they can tell that those who did are definitely different from it. While we get the nod toward what Superman did and how things shook out, the reveal that the participants all got boosted with energy from it while having personal visions – and some of them a bit more – there’s an almost haunted look to some of them. But it’s the kind of change you want to see explored as characters come out from an event instead of just business as usual.
One of the main thrusts of it is that some, like Diana, are now feeling that it’s time to give the villains a chance to step up since the fight against Darkseid is still in the future. Batman isn’t keen on this yet, but he knows it can’t just be his decision. So seeing him working with Captain Marvel and Diana to go to the Phantom Zone and confer with Mon-El over it works well. It plays out alongside events in the real world where a few of the heroes go to deal with some villains that are causing problems, only to discover that they were saving people. They’re low-tier villains, but their anger is fairly well justified about how things shook out and in not being given a chance at redemption. It’s a problematic thing, because it’s hard to trust, but it’s also what heroes are supposed to do. We know from the lead-in that some will be on the Justice League going forward, but navigating this should be a pretty interesting thing to provide for a little difference.
In Summary:
I’ve enjoyed Justice League Unlimited overall with its run, even when it does some goofy stuff like we saw in the last few issues, but it’s kept to that kind of big and bold thing, full of colors and fun alongside some pathos. This issue feels like it’s a fun nod to the DeMatteis and Giffen era a bit while shaking it up in bringing some of the villains on board. The world changed after the KO tournament, and dealing with that is definitely something I wanted to see rather than just bleed out without any impact. And since it’s all setting up for what’s coming next with the real fight with Darkseid, seeing how not just the heroes and villains face it, but regular people too, should be something we see across all the books. Definitely curious to see how this plays out.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: March 25th, 2026
MSRP: $3.99
Chris Beveridge
http://www.fandompost.com
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
