C'mon, Let Me Live Girl
"Never, never say goodbye To my part of your life No, no, no...
Let me live..." She said, "C'mon let me live, girl." "This moment in time," She said, "it doesn't belong to you." She said, "It belongs to me.
And to your little boy and your little girl, And the one hand clapping. Where on your palm is my little line When you're written in mine As an old memory?"
- Kate Bush, "Jig of Life"
Story/Writing
This is one of those issues that I feel could benefit greatly from ten more pages in order to establish the characters a little better. It's clearly written for readers who have previous knowledge about Zatanna, John Constantine, and Deadman, since they're only referred to briefly (Constantine is given one page in total), and it's focus is primarily placed on establishing Enchantress, Madame Xanadu, and Shade the Changing Man. It works for me, since I'm a fan of Zatanna, Constantine, and Deadman, but it might make a new reader feel a little lost. That being said, it does a fairly commendable job and the issue, overall, is filled with tension and has plenty of exciting, strange, and incredibly dark moments - including my favourite line in the entire New 52 "The local power station threatens to explode when it is imbued with consciousness...and gets bored." Unlike in other superhero books, Justice Leage Dark's heroes are, as Shade describes them, "damaged goods." When Zatanna and Batman discuss how to defeat the insane Enchantress, Zatanna prevents Batman from risking his life, explaining "The world can't afford to lose you. Me, I reckon, it could get along just fine without." They're the underdogs of the DC Universe and should Xanadu's prophesy come true, they may not live to see the end. And, in a way, I find that to be very interesting and I can't wait to see where Peter Milligan takes that concept.
Art
I really love Mikel Janin's pencils and inks. This issue could easily stand on it's own if it was just in black and white. But Ulises Arreola's colors are really hit and miss. It works it's best when it conveys a sense of atmosphere, like a plume of spiraling madness, but it can be too murky and monochromatic in some scenes. Ryan Sook's covers are what really leave me stunned, however. As much as I might love Janin, I can't help but wish Sook did the interior art as well.
