There are going to be some spoilers ahead.
The Good
The Justice League and the Justice League of America finally come face-to-face.
I wanted to be surprised with what was going to happen here, so I avoided Geoff Johns explaining the story, and I've tried to keep myself in the dark. If you feel the same way, jump down to the verdict section. Otherwise, enjoy some mild story spoilers.
This story really wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It's a mild continuation from last week's TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA. Pandora is on her way to find Superman, who she believes is good enough to open her box, to capture the sin she was tricked into unleashing onto the world, thousands of years ago. The box has a few surprises, which leads the reader to believe that Superman isn't as "good hearted" as we all thought he was. This leads to the JL and JLA coming face-to-face, which results in a death. It's a pretty startling moment that seems to be the centerpiece to this whole event.
On the other side of things, Madame Xanadu is reading the future, and sees the destruction of the world. The main story moves through her as she reads her tarot cards. It's a cool side-piece to the issue, and ties in the dark side of DC. The tie-in between all these books makes sense and works very well. It's been building up to this, in the individual books, so these two teams coming together, along with Pandora, feels right.
There's a fantastic page, towards the end of the issue, featuring the Question with a pin-up board labelled "Who is the evil behind the evil?" Aside from the fact that DC does one of these in most major events, which can get annoying, I really liked this. It warped my perception of a certain character. Again, that's weird because as a PHANTOM STRANGER fan, I view The Question as a villain, not a hero or even a detective. I've sided with this character, before anything major has happened.
Very solid work from the art team of Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado (inks), Oclair Albert (inks), and Rod Reis (colors). I've always been a big fan of Reis. He has a unique way of putting panels together to tell a story, which doesn't distract the reader from the story. This is an art team who works with the writer and vice versa. There's a fantastic splash, early one, featuring Superman that looks brilliant. Great line and color work on the page.
The Bad
I can see what people will find bad about this book. There's going to be a lot of complaints because of one person's actions here. However, this is something I LOVED about the issue. It's a super-shocking moment that is a good set-up to this story, and something GMan and I can debate about over and over again. Don't fly off the handle yet, kids. I'm sure there's a lot more to this story than what happens here. Wait it out, then complain.
The Verdict
I had high expectations for this book because I'm such a fan of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, THE PHANTOM STRANGER, and PANDORA. That section of the DC Universe is by far my favorite part. Luckily, this book did not disappoint me. It's a blast. Johns, along the other creative types that worked on Trinity War, has a great start to what seems to be a worthwhile cross-over. JUSTICE LEAGUE #22 is the start to something great. Sure, something big and controversial happens here, but that's not what the book, as a whole is about. Take it for what it is, the centerpiece of the story.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.
Also, don't spoil it for people in the comment section.