The Good
Zatanna and Timothy Hunter teleport to the Wild Area after opening up the Books of Magic, a world where Zatanna's magic is super-powerful that changes everyone that is there. The rest of the Justice League Dark, in Nanda Parbat, with the help of Tim;s dad, try to find a way to get to them.
While this story is called "The Death of Magic," it's the most magic usage we've seen in a JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK book. There's a lot of mysticism and fantasy elements here, and it's a great fit to this issue and world.
More than anything, I really enjoy the art of Mikel Janin featuring Jeromy Cox's colors is my favorite part of the book. I love Janin's ink outlines around the characters, especially around the jawlines, giving each character a very defined look. The art and color on hair, in particular Constantine, is very good, and it's the variation makes it look natural. It's more than just a block of color on a person's head. One of my favorite panels in this issue is towards the end featuring a close up of Xanadu. There's an immense amount of detail in her face and it really does a great job at capturing what is happening to her at that time.
While nothing huge happens to Tim and Zatanna in this other dimension, other than Zatanna's powers are heightened, I love seeing how this world affects other members of the JLD. Each member is changed in one way or another depending on who they are. It was a very good effect, and it makes me wonder what else this dimension can do.
The Bad
Epoch? As in Epoch, Lord of Time? While I like the fact there's a lot of lesser known elements being added to this book, I feel like it's moving pretty darn quickly. Sure, the idea that this is a chaotic book because there's so much going on is pretty cool, but I'd wish it would slow down a tiny bit or the team would stay somewhere for more than an issue or two.
The Verdict
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK continues to be a fantastic book that incorporates lesser known elements from the DC universe into a well-written, well-drawn book. While I am not the biggest fan that this book jumps from location to location a bit too quickly for me, I loved the issue and I can put up with that as long as JLD keeps being this good.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.
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