Title: Justice League.
Story-Arc: Graveyard of Gods.
Volume: 2.
Writer(s): Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV.
Penciller(s): Francis Manapul, Howard Porter, Mikel Janín, Jorge Jimenez, Frazer Irving, Bruno Redondo & Scott Godlewski.
Colourist(s): Francis Manapul, Hi-Fi, Jeremy Cox, Alejandro Sanchez, Frazer Irving & Sunny Gho.
Letterer(s): Tom Napolitano.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: May 14th 2019.
Pages: 160.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781401288495.
My Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆.
Previously on Justice League:
Justice League: No Justice by Scott Snyder
Justice League: The Totality by Scott Snyder
Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth by Scott Snyder
Ever since Scott Snyder started his dark multiverse with Dark Nights: Metal, the DC universe has been in the midst of great change that would pull back together scattered pieces of its history while scorching the superficial story-telling gimmicks that have served as restraints to original ideas so far. Now helming the Justice League run, his efforts to change the status quo continues to grow strong until his latest, risky crossover event led to some contrived ideas that showed no sign of flow for readers. Where things turned out unacceptable is in the way they have been collected for fans to read and enjoy as it hints at money-hungry decisions at the cost of coherency. While the latest volume in his run might have a shaky foundation, there still remains some hope—if his resume impresses you already—that Scott Snyder and friends will find their footing in the stories to come.
What is Justice League: Graveyard of Gods about? Picking up where it was left off in Justice League: The Totality, the story explores criminal mastermind Lex Luthor’s plan to assemble the Legion of Doom. As he seeks help from an unlikely and dangerous individual, stranger and deadlier foes slither to the surface from the darkest abysses of the sea as they look to take down Earth’s greatest heroes in an all-out assault. With both sources of threat working parallelly to take down Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League, the life of our heroes just became so much more complicated but one thing’s for sure, they need to stop them from reaching their goals before all hope is washed away. This trade paperback collects Justice League #8-12, Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth Special #1 and Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth Special #1.
Unfortunately, this volume will have to take the penalty that I didn’t attribute to Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth. With only two issues (Justice League #8 and #9) that are different from the crossover event collection, there is nothing but disappointment in DC Comics that emerges from the depths of my soul. To reprint the same issues that were part of the crossover event into this volume and release it a month later is shameful and was never a marketing move that I approved of since the beginning of the New 52 era back in 2011. As if things couldn’t get worse, the consistency in quality and the continuity in story-telling are both poor or absent throughout the volume. Nothing about this collection helps the reader follow the story as everything becomes hectic and chaotic with countless ideas being explored simultaneously.
There is a silver lining to this volume and it’s Francis Manapul’s artwork. Although he isn’t responsible for most of the volume, his work continues to work fantastically with Scott Snyder’s and James Tynion IV’s wordy story-telling style. The colour palette used to bring this vibrant universe to life and his sharp and edgy designs privileged to convey the interdimensional and godlike dimensions of these heroes are impressive. Unfortunately, it is the inclusion of multiple other writers and artists due to the crossover event included within this volume that we’re graced with a heavy and indigestible story-arc that tackles too much in too little time with too many creative visions. For casual readers, following Snyder’s Morrisonesque DC revolution will be a hassle that might be too costly to pursue.
Justice League: Graveyard of Gods is a poor trade paperback with redundant content that taints this series’ potential to revolutionize the DC universe as heroes face a coalition of evil forces with unforgiving principles guiding their ways.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Roars and Echoes 
Ooh, that’s a blow. Snyder’s been mostly consistent with his vision for DC and while I was never 100% behind all his ideas (sorry, Lashaan, Metal failed to make a big impression on me ;)) I I thought I could always count on his solid performance. This doesn’t bode well… Excuse me if I go to mope in a secluded corner for a while 😉
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Hahaha I’m with you! I trust in Snyder’s quality storytelling ability but so far the crossover event in his JL run was too much too early. I’ll still check out his stuff and hope that volume 3 will be much better than this.
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So DC is double dipping now, eh?
I have to admit, I really don’t understand why it is so hard for them to publish omnibuses of crossovers. Or, if it isn’t hard, why they insist on doing things so bullheadedly. Are they trying to alienate their fan base?
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They’ve done this a couple of times in the past and I too don’t know why bother… it works wonderfully with sporadic readers who don’t know about all this. Which means, in other words, that more “collections” that have redundant issues help reach more people. And there’s no greater argument than one based on money. 😂
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Silly DC. They sure are good at shooting themselves in the foot.
Dude, you have the most incredible reviewing style. I feel so smart when I read your articles!
Happy Trails!
~Icky 🙂
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Yep, anyone who does the research will know that it’s not exactly worth putting money into unless you want to complete your collection.
Hahahah you’re way too kind sir! Comments like those make my day all the time! 😁
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I said it in my review somewhere, that if you are going to bling bling some Grand Master of This and That. He better impress. If not, I will shit on his work, just to prove a point of how it should not be done…. do not sell a comic based of of what the creators work previously looked like, proof read the script/comic/manual and then make an informed introduction…
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I know exactly what you mean. It’s misleading at times and makes you think this latest story will be just as great. I guess they’ll always put quotes and what not that helps sell regardless of the quality of the material.
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Wow, DC seem to have really dropped the ball in the content of this collection – an all too common occurrence it seems – not just from DC but Marvel as well. It’s certainly tricky when there’s a crossover thrown into the midst of the main JL Totality/Dark Universe arc and the contrast in creative styles obviously devalues this edition further.
I actually read JL digitally in the individual issues and seem to recall liking the Legion of Doom stuff but I honestly think the double-ship publication is harming the title overall and not allowing enough time for the ideas to breathe and fully form as well as maintain visual consistency. I was honestly glad when DC announced they’ll be putting all of their books back on a monthly schedule from next year as it should improve creativity across the board, I think.
Anyway, awesome analysis Lashaan – I’ve enjoyed this JL series for the most part but it still doesn’t come close to the Geoff Johns New 52 run which is the gold standard in my books.
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Exactly. I’m not a huge fan of it at all and find it unfortunate that people who don’t read individual issues have to pick up two different collections that have 90% of its content similar to one another. It’s one of the reasons why I collect my individual issues of the Batman/Detective Comics run.
The change in schedule will surely have a significant effect on the overall quality of these stories indeed. I too liked the Legion of Doom stuff but when bundled with the Aquaman Drowned Earth arc, it just becomes too chaotic to really appreciate what’s going on. And then you got the artwork changing from an issue to the other… Hard to love anything in the end.
Have you ever tried any of the other JL runs during the New 52 days? Like JLA and what not? Curious to know if it’s really that “bad” or just not worth our time.
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I did read Bryan Hitch’s JLA series (if that’s what you meant), it got if to a good start and I was fairly entertained for the most part – the trouble is that Hitch didn’t draw the final issue himself and to be honest pretty much ruined what could’ve been a solid ending. All in all there’s yet to be a modern JL run that matches Geoff Johns’, for me anyway.
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Hahaha I do enjoy a lot reading your reviews about books you didn’t like that much! 😂
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Hahaha I love writing negative reviews too 😂 so much to say when it turns out to be pretty bad 😂
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