Justice League Dark #19 Review

I suspect the recent Trinity War announcement has convinced a few new readers to check out Justice League Dark before the crossover begins. Luckily, issue #19 kicks off a new storyline and serves as a perfectly fine jumping-on point. Our heroes are granted barely a moment's peace and relaxation before being dragged into another conflict as a mysterious force attempts to wrest control of the House of Mystery.

This issue starts out on a strong note as Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes slow the pace down a bit and allow for some quieter character moments with the remaining team members who didn't bail at the end of the previous conflict. There's plenty of enjoyment to be had in seeing Deadman flirt with Madame Xanadu, Constantine hang out at the horse racing track, and Frankenstein simply be his usual grumpy self. But there's some more purposeful work being done in these early pages, as the writers allude to the upcoming Trinity War and sow a bit of dissension in the ranks. Somewhat less elegant are the references to the events of Rotworld, though it is at least nice to see some fallout from that event reflected in books other than Swamp Thing and Animal Man.

The issue only grows more entertaining as the main conflict kicks in and the League members are faced with their worst nightmares come to life. The DC cameos begin flowing at this point. Two of the cameos serve the story well. The reveal of the secret mastermind behind this latest threat alone is enough to keep me hooked for the remainder of the arc. Swamp Thing serves an enjoyable and logical role as well, though it's slightly annoying to see the writers portray Swamp Thing and Constantine as being total strangers to one another. Was that really a necessary change for New 52 continuity? More bothersome is Flash's role. He appears for only one page, and at this point there's no clear reason why he needs to be in the story at all.

Regular artist Mikel Janin is joined by Vicente Cifuentes in this issue, with the former drawing layouts and the latter providing finishes. It's a strong pairing, as Janin's general storytelling flair remains in effect and Cifuentes is able to lend the figures a smoother feel that hides some of the stiff poses Janin's digitally enhanced work can be guilty of. My only real complaint is that the book could use a darker color palette and heavier use of shadows in certain scenes, as the visual tone simply isn't dark and foreboding enough. A minor nitpick is that several panels show Constantine with a lit cigarette despite the character very clearly stating that his cigarette is unlit.

Quibbles aside, if you're hoping for a quick and easy vector into this series prior to Trinity War, look no further.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.