COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Justice League #25

Writer: Geoff Johns

Art: Doug Mahnke

Published by DC Comics

Here we receive an almost origin-story of Owlman as he tries to convince our Earth’s Dick Grayson to help him fight against the Crime Syndicate.

I really enjoyed that the whole story was more or less through Thomas’s eyes, and that his inner monologue really carried the reader. And through Johns’ master writing, I found myself weirdly conflicted through the whole tale. Owlman’s a bad guy, so I shouldn’t like him, but he’s saving Nightwing, sort of, so I should like him, but he killed a bunch of people for his own gain, so I shouldn’t, then he’s trying to stop the bigger evil of the Syndicate, so I should?!

It’s a good kind of conflict to have as a reader, I think.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that I liked the scene with Nightwing the best. It was fun, seeing Thomas explain what his Dick Grayson (and his family) was like on their Earth, and morph that into being an awesome visual parallel to the meeting with his captive. Really loved the fight Nightwing put up against him, too, and how you can see him trying to calculate all of the best/worst-case scenarios going on as he battles for his freedom.

Really found myself drawn to Mahnke’s pencils, too. I think it did a fabulous job meshing with the dark, yet nostalgic, story being told, especially with Eltaeb, Avina, and Reis’s colors. And that spread of Owlman getting the jump on those mobsters was absolutely gorgeous.

So, Nightwing’s in cahoots with Owlman? Could this new Dynamic Duo be the fall of the Syndicate? And what the heck is Superwoman going to do with the information she’s just gathered?

4.5 out of 5 nerds