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A review by the_rox13
Justice League Vol. 3: Hawkworld by Scott Snyder
3.0
Synopsis: There's a lot of exposition in this volume so bear with me. Joker departs from the Legion of Doom on account that Lex is talking to the Batman Who Laughs, leaving them down two members. Lex insists that they have as many people as they need since he's reviving Brainiac. Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern John Stewart arrive on Thanagar Prime with the intention of seeing the Martian Keep, the only other green Martian in existence and keeper of their history and culture. Shayera Hol (yes, there's two of them, don't ask me how) informs them the Martian Keep has died but J'onn, of course, sees that they are lying.
Basically, Shayera has been using the Martian Keep as a way to make Thanagar Prime appear to be more prosperous and inhabited by more citizens than it actually is. The three of them break into the Vault and J'onn finds his way to the Martian Keep. She tells him about Perpetua, the creator of the multiverse and what was imprisoned by the Source Wall. Before giving him all of her knowledge, she warns him that it will come down to a battle between justice and doom - telling J'onn he must be the messenger and tell the universe which form to take.
The Justice League arrives with a healed Starman to take them to the Source Wall to fix the break. The Omega Titan's purpose is to fix a break in the Source Wall by eating worlds until they have enough energy to seal the break. The New Gods bring the remaining Titans to the wall while Starman pieces it together by channeling his power through Kendra's wings. But, of course, the Legion of Doom shows up in Brainiac ships and fucks the whole thing.
Brainiac diverts the power to power Perpetua instead of fixing the wall by breaching Starman's mind. They succeed and Perpetua is released. The Justice League goes home with their tails between their legs and everyone in the universe pissed off at them. The Legion has Perpetua back at her headquarters. Martian Manhunter tries to convince Lex that humans are good through this series of shared memories that both of them had removed. Lex convinces Brainiac to believe in the side of doom and together they are able to turn the Totality doorknob and presumably, awaken Perpetua's mind.
Review: I tried with that synopsis, but that was as vague as I could be without it being confusing as hell, and it still is. There's a LOT of information in this volume, and a lot goes down, but goddamn, it feels like a slog, man. I'm getting tired of the cosmic level stuff and miss just plain Justice League fun. Not only that, it's so dense. This book took me so much longer to read than a regular comic. It really is like reading a novel and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. A bit of both at times. And the problem is that it's all important information that probably warrants multiple readings, which I'm not going to do.
I did enjoy it for the most part. There's so much here, but it feels like it has direction, which this title hasn't had since the New 52. It felt like this was a stepping stone book that we had to get through to get to more fun stuff (hopefully). I thought the information presented made sense as well in its context, even if it can be confusing. The settings are also fun - I've grown to appreciate Hawkgirl and Hawkman and all that comes with them, including Thanagar. I thought the idea of the Vault was pretty cool, even if I still don't really understand how there are two Hawkgirls.
The art is incredible the entire way through - can't say enough nice things about that. Regardless of the story, the book always looks fucking incredible and I love that about. It fits well with the cosmic level of the story. I continue to be annoyed with Lex's persistence with doom and Perpetua. I'm not sure how he thinks this is all going to work out for him, but hey, I'll never turn down watching the man being taken down a peg or two.
You know what keeps bugging me, though? What the hell, exactly, is doom? Like what does that entail? They keep talking about it like I'm supposed to know what it means, but I don't. Maybe that's the point. Necessary volume. Not the best, but very informative.
Basically, Shayera has been using the Martian Keep as a way to make Thanagar Prime appear to be more prosperous and inhabited by more citizens than it actually is. The three of them break into the Vault and J'onn finds his way to the Martian Keep. She tells him about Perpetua, the creator of the multiverse and what was imprisoned by the Source Wall. Before giving him all of her knowledge, she warns him that it will come down to a battle between justice and doom - telling J'onn he must be the messenger and tell the universe which form to take.
The Justice League arrives with a healed Starman to take them to the Source Wall to fix the break. The Omega Titan's purpose is to fix a break in the Source Wall by eating worlds until they have enough energy to seal the break. The New Gods bring the remaining Titans to the wall while Starman pieces it together by channeling his power through Kendra's wings. But, of course, the Legion of Doom shows up in Brainiac ships and fucks the whole thing.
Brainiac diverts the power to power Perpetua instead of fixing the wall by breaching Starman's mind. They succeed and Perpetua is released. The Justice League goes home with their tails between their legs and everyone in the universe pissed off at them. The Legion has Perpetua back at her headquarters. Martian Manhunter tries to convince Lex that humans are good through this series of shared memories that both of them had removed. Lex convinces Brainiac to believe in the side of doom and together they are able to turn the Totality doorknob and presumably, awaken Perpetua's mind.
Review: I tried with that synopsis, but that was as vague as I could be without it being confusing as hell, and it still is. There's a LOT of information in this volume, and a lot goes down, but goddamn, it feels like a slog, man. I'm getting tired of the cosmic level stuff and miss just plain Justice League fun. Not only that, it's so dense. This book took me so much longer to read than a regular comic. It really is like reading a novel and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. A bit of both at times. And the problem is that it's all important information that probably warrants multiple readings, which I'm not going to do.
I did enjoy it for the most part. There's so much here, but it feels like it has direction, which this title hasn't had since the New 52. It felt like this was a stepping stone book that we had to get through to get to more fun stuff (hopefully). I thought the information presented made sense as well in its context, even if it can be confusing. The settings are also fun - I've grown to appreciate Hawkgirl and Hawkman and all that comes with them, including Thanagar. I thought the idea of the Vault was pretty cool, even if I still don't really understand how there are two Hawkgirls.
The art is incredible the entire way through - can't say enough nice things about that. Regardless of the story, the book always looks fucking incredible and I love that about. It fits well with the cosmic level of the story. I continue to be annoyed with Lex's persistence with doom and Perpetua. I'm not sure how he thinks this is all going to work out for him, but hey, I'll never turn down watching the man being taken down a peg or two.
You know what keeps bugging me, though? What the hell, exactly, is doom? Like what does that entail? They keep talking about it like I'm supposed to know what it means, but I don't. Maybe that's the point. Necessary volume. Not the best, but very informative.