Justice League of America #21

A meaningful interlude that reintroduces a fascinating character (Aztek) and shines the spotlight on the very conscience of the League (Ray), Justice League of America #21 is another fine chapter from Steve Orlando, and a great chance to see Stephen Byrne do what he does best: shine. Read Full Review

Stephen Byrne's guest art is strong, and this is a satisfying one-off issue in between major mythology arcs. Read Full Review

Orlando's world expands itself in every issue, but beyond the world building the book continues to have one main advantage; these characters still really live and breathe, having a significant life outside of their costumes, and really in their own skins. Read Full Review

Though not nearly as focused as I would have hoped, as the script keeps cutting back to the frigid relationship between Killer Frost and Ryan Choi, Justice League of America #21 is still a worthy return for Aztek as she stands as a worthy addition to this new JLA. Read Full Review

Overall Justice League of America #21 was a good read. Orlando gives us plenty of action, a great story between characters, and I liked the introduction of Aztek as well. I'm hoping that we see another team up between Aztek and Ray again at some point as Orlando did a great job of having them work together to defeat the Sons of Earth. Although Ray has taken some time off from the League, hopefully Orlando has him come back soon. Read Full Review

All in all another fun issues from Steve Orlando with dynamic art by Stephen Byrne which made this a really fun issue and Im really looking forward the return of the Evil Queen! Read Full Review

With a solid Superhero story involving a lesser known hero, the Ray and the Origin of a new hero Aztek, this is a step in a better direction for this book. The plot and the story pacing is still a bit flimsy, and one tends to lose confidence in a book with a fill-in artist every other issue, but it is clear that for now, they are building to something. Read Full Review

This is by far one of the better issues of the series, but Orlando still needs to work on his plotting and exposition. Byrne's art is more than passable but I'm not a big fan of his art style in general. Read Full Review

An imperfect experience with nonetheless good intentions, this focus on the Ray has some great ideas and solid thematic material. The reintroduction of Aztek will hopefully bring some new perspective to the title, and though she's a new person under the helmet I'm starting to like her already. A lot of my appreciation for this title stems from understanding where the creative team is coming from and what they're going for, and now that Orlando is bracing for his big arc I'm hoping the intents come together with the writing to create a truly memorable team book. Read Full Review

The comic sadly although gorgeously illustrated treads water. With a team that is large it is appreciated to shift the focus to secondary characters however in order to make b characters interesting it helps to have a compelling story with stakes which this unfortunately doesnt have. Read Full Review

After a decent issue the last time around, the Justice League of America is back in familiar territory.  Poor setup and bad dialogue make the story here hard to get through and while it ends on an overdue cliffhanger, I can't say I'm excited to see what comes next. Read Full Review

I do have to give Steve Orlando a little bit of credit though. As flawed as his execution is, the idea that a city "loses its light" when a hero leaves, thus leaving it more susceptible to an actual dark entity, makes Justice League of America #21 a particularly inspired issue. Perhaps the most inspired of any issue so far. Now, if Orlando can just focus on writing plots that aren't automatically solved by characters reacting solely with their Id, we might finally get a book worth reading fortnightly. Read Full Review