Comic review: Justice League #38- Ho-hum, it’s zombie Batman, yawn

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jason Fabok
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 21st January 2015


****Spoilers in review****

I’m not going to waste too much time on this book, as it’s not worth it.

If you want to see Batman as a zombie, then buy it.

The art looks great. It’s very big, impressively detailed and very colourful, but the story by Geoff Johns is pedestrian, uninteresting, routine, bland, and perfunctory in every way imaginable. He certainly isn’t saying anything of any importance, and his plot has a resigned and tired feel about it.

I find it very telling that he has turned some of the Justice League superheroes into zombies at the close of the book. It’s exactly what I would expect a writer to do when he has run out of ideas. It’s easy, easier to reverse and well, the kids love zombies these days, don’t they?

Johns also gives us the stunning revelation that evil genius Lex Luthor is a devious and manipulative liar. Superman, of course, is surprised at this development. It’s pretty stupid really.

Doesn’t Superman know anything about Lex? You’d think he would have a good handle on his character by now, but in this book he acts like he’s just met the bloke a couple of weeks ago. I know that Superman is supposed to see the best in people, but that doesn’t mean that he is a complete and utter fool.

Forgetting that completely unbelievable moment of Superman naivety the plot has already been resolved anyway.

Superman is carrying anti-bodies in his blood that will turn zombie Batman into normal Batman again, so it’s just a matter of an extra strong needle, a blood sample, and it’s back to the status quo for Batman and the rest of the Justice League.

I don’t understand why Johns has given us the ending already, but he has, and the end panel of this book with a rampaging zombie Batman and assorted mates offers little to look forward to, other than a brief punch-up in issue #39.

If you want to look at some pretty pictures whilst you are sitting on the toilet, well this is the book for you. However, if you want a comic book that has something intelligent to say about the world as it is today (that is what I’m looking for in my comics) then you’ll find nothing here.

If you couldn’t care less about ‘boring’ reality and real world issues, and read comic books as entertaining, escapist fun then there’s nothing to get excited about here either.

This is dull, dull, dull. Perhaps Geoff Johns just needs a break, as it appears that he’s running on empty at the moment. His run on the Justice League title has been largely entertaining, but there’s no getting away from the fact that his creative juices are at an all time low at the moment.

Rating: 3/10 (for the art)