REVIEW: ‘Justice League Incarnate,’ Issue #3

Justice League Incarnate #3 is written by Joshua Willamson & Dennis Culver, illustrated by Ariel Olivetti (Pages 1-3, 20-27), Andrei Bressan (pages 4-7, 28-30), Nik Virella (pages 8-11), Todd Nauck (pages 14-25),  and Mikel Janin (pages 12-13, 16-19), colored by Hi-Fi and lettered by Tom Napolitano. It is published by DC Comics. “Lost In The Worlds” dives into the fallout from the second issue, as the members of Justice League Incarnate find themselves scattered across the Multiverse. Captain Carrot lands on Earth-41, Flashpoint Batman finds himself on Earth-26, President Superman and Doctor Multiverse are trapped on Earth-33, Avery Ho lands on Earth-31, and the Thunderer attempts to rally their remaining allies on the ruins of Earth-7.

Both Incarnate and Justice League Infinity have delved into the various worlds of the DC Multiverse, and this issue shows that Williamson and Culver are clearly having a blast while doing it. Earth-41 and Earth-7 are analogs to Image Comics and Marvel Comics, respectively; the Thunderer is similar to Thor, and Earth-41’s biggest hero is Spore-a version of Swamp Thing that has more than a few things in common with Spawn. Earth-31 is home to pirate versions of DC’s heroes, while Earth-26 is home to Captain Carrot’s animal allies, the Zoo Crew. Perhaps the most interesting world is Earth-33, where the heroes of DC only exist in comic book form; this allows Williamson and Culver to inject a dash of metafiction into the issue, with some interesting results.

The issue continues the trend of having different artists illustrate each world, making them feel visually distinct. Olivetti’s artwork brings a surprisingly glossy sheen to Earth-41, with its heroes being surprisingly muscular even by the genre’s standards. Nauck, best known for his hyper-animated work as the co-creator of Young Justice, applies that same aesthetic to Earth-26, and it turns out to be the perfect fit for the Zoo Crew. Bressan’s grittier, more detailed artwork shows just how much of a wreck Earth-7 is, and Janin’s more realistic artwork is perfect for the setting of Earth-33. Hi-Fi also takes a different approach with the color art depending on the world; Virella’s artwork has muted tones as Earth-31 is in a perpetual state of “dark and stormy seas and Earth-26 is bright & sunny. Even Napolitano’s lettering shifts from world to world; for example, on Earth-41 Spore’s archnemesis, the Annihilator speaks in lumpy, misshapen speech bubbles that are the color of blood.

The most interesting part about the issue, however, is seeing how the various JLI members react to their different worlds. Flashpoint Batman is not exactly happy to be hanging around with the Zoo Crew, while Captain Carrot is able to rally the forces of Earth-41 in the battle against Darkseid. But perhaps the most interesting moment comes from President Superman and Doctor Multiverse’s time on Earth-33. The first two issues of the series hinted at a potential relationship between them, and over three months, that is explored, and it turns out to be like any other relationship, filled with ups and downs. The matter of creating comics only serves as a further test, especially since they happen to affect other worlds. (This is the metafiction I spoke about in an earlier paragraph; it only gets weirder when the two actually visit DC’s headquarters in Burbank. Yes that’s a thing that happens.)

Justice League Incarnate #3 scatters its team across the Multiverse and explores a wide variety of DC’s heroes and villains in the process. With the issue revealing an “Oblivion Machine” that threatens all of reality, it looks like JLI will need to speed up the reassembly process if they want to save all of existence.

Justice League Incarnate #3 is available now wherever comics are sold.