Justice League Unlimited #5 review

A handful of Justice Leaguers have been assigned to protect world leaders at the G20 summit in Sydney. A high-profile event such as this is just the sort of place super-terror group Inferno would strike. The heroes on call are Star Sapphire, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Flash and Impulse. Plus, one Global Guardian.

Doubting Impulse would surely admit Thunderlord’s powers are actually pretty useful when the good guys, and nearly two dozen world leaders (I may be making a deliberate distinction here), are warped into another realm.

Attacked by nightmare creatures, the Taiwanese monk lets loose.

Ironically, it’s Impulse who is accused of not pulling his weight.

Other heroes who might be deployed to help Impulse and friends with what is surely an Inferno plot are themselves busy.

Back at the Watchtower, Mr Terrific is trying to figure out who Inferno are.

And Batman and Martian Manhunter go to the Atom with a problem left over from the Absolute Power debacle.

There’s a lot going on this month, but the best thing of all is the return of the real Impulse! Bart Allen is back under the pen of his co-creator, Mark Waid. A gloriously fun character, he was stripped of his uniqueness when Geoff Johns grabbed him for Teen Titans. But here he is thinking in pictograms again, and showing the keen intelligence that surprises peers dazzled by his flighty front.

Seeing the JLU at G20 was not on my 2025 bingo card… OK, they’re in Sydney in March whereas our Earth’s will be held in Johannesburg in November, but it’s interesting to have real world politics reflected.

It was a treat seeing Thunderlord shown to his full potential for the first time in what must be decades. There’s another obscure hero in here – so obscure I don’t recognise him… maybe August General in Iron of China’s Great Ten team with a new mask?

And hey, it’s the Legion of Doom, looking ruddy amazing on Dan Mora’s cover, and just as good when they show up at the end of the book. Because yes, Bart was right about that politician… if you’ve not read this comic you can likely guess which Doomster is putting out a visual mojo.

Waid is firing on all cylinders here, writing fabulous action sequences, studded with character moments, that move the series arc forward. And Mora… wow! The man draws two issues per month and the work just gets better and better. The weird world scenes have a wildness that sells the idea the team and their charges are in real trouble. The kineticism of the characters speaks to their desperate determination to get the creatures away from the civilians. The quieter moments also have interest, though even Mora can’t make the hideous new outfit Ray is wearing look halfway decent.

Tamra Bonvillain looks to be having a ball combining colours to make the pages pop, with the after images of Bart on the opening page showing the subtler side of her talents. And Dave Sharpe’s letters sit beautifully atop the artwork, making the script a smooth read.

Justice League Unlimited #5 should be handed out to all would-be creators of DC superhero comics as a masterful example of how good these comics can get.