Justice League of America #9
Martian Manhunter continues through the prison that keeps the real Justice League at bay, with each cage worse than the last. This issue is great not only because it shows a different side to those trapped, but we finally start to see some characterization from Stargirl. Up to now there really hasn’t been much to know of her besides the fact that she is the public face of the team.
Getting a better understanding of her character was much-needed to progress further in this story. We needed some way to look at her rather than the rebellious young hero who wants to prove herself. She’s really not like the others, well sorta like Baz in the sense that they weren’t meant to have the power they possess to that extent. They came across it by circumstance and how you see that they are trying to make the best of it. In Courtney’s case it’s about becoming something more than who she is or how others see her.
The same can be said about J’ohn as well. For the longest time now we have been teased about his past, and now he faces the reality of it. Kindt shows a lot of knowledge of J’ohns character being able to focus on the fact that he is so much stronger than Superman yet his greatest failure came in spite of this.
Derenick which we all know from the Injustice comics brings his style which is very welcomed considering how well he handles action. The penciling is something he does best and it shows throughout.
Justice League of America #9 is one interesting adventure which is a great distraction from everything else going on in the world. We now have a little more understanding of the prison they are all trapped in, but we have an even greater understanding of both Martian Manhunter and Stargirl. There may not be a lot of action, but the story is what stands out as it clearly possesses more depth than we could have anticipated. That is including the weird twist at the end which leaves you with a few questions you hope are explained next issue.