Justice League of America #26 Review

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Art: Ed Benes

This is pretty much a filler arc, so who cares? Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are barely featured, and recently pushed stars like Tornado aren't even there. It is easy to blow past this arc, but I felt it did a strong job in looking into Vixen's character. For casual readers, she just seems like another one of those JLAers, and it takes certain arcs and issues to establish and build some of the minor characters in these big team books. I totally appreciate how McDuffie does this in this short arc. He presents a low-level character named Vixen with alternate-reality characters, and uses her to work through. It is a classic, but not often used, storyline of a minor character fighting her way to save the major characters. McDuffie gives us a compelling character study. Vixen has to confront her own fears and insecurities to save the day. Anasi is a great villain who breaks the proverbial 4th wall. He comments on storytelling, and captures all of the heroes and distorts what is real and fake. It is Vixen's job to wade through this, and after its all said and done, you actually care about the character. It is a pretty basic premise and storytelling device, but McDuffie does it beautifully. He has a great villain in Anasi, who is a no-name, but is presented very strongly. He has the minor character go over in a way where she discovers new layers within herself. I thought the alternate batman was pretty awesome as well. A gunslinger. That is juts awesome. The art wasn't great

ART: Etch and Sketch
OVERALL: Get it