Writer: Dan Abnett / Artist: Will Conrad / DC Comics
Justice League Odyssey #13 starts a new arc in a fresh location with new characters aligning themselves with the same goals as the previous team. After Cyborg, Starfire, and Azrael got turned into Darkseid’s New New Gods, and Jessica Cruz got turned into Lantern dust, we’re dropped across the galaxy to a space station near the Source Wall with Okkult, Red Lantern Dex-Starr, and a scientist from Zamaron.
No one saw this coming.
But it’s a welcomed change.
Let’s first talk about Jessica Cruz. She got murked last issue. M-U-R-K-E-D. Darkseid did the damn thing and blasted her with all that newly obtained Omega energy bestowed upon him by Sepulkore. My girl was dust. And I was lowkey mad. Did they just off one of the more intriguing albeit underused characters DC has to offer? And not even in a flagship title!? They couldn’t send Jessica out like that. They just couldn’t. Well, I’m pleased to tell you that’s not what happened, though you probably could’ve guessed. This is comics, dude. Nobody stays dead.
You see, those Omega beams from Darkseid both killed her and healed her, and now she’s teeming with the stuff. She’s leveled up, maybe even reached her final form. Who needs willpower when you’ve got literal god-level energy running through your veins?
In addition to Jessica’s Jesus level rise from the dead, this was a pretty solid issue. And a refreshing one at that. This new group is surprising. A far cry from the Justice League B-Team we’d grown accustomed to. Hell, this wouldn’t even be the C-Team. Yet they face the same monumental task– a steeper one at that– in facing Darkseid and his mind-controlled Leaguers.
An aspect of this issue that I really enjoyed was how everything took place in a singular location: this Zamaronian space station. Staying put in one spot allowed these characters, especially the new ones, to really breathe and introduce themselves to us in ways that felt a lot more intimate than it would have if they were jumping around a lot.
Also, now that Jessica is back, and stronger than ever, she’s the de facto leader of this group. And I love it. She lowkey should have been calling shots with the OG Odyssey squad, but she showed up late to the party. She’s been the most level-headed, & rational character in this series, and now she’s got a ragtag team of space pirates who’ll probably listen to her less than her actual friends did. But it’s a major potential for character growth. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, and the odds are against her more than ever. At least since Rebirth launched. I’m very excited to see how she overcomes all this in subsequent issues, and even more excited to see her go toe to god-level toe with Darkseid in the near future as well. It’s not something that I would have told you I saw coming at the beginning of this series, but now it seems almost inevitable.
Justice League Odyssey #13 switches up the beat by introducing us to some new faces with the same aspirations to defeat Darkseid. Also, Jessica Cruz channels her inner Jesus and enters her life after death.
9 Jesus Jessicas out of 10
Reading Justice League Odyssey? Find BNP’s other reviews here.
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