Justice League: The Darkseid War Special #1 Review

In the very good Justice League: The Darkseid War Special #1, we finally learn the origins and motivations of Grail, the daughter of Darkseid.

Justice League #48
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Ries, Oscar Jimenez and Paul Pelletier
Colored by Alex Sinclair
Published by DC Comics

Last time In Justice League: The members of the Justice League form a plan of attack against Mobius with their counterparts in the Crime Syndicate. They take the battle to the Anti-Monitor in Gotham City where things don’t go exactly as planned.

Without question, “The Darkseid War” has quickly shaped up to be one of the best Justice League stories of all time. In addition to bringing Geoff Johns entire run to a close, it’s also serving as a capstone for the entire New 52. It is showing, along with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman, just how much potential the relaunch had but was never fully realized by most of the titles that made up the DC initiative.

Justice League: The Darkseid War Special #1 acts as a side story of sorts for the main epic where we all learn the past of Grail, the daughter of Darkseid who is hell bent on destroying not only him, but the Anti-Monitor as well.

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In addition, we also get a cool subplot involving Power Ring and what exactly has happened to the mind of Jessica Cruz while Volthoom has taken possession of her body.

Since this is a one-shot, similar to the six that came out when “The Darkseid War” hit its midway point, it would be unfair to compare it to the main story, because if we did The Darkseid War Special #1 would come up lacking. Even though this one is written by Johns and has art by some of the best minds working at DC, it is still basically just an origin story crammed inbetween chapters.

But what an origin story it is! Finally learning Grail’s backstory has made me want to go back and re-read the earlier issues of “The Darkseid War” because now knowing her origins will probably make those first few chapters all the better. I’m fascinated to see what happens to Grail if she makes it out of the arc alive, because there are just so many stories that could be told with her as the focus.

Plus, there are a few shockers thrown in that will leave your jaw on the floor. One in particular could have long-reaching ramifications for Wonder Woman and her world, so be prepared.

Art wise you really can’t ask for any better. Oscar Jimenez and Paul Pelletier each handle different parts of the art, Jimenez the present and Pelletier the flashbacks. Both turn in some great work with Pelletier having the edge in my opinion.

Just as good as the Grail sequences are the ones featuring Power Ring and her battle to retake control of her body. It features a great last page and some eye-popping work by Ivan Reis who I’m really glad to see working on Justice League again, even if it is only for a handful of pages.

If you are going to have a one-shot issue so that the creative team of the main book can have some lead time to work on the conclusion, you could do a lot worse that this.

More superheroes and comics: Black Panther #1 Review: A Nation Under Our Feet Part 1

The Bottom Line: While not up to the amazing standards set by the regular Justice League title, Justice League: The Darkseid War Special #1 is still an incredible comic that adds some depth and interesting new layers to “The Darkseid War”. While I don’t see Grail ever joining the League, I hope we see more of her after Rebirth in some capacity because honestly, characters os interesting as Grail only come along every once in a great while from DC or Marvel, so let’s hope she sticks around.

Next month, Justice League #49 and the beginning of the end for not only “The Darkseid War” but the whole New 52.

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