Justice League Unlimited #4
Scheduled to arrive in stores: February 26, 2025
Cover date: April 2025
“Justice League Unlimited”
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Cover: Christian Ward, Lucio Parrillo, and Salvador Larroca
1:25 Wrap Around Variant Cover: Fico Ossio
1:50 Variant Cover: Gavin Guidry
Black History Month Variant Cover: Ryan Benjamin
Reviewed by: JP Rocha
With the Amazon still on fire and the current Swamp Thing, Levi Kamei, “destroyed”, Mr. Terrific falls back on the one person he believes can help, Tefé Holland, the daughter of Swamp Thing Alec Holland. After initial reluctance, Mr. Terrific is able to get Tefé to follow him and combine her powers with the magic of Xanthe, Zatanna, and John Constantine.
After some initial progress, Inferno sends Dr. Occult magically charged as human kindling, which only accelerates the fire’s progress. Stuck with Aquaman within the fire, Tefé takes him into the Green. They are looking for Swamp Thing, who has actually retreated to the Green to heal. Aquaman believes that, like all energies, the Green has currents. He is able to use these currents combined with Tefé’s power and the magic that she was infused with to call upon the Parliament of the Trees who capture the Inferno member who is holding Swamp Thing captive in the Green.
Once freed and powered by the magic of the JLU, Swamp Thing is able to reverse the fires of Inferno and fully restore the rainforest.
The issue ends with Inferno temporarily defeated but confident as they move into the final phase of their plan.
Story – 4: Without a doubt, Justice League Unlimited earns the title “Unlimited”. This is DC’s best ongoing book in the current continuity. While there is an ongoing main story with the big bad in Inferno, there are still full stories, issue to issue, that justify a month-to-month investment.
In this issue, Waid continues to build the Inferno threat. For the most part, there are two main plots. Plot “A” picks up from the last issue. It deals with Inferno’s threat to destroy the whole of the Amazon Rainforest. Plot “B” is working to resolve Martian Manhunter’s desertion as Batman finds Martian Manhunter, appealing to him as a friend to trust the team.
There are many other story development points throughout the issue, including both general character development and plot development points. There are behind-the-scenes conversations between members of Inferno. There are also reminders that Air Wave is still working with Inferno as an inside man. We are also given insight into the fate of Dr. Occult after following Inferno as they had escaped back through a magical portal in the last issue.
There are character development stories that are simultaneously used to move the plot forward. For example, this is seen when Tefé Holland takes Aquaman into the Green to save him from the fire’s destruction. Her act is clairvoyant in that she amplifies Aquaman’s powers to call on the Parliament of the Trees to save Swamp Thing from Inferno’s captivity. This character interaction is only five pages, whereas, in many modern books, this story would have been an entire issue.
Even though this issue is straightforward plotwise, Waid efficiently uses Writing and Art to tell a periodical story. As a reader, you must pay attention to both writing and art to see that this is a team book and that team is being spotlighted. This is evident even in a side story point or a panel just to highlight different team members.
Art – 5: This book looks great. Dan Mora must be having fun as he gets to visualize what the inside of the Green looks like and with the character design of the different members of the Parliament of Trees. And, of course, drawing Swamp Thing.
Mora is able to use panels for storytelling and character development to great effect. While Mr. Terrific is trying to recruit the help of Tefé Holland. There is a great use of a double-panel layout to show the team working hard to fight the magical fire and save the people in the path of its destruction. The two panels feature Superman and Flash, each saving a kid. The panels are connected, but cut down the middle to showcase half Flash and half Superman. These are just two of the excellent team storytelling panels in this issue.Cover Art – 4: This Dan Mora cover features Batman carrying Martian Manhunter away from flames. The source of the fire is the Amazon pillars. In the background are the cloaked figures of the terrorist organization Inferno. This is a good storytelling cover. Unfortunately, this cover is dark, and the lack of color hurts its ability to stand out.
There are variant covers by Christian Ward, Lucio Parrillo, and Salvador Larroca. Christian Ward’s cover featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Steel is the best of the three. If you like hyperrealistic, the Lucio Parrillo and Salvador Larroca covers may be more to your liking.
There are two Incentive Covers: Fico Ossio (1:25) and Gavin Guidry (1:50). Both of these covers are better than the three variant covers. The Ossio variant is a wrap-around cover featuring Superman, Wonder Woman Flash, Martian Manhunter, Black Lighting, and Batman. The Guidry cover has a style that is most familiar to DC fans and showcases Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Batman.
The Ryan Benjamin Black History Month Variant is a great character spotlight of Mr. Terrific.
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