Indistinguishable from Magic

[arbre_rieur]

Three pages from JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK 2 and four from issue 3...









Also, a surprising revelation about the nature of the threat driving this first story arc. All this time, we thought it was the Enchantress, driven mad by her separation from June Moone, but it looks like there's another player behind the scenes as well:



Paul Cornell jokingly dubbed Xanadu the Wolverine of the new DC, for appearing in so many books.

Comments

[funbox]

Is it just me, or is this book looking reeeaal good so far?

[q99]

Yes and no. Loved the first issue, but 2nd issue was one long blaaah about Deadman's relationship.

[mrstatham]

Apparently, it moves a tad slowly, but.. Well, that's never a problem in trade, and I mostly buy trades these days.

The art's also significantly less plasticky and stiff-looking, a couple of months in. And the book in general is way more interesting than Geoff Johns' latest nepotism-fuelled epic.

[kenn_el]

But, again, DC's "promise" when they rebooted was that they would stop having the writers craft stories in order to sell trades. There's not a single title that I'm aware of that adheres to that.

[mrstatham]

Because I don't think they entirely understand the importance of the trade market, despite Vertigo often making up a whole bunch of the biggest selling collections each month.

Beside, they never really 'promised' it, and more suggested it was an ambition to move away from that kind of storytelling; Morrison already tried it in Batman and Robin - each story was three issues or so. DC collected it in six issue volumes. You also can't really make demands of the writers to fit a story into x amount of issues - Snyder's Court of Owls epic is 11 issues, for instance, whilst the current origin arc for JLA seems to be six or so.

They're not going to change the way they make trades without a drastic example showing them they can do so. The six to eight issue collection sells fine and appeals to the people who don't want to buy singles. That's not to say writers won't tell stories that way, but DC aren't going to stop selling things that way. Just like any other company.

[kenn_el]

I'm actually pro-comic, in that I enjoy the medium and would be sad to see its demise, so I appreciate any effort that encourages greater sales, and the trades are certainly a factor. What I was hoping DC was aiming for was not to restrict those writers who wanted to tell a larger story, but to reign in those writers (or editors) who were simply padding issues in order to stretch the material enough to fill a trade, when a single issue might do the story justice.

[mrstatham]

I think, in some cases, that may be what they're doing, though. Some of the writers seem to be at least trying for a smaller, more contained approach, whereas others, like Snyder or Azzarello, are going larger. I think Milligan's taking a different approach here anyway - I recall X-Statix and the like having a much quicker pace.

[jlbarnett]

I haven't notice anyone going for the smaller approach. Which really annoys me.

[darkblade]

I never really understood that. Why would it matter how many floppies it takes to make a story arc in trade form? It's not like they can't bind longer or shorter stories.

[eyz]

This is easily my fav of the New 52 at the moment :P
Even the likes of Action Comics been getting slightly less good that this, in my eyes!

[kenn_el]

Actually, for me it's this and Demon Knights. Coincidentally, Xanadu is featured in both.

[eyz]

There's your "seal of quality" for the DCnU! XD

[silverzeo]

.... magic is really messed up in the comic-universe, no wonder why Amethyst went off the deep in regular continuity and in FLashpiont... just hope her DC Nation debut will help her image to a new generation... unless they repeat the whole thing all over again to restart the status quo!

[pyrotwilight]

I'm just wondering if that is indeed Madame Xanadu and not someone powerful impersonating her. It has been fun, though I know so little of Shade the Changing Man, Enchantress/ June Moone and Constantine.

[kenn_el]

It's possible that she's possessed.

[nagaina]

.........so basically John Constantine and Zatanna just did a magical sex ritual without the sex.

I really need to be reading this book.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Huzzah! John and Zatanna, back in business!

...I'm very gleeful about this, especially because I've been really rather disliking his current love interest in Hellblazer proper.

[biod]

"I was coming for Enchantress, the witch".
I can't be the only one who mentally added: "Now I'm just coming". It's s_d after all.

[nursewretched]

Well, considering the type of magic they were casting at the time...

[joasakura]

this book, Demon Knights, and Stormwatch have been my three consistent faves of the reboot so far.

[blackruzsa]

This is definitely looking interesting. About time I bought a DC comic again, I suppose.

And thank lawdy they seem to have gotten a good grasp on John-speech--or at least a less awkward one.

And I like the interactions :)

[maxisanacorn]

I haven't picked this up yet, is Madame Xanadu not a good guy here? I'm understanding what she's doing...

[sucre_bebe]

Just a quick question for someone who is reading Justice League Dark; is this supposed to be John Constantine as in the current John in Hellblazer, or is it supposed to be John but not accurate to his current character? Because of what I've seen it seems like he tripped through a Lazarus Pit and got divorced on his way across the Pond. But I haven't read Justice League Dark so I wouldn't know...