Justice League of America #7.4: Black Adam Review

One of the big question marks following the end of Trinity War and the transition into Forever Evil was the status of Black Adam. Various cover images made it clear that Adam would be part of Lex Luthor's anti-Crime Syndicate cabal, but he ended Trinity War no more alive than when the story began. Furthermore, Shazam's corruption by Pandora's Box suggested that he, in fact, may be Black Adam now.

Fortunately, Black Adam has his own Villains Month issue courtesy of Geoff Johns and Tony Bedard. And rather than waste time retreading the same origin Johns just established in his Shazam back-up feature, the writers focus on the current state of Kahndaq and their desperate need for their ancient protector. This issue illuminates Black Adam's role within Forever Evil, as well as setting up some interesting material for future Justice League issues and the eventual Shazam ongoing.

The writers offer a fun nod to Johns' pre-New 52 Black Adam work by introducing new takes on Amon and Adrianna, the characters who eventually became Osiris and Isis in the pages of 52. The intent isn't to create a Black Marvel family again (at least, not yet), but it's still nice to see these characters included.

Edgar Salazar illustrates the issue to somewhat mixed results. He renders bold, powerful figures and certainly draws a mean Black Adam. But some of the more action-oriented panels are hindered by awkward character placement, with the frame either zooming in too lose or veering too far away from the subject.

This issue feels bogged down at times from the sense that the writers are more interested in setting up future stories than just telling a lean tale now. But even so, this comic offers a welcome return to the DCU for one of its greatest villains.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com