Justice League #29 Review

Shutting down.

The climatic battle arrives as the Metal Men fight alongside Cyborg against Grid.

First of all. Doug Manke is back and his artwork is stunning!

Geoff Johns deftly handles the Metal Men and their quirks while giving Cyborg possibly his greatest moment since the New 52 started.

But, yes there are problems and they do detract a little from the story.

SPOILERS FOLLOW………….

Sorry, people, the cover looks cool but the Metal Men don’t take those forms during the battle.

It goes off to a great start as the Metal Men reborn examine Cyborg – the funny looking guy in the room.

Again, Geoff establishes the quirks without missing a beat. Gold is self-reflecting, Platinum is caring, Mercury is mouthing off apocalyptic scenarios, Iron is already measuring biceps while Tin is frightened.

But the problems start now as Cyborg gives some exposition for Grid’s origins. After taking up 3 pages for some great character interaction, the issue begins to feel compressed with us knowing this is the finale for this tie-in.

Taking place during Forever Evil #6, Cyborg draws attention to himself and Grid leaves the Syndicate in a lurch to face off against his former host.

Being invisible to Grid, the Metal Men are able to get an upper hand on the robot. But Magnus’s communicator gives away their locations and Mercury falls, with Grid getting his hands on his Responsometer.

Grid calls up his back-up and it’s the Fearsome Five (lol, that's what Magnus calls them, though they are 7 in total) – Hammond, Doc Psycho, Shaggy Man and others.

This is where the issue falters a little. The Metal Men are relegated to the side as Grid and Cyborg face off in the digital world. Victor finally accepts that he is a conduit between man and robot and is able to overpower the virus and shuts Grid down. Though I’m a little annoyed how Grid finally appeared to ‘feel’.

On the outside, the Metal Men have defeated the back-up. As the communications come back online, Steve Trevor and Killer Frost arrive at the scene with Diana’s lasso. He tells them he has communicated with Martian Manhunter and the lasso may be the key to freeing Firestorm.

But before he can finish, the group is attacked by the second wave of villains (including Arkham Origins original (and purposely lame) villain Electrocutioner and Parasite). Steve Trevor is knocked unconscious and Cyborg decides to go and rescue the League while the Metal Men hold fort there.

The overload of villains leave a lot to be desired here. We see no less than 10 back-ups to Grid and they include heavyweights like Shaggy Man and Parasite. But no part of their battle against the Metal Men get showcased. That feels like a missed opportunity, given how much Johns elaborated on their origins just last issue.

SPOILERS END……………….

The artwork is great and the final Grid-Cyborg battle is surprisingly smack-down free and instead a great device for Victor’s growth. The Metal Men though feel shortchanged here, despite Johns continuing to prove his handle on them.

So, I give it 8.5 out of 10.

+Great final battle

+Some excellent character moments

+Artwork is breathtaking

-The Metal Men get short-changed for Cyborg later

-Grid’s evolution into emotion feels rushed