We’re finally here...

After ~60 issues, five months, and many threads...we’ve finally arrived.

The conclusion of the Darkseid War, the conclusion of Justice League!

Lots to talk about so...without further ado..

DARKSEID WAR FINALE! Justice League #50

Let’s finish this

(But first, a quick moment to make fun of this variant cover)

Sorry, had me rolling

A quick recap to start, covering this entire like 17 part epic...it’s been quite a road...

And I hope you’re ready for a LOT of BEAUTIFUL splash pages

This is the only time Steve has EVER been on top and we all know it

It’s a small panel, but the concern in her face is perfect

I want a Mister Miracle series that actually explains how he does shot like this instead of just “He’s good”

Caged and cuffed? By the GLC?...

...not a problem!

And an axe forged by Hades?

Call me crazy but I’m kinda dying for a Grail origin mini! I want to see her fighting against that internal darkness, especially since it’s something we didn’t get to spend a lot of time exploring here.

Wonder Woman: NO KILLING!

Lex: Chill, he literally said it was fine! LET ME HAVE THIS!

Good to see that even as a God, Lex makes the time to be petty

BEHOLD! THE MAGIC UNDO-INATOR 10,000! THE EX-MACHINA BABY!!!

And Superwoman down in a HEARTBEAT, damn!

(I mean, impressive but I also lol’d a little, she had it coming)

Grail: KILL THE FLASH!

Barry: No! Don’t kill the Flash! God dammit HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA RUN THIS SAME STUPID RACE?

I don’t get how the Power-Succ 3000 can somehow restore Billy’s connection to the old gods but hey...it’s where we’re at

2020 mood

And here we go...Jessica’s big moment

Say one of the biggest shames of the second half of this JL run (and believe me, when this is all over I’ll give you my thoughts on the whole run) is that Jess didn’t get to shine a lot...not until right now.

Luckily, it’a a good one...

She’s come a long, long way from the woman we met, cowering in her apartment, afraid that one day she would die, that the men who killed her friends would come back to kill her...but now she’s in that same situation...

Someone’s about to kill her friend, the one leaguer we’ve seen take more time and care with her than anyone else, and she isn’t about to stand around and watch that happen again...

So she doesn’t.

And she accepts the one thing she was always the most afraid of: Death.

And regardless of any issues I can bring up with the pacing of this arc, this, and what happens after, the logical conclusion to it...and it changes everything

And here’s on to a moment that, despite the absolutely breathtaking spread, falls a bit flat for me.

The message is there, it’s what I knew the event had been about from the beginning, but unfortunately I don’t think the event did a good enough job focusing on this theme

It felt more like a side-note than an over-encompassing, mainline theme.

We saw hints of it, especially in Hal’s book, but I feel a lot of the really great chances they had to explore the dynamics of a deified team, the dichotomy of their powered-up beings, were left lost...

...in a sea of action and visual white noise.

I just feel like in some issues the wrong things took priority, but to be fair...there’s A LOT happening in this series. So who knows? May just be me

I just wish that these themes had been a bit more prominent in stories beyond Hal’s and about 2 pages of Clark’s

I’m not saying it fails to land altogether, because I think it does

But I see places where it could have been done better

Good explanation for how Steve could resist something that the damn Anti-Monitor couldn’t, because I was going to ask when Diana said his earlier in the story:

And Darkseid is reborn!

Imagine having your own pet Darkseid

I’d put him in a little tux, black bow-tie. He’d always carry around a veggie tray...

Everyone likes a veggie tray

Another recurring theme I liked in this run are the moments between Barry and Bruce, their relationship had some really solid moments, and I feel like that was a lot of what I missed when Hal took off before Throne of Atlantis

Welcome back, bae!

Oh, and also...!

Nice call out to the gorgeous GL Batman suit...but...

Move your feet, lose your seat...

Well...we’re ****ed

And now this...is tragic...if we had seen this struggle in Grail much longer, this would have hit harder, but still...it hurts

You know...as far as loopholes go...

I’m pretty damn ok with this one!!!

Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps, Jessica!

And...more sadness...

My god...this was one of the moments I definitely didn’t forget about...this is pain

And Baby Darkseid survives!

And with Grail too! A lot of potential in her, a lot, and I hope that we see her again soon. Last time was in the pages of Wonder Woman I believe!

And with everything winding down...here’s the two parts I didn’t expect...Superman dying...again

And Lex accepting a strange new role. The path for Rebirth has been paved, and there’s no stopping

Wow! What a great twist!

Hope that we don’t have to wait four years to find out the answer!

In all honesty, as great as the Joker twist is, I think this one I liked a bit more...

If we’re going to double down on the Zeus origin story, might as well make it double or nothing. I like the idea of Diana having a brother, and having read through that arc I love Jason very, very much. So yeah, loved this moment. Didn’t see it coming.

And then...there was the end...

I remember wondering...who had the power to wipe not only Owlman but Merton himself from the universe in an instant!?

Regardless of what happened down the line, the momentum this issue built was insane!

And that’s it! We did it!

That was all of the New 52 Justice League!

Stay tuned later tonight for my thoughts on this finale, and the entire series overall!

To everyone who’s stuck with me and read through these threads, thank you, I really appreciate it