Dark Nights: Metal Still Reverberates Through Justice League #8

The DC Universe is still exploring -- in JUSTICE LEAGUE -- the great cosmic odyssey that began with the destruction of the Source Wall, releasing unfathomable energy into the multiverse. It could be the end of everything, the beginning of something new...or it may just be a frustrating plot device to keep readers wondering.

Lex Luthor has been hard at work to unlock this secret, embodied in an energy source called The Totality. He's been traveling through time, using magic, and imprisoning a demonic Dark Multiverse maniac version of Batman himself -- the Batman Who Laughs, introduced in the DARK NIGHTS: METAL series. This Batman holds the answers Luthor seeks, but those answers come at a cost, one that Luthor is happy to pay.

While the interrogative tete-a-tete between Luthor and the Batman Who Laughs is engaging, it's not very high in the action category. To that end, we follow two more members of Luthor's Legion of Doom as they seek out a reclusive immortal with links to the sea. What they want from him and how it plays into Luthor's overall goals leads to Drowned Earth in the next issue.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 8 features Lex Luthor at his most egomaniacal and power hungry. He's always been that way, of course, but seldom have we seen him take it to a cosmic level. His behavior echoes more of Doctor Doom and his many attempt to steal ultimate power, such as when he tried to attain the power of The Beyonder.

The "Legion of Doom" storyline is a jigsaw puzzle that we watch James Tynion IV and Mikel Janin assemble, a spectator sport where we try to guess the final picture before all the pieces are in place. Fortunately, the picture so far is intriguing, and the puzzlers are putting it together with enough panache to keep us watching.