Ray: When it comes to books starring characters who are more cult fixtures of the DCU, writers can easily shake up the status quo – sometimes permanently. And that seems to be what happened in this issue of New Gods – as the conflict has led to the planet of New Genesis shattering, sending a massive refugee ship down to Earth carrying just about every major figure from the planet – including its leader, Highfather. The Justice League gets an alert that there’s about to be a crash landing, thanks to Cyborg and Miss Martian, and they spring into action. After stopping the populated meteor from hitting the Earth thanks to the stronger hero, there’s a bigger question – what to do with the thousands of New Genesis residents? Cameron Chase quickly wants to step in and take the warriors into custody for processing, but Orion naturally has an issue with that – and it falls to John Stewart to find a solution.

This issue obviously has some pointed things on its mind, with Ram V making some great commentary on the refugee crisis in a way that feels universal. There are also some fantastic quiet moments as the war between the New Gods is temporarily called off and Orion is allowed to express his humanity again. There’s a scene where he learns of Lightray’s death that’s packed with genuine emotion. But of course, the New Genesis survivors aren’t the only arrivals – and the Apokalips visitors are found by another DCU figure who might have much less benevolent intentions. This issue doesn’t have much of the action of the first arc past the first few pages, but it’s no less compelling. It’s easy to forget that New Genesis and Apokalips are essentially long-estranged brothers, and there are some fascinating new implications to come out of this issue that hint at some big things going forward.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.

Source: geekdad.com