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Justice League # 5 (2018)

By Mark Rodriguez

Something called the Totality is heading for Earth and it might contain the knowledge to save the multiverse or rule it. Superman and Martian Mahunter entered this force with miniaturized versions of Batman and Hawkwoman inside their bodies. Unfortunately, Lex Luthor and the Joker had stowed away in miniature form as well. After dealing with Batman and Hawkwoman, Lex and Joker take control of Superman and Manhunter and use their bodies to gain the knowledge of the Totality. What will happen now?


The issue starts with several villains around the world such as the Scarecrow, Black Adam and Neron feeling that something has changed, that something is wrong, as Lex uses Superman's body to finally achieve everything he has ever dreamed of.

"Legion of Doom part 1" opens with the description of the hideout of the Legion of Doom and how it's invisible to the common eye and how it houses deadly weapons and a frightening interrogation room, approved by the Joker himself. The most dangerous room if Lex's private quarters where he keeps something behind a glass case. For now he doesn't need it because he holds doom in his hands.

In space, sometime before doom, the Green Lantern Corps is dealing with the Source Wall. The leader of the Sinestro Corps contacts Sinestro and says they need his help and they would have to ally themselves with the Green Lanterns before the universe is destroyed. Lex approaches Sinestro in space due to an advanced technology called Quantum Folding. Lex tells him not to join the Lanterns and go after what he really wants.


Lex explains he has unlocked the history of the universe and knows the secrets the Oans have been hiding form him. He asks Sinestro to join his group he is organizing and he'll give him the Invisible Spectrum and more. This caught Sinestro's attention.

Luthor explained how after helping save the world he saw it was all meaningless. He worked on time travel and was able to as far into the future as he could go. At the end of time he didn't find gods, only Luthor.

Some people fly over to him, one of them resembling the Joker and recognize him as Luthor. The Joker look-alike explained that Lex was in Lexor City. Eventually society had stopped fooling itself and embraced who they really were after discovering Luthor's lost works. The universe was conquered in his name. The Joker look-alike explains Luthor was considered the Great Tragedy, the man who saw the truth but missed unlocking the key during his own time. Luthor demands to know what he missed. He is told that telling him would rewrite human history, but he can show him the symbol at the heart of it all, what the call Doom.



Lex is telling this same story to Gorilla Grodd and explains he woke up in his lab and tried to recreate the advanced technology he saw. He says there is no point in being right if no one realizes it until a millions years after he died. Grodd is not amused by all this and says if Luthor wasn't using mental blockers, he would have made him rip out his own throat. Luthor says he's missing the point and needs to think bigger. He offers him the world.

Grodd and Luthor are at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Grodd is using his powers to make everyone attack themselves to the death. Luthor says what he is doing is a waste of time only meant to intimidate The Flash. Grodd has heard enough and he wants to feed Luthor to one of the Russian military leaders. Luthor says he knows how they can stop the Speed Force in its tracks, and Grodd is willing to listen.


The future villains said Luthor had missed something so it must have been under his nose. The only thing he had missed was an old invite to his father's old Legionnaire Club. He was not expecting to find a hidden door there, and in the hidden room below, he would find papers describing the history of the universe. The papers explained of the Totality of Power. Luthor saw the symbol which matched what he was shown in the future, the path towards Doom. Luthor didn't realize until now that the doorknob with the symbol on it would help him unlock the secrets of the universe. He would be able to take the Totality and wield it, bringing Doom to their time.

Lex would able to unleash the Invisible Spectrum, who would be able to show everyone who they really are. He would need someone that could wield that power and command an army. This person would be Sinestro. He would discover the scion of The Turtle who could use the Still Force to lock creation in its tracks. Someone would need to wield this power as well, and that would be Gorilla Grodd.

Lex had built a legion of horror with that doorknob he found at that hidden Kansas basement. Each member would use one of the seven forces described in those papers. This legion would represent the true face of the universe with it's selfish and vindictive pride. In the future the villains would vanish, but they cheered as they ceased to exist, knowing it was because Luthor had discovered the truth in his own time.

Luthor pilots Superman getting closer and closer to his goal. The narration explains if Luthor was able to, he'd ask us the same question. Why be better than our very nature? Why not succumb to what we really are? Choose the right side, and side with Doom.


My Opinions-

This story flashes back to how all of this got started from Luthor's perspective. It explains how he knew about the Totality, the Still Force and the Invisible Sprectrum, as well as how he gathered the gang. Gotta admire the self confidence to talk to more powerful beings that can easily tear Luthor limb from limb into hearing what he has come to say. So far we have seen the powers he has given to Sinestro and Grodd, but I shudder to think what kind of ultimate power he would have given to the Joker.

Pretty good story, and stellar art which improved on the character designs from the last issue. The idea that Luthor went so far to the future and found out he was treated a god of sorts and needed to find 'the truth' in his own timeline to bring upon Doom... comics are just weird. The comic might not outright say it, but since this revolves around bringing Doom, it's perfect reasoning that their team would be the Legion of Doom. That said, I wonder if the Scarecrow cameo was because he was a member of the Legion of Doom in the cartoons.

This issue was mostly backstory so it ended right where we left off last issue, so the suspense to see what happens next is still there. I do have to say, Grodd is scary as hell with zero disregards for humans. Making the guy literally dance to death next issue and now making the people of the UN kill each other... I wouldn't feel safe knowing the guy was anywhere in my state.

The issue got my interest, so I will try to catch up on this series as soon as I can.

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