SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

December 1, 2020 by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Justice League Unlimited: Time After Time | Review

December 1, 2020 by J. Caleb Mozzocco   Leave a Comment

Cover of Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited: Time After Time
Writers: Adam Beechen, Stuart Moore, Jason Hall and Steve Vance
Artists: Tim Levins, Carlo Barberi, John Delaney, Min S. Ku and others
DC Comics; Teen (13+)

The 2001-2004 Justice League cartoon generated a pair of companion comics, Justice League Adventures and Justice League Unlimited, and those comics have recently proven to be a valuable well for DC to find high-quality, evergreen all-ages comics stories to reprint. The publisher dips back into that well for Justice League Unlimited: Time After Time, a second thematic collection following August’s Galactic Justice.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

As the title indicates, this time the theme is time travel, and the half-dozen stories within the collection’s pages come from not only Justice League Adventures and Justice League Unlimited, but there’s also an issue from the short-lived 1997-1998 series Adventures in the DC Universe, which attempted to do for the larger DCU what Batman Adventures and Superman Adventures did for those families of characters (and largely succeeded, thanks to excellent but under-appreciated work from Steve Vance and John Delaney).

The particular issue from Adventures in the DC Universe featured The Legion of Super-Heroes, the super-teens from the 30th Century (although now that we are currently living in the 21st Century, the Legion has similarly moved to the 31st Century).

The Legion returns for another story later in the collection, in which a handful of the team meet a handful of Justice Leaguers, who chase living computer virus “Kilg%re” through a time portal.

The Flash flashes forward to the post-apocalyptic, Planet of the Apes-inspired time of Jack Kirby’s Kamandi, the Last Boy On Earth in another story.

The remaining half of the book features time travel in the other direction.

In one story, the Lex Luthor of the far-flung future travels into his past, and the heroes’ present, in order to try to destroy the so-called trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

In another, Wonder Woman, The Elongated Man, and cowboy stuntman-turned-superhero The Vigilante travel back in time to the Old West, where they team-up with that era’s pre-superhero heroes: Jonah Hex, El Diablo, and Bat Lash.

And in another, the time-lost Justice Leaguer The Shining Knight leads a huge group of some 15 heroes back in time to defend Camelot from Morgan Le Fay and a magical army of black knights.

It’s that story, “Castle Perilous,” that perhaps best encapsulates what makes the book so fun. Its panels are full to bursting with superheroes, not only the present-day Leaguers but also some dozen more or who make one-panel cameo appearances. Writer Adam Beechen therefore gives artist Carlo Barberi a feast of colorful characters to draw in his big, bold style, a style that pushes hard enough against the designs established by the cartoon to make the art distinctly Barberi’s, but not hard enough to break the general aesthetic (the cover features a splash page of Barberi’s art from this story; you’ll note the one character not wearing tights is King Arthur himself).

The thrust of that story involves its narrator Vixen, the animal-powered fashion model-turned-hero, coping with her first trip through time and trying to come to grips with living in a world where going to fight alongside King Arthur is just another day at the office. In addition to demonstrating the scale and scope of these comics, “Castle Perilous” also shows their range, highlighting relatively obscure characters like Vixen and Shining Knight alongside the likes of Batman and Superman, while telling a relatable story in a wildly over-the-top world.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a third Justice League Unlimited collection in the next few months. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.

Filed under: Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Adam BeechenCarlo BarberiDC ComicsJustice LeagueJustice League Unlimited: Time After TimeStuart MooreTim Levins

About J. Caleb Mozzocco

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a way-too-busy freelance writer who has written about comics for online and print venues for a rather long time now. He currently contributes to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6 blog and ComicsAlliance, and maintains his own daily-ish blog at EveryDayIsLikeWednesday.blogspot.com. He lives in northeast Ohio, where he works as a circulation clerk at a public library by day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

February 2023

The Archie Encyclopedia | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

Monkey Prince Vol. 1: Enter the Monkey | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

Young Agatha Christie | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

Andy Warner's Oddball Histories: Pests and Pets | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

My Sister, the Cat, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn Podcast

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Jump Into this Guest Post by Shadra Strickland About Her Latest Book: Jump In!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

The Archie Encyclopedia | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

What’s Coming in 2023, A Feedback Poll, and Goodbye for Now…

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

A Coming of Age Quartet, a guest post by Krystal Marquis

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

A Woman’s Place Is in a Graphic Novel: Outstanding Works for Young Readers Center Women in History

Funny Books for Unfunny Times

9 Adult Graphic Novels for Teens: Sophisticated Takes on History, Humor, Sci-Fi, and More

The Publishing Industry Adapts to COVID-19 While Offering Support

SLJ Debuts New Column “Mondo Manga”

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023