Writers: Danny Lore and Ivan Cohen
Art: Marco Failla and Enrica Eren Angiolini
Letters: Carlos M. Mangual
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 6th, 2022
The teen heroes of DC’s Earth-11 (where the heroes’ genders are flipped) battle a renegade band of Green Lanterns in Multiversity Teen Justice #4, and these aren’t your typical Green Lanterns! The Green Lanterns of the Earth-11 universe are evil and power their rings by absorbing life energy, which makes them a nasty group of villains. Can the Teen Justice team stop arguing with each other long enough to rescue Troy (the male equivalent of Wonder Girl on Earth-11) and Raven’s soul-self from the Green Lanterns?
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The Story
I’ve always loved exploring DC’s other Earths, with their alternate versions of characters and teams, and Earth-11 is one of the most fascinating of them. In Multiversity Teen Justice #4, the unique features of Earth-11 and its universe continue to be revealed.
Picking up immediately from the last issue, the team are searching for Troy inside the subbasement of The Church of Blood, and are also worried about Raven (who’s a male on this Earth), whose soul-self has been separated from him. They discuss a plan of action.
The personalities of the characters and the banter between them is where the book really shines, and why I’ve loved this mini-series so far. Kid Quick with his impatience and complete inability to let anyone finish a sentence. Robin’s constant analysis and pontificating. Klarienne The Witch Girl’s Wednesday Addams-style razor-sharp retorts and disdain for Aquagirl. As they argue with each other, it’s hilarious and so much fun to read, reminding me of the old “A-Team” show, when “Howling Mad” Murdock, Face, Hannibal, and B.A. would get into a verbal jousting session.
My favorite member of the team is Supergirl. I love this version of Supergirl, who looks much different than the Supergirl of Earth-Prime and is an eternal keeper of the peace. Even though she’s arguably the most powerful member of the team, she’s the gentlest and kindest too, and a great counterpoint to the others.
At the climax of the issue, we get a showdown between the team and this universe’s version of Kilowog and Kyle Rayner, who are both sinister and merciless. It’s a great little fight scene. And this Kilowog still hurls around the word “Poozer”, though, so he can’t be all bad, right?
It’s chilling to see such a blood-thirsty Kyle Rayner, who at one point even makes a joke about a refrigerator, which makes him especially terrifying to anyone familiar with Kyle Rayner past. My only problem with this storyline is that it’s still not clear what the Green Lanterns are up to and why they’re here. Sister Blood, who leads the Church of Blood (and who’s secretly Sinestra, the Earth-11 version of Sinestro) is obviously pulling their strings, but for what purpose?
The Art
Marco Failla’s art in Multiversity Teen Justice #4 shows off each character’s personality wonderfully. His depiction of this universe’s Green Lanterns is slightly different from the Earth-Prime universe’s Lanterns, just different enough to give them a sinister look, but you immediately know who they are. His page layouts really enhance the story, especially on one page, where Raven goes “nuclear”, tossing everyone about as demons appear around her. It’s a fantastic portrait of Raven that really shows what’s raging inside him.
Final Thoughts
Multiversity Teen Justice #4 moves the story along at a great pace, deftly mixing humor, tragedy, great characters, and great action. It’s a super fun read! Not only is the action set up perfectly for the next issue, but there are also various other mentions and name-drops of Earth-11 characters (including the Justice Guild, this Earth’s version of the Justice League) that set up tantalizing ideas that hopefully will be explored in future Earth-11 series or one-shots.