From a Green Lantern perspective this issue jumps out at you quick and then slows down as it goes. As soon as you open the book it shows Black Adam providing some belt-to-booty to the entire Justice League Red team, including our very own Simon Baz. Deadman shows up for the first time and while it looks like he is going to get the upper hand on Black Adam for just a moment, it is fleeting and Black Adam disposes of Deadman in a minute.
While Deadman gets thrown into a wall Simon comments on how Deadman can talk which catches him by surprise. Now that the sneak attack has failed Power Girl decides she is going to stay behind and sacrifice herself so the others can get away. Obviously our heroes will decline her offer and remain there to help support how they can and that is when Black Adam tells the team what is going on. Apparently he has been watching them just as Red Tornado claims to be watching so many other events.
While the JLR team is upset that Black Adam has been spying on them he bluntly tells them the truth and shares that he believes Red Tornado, or something controlling Red Tornado is acting in a nefarious manner. This is where he goes beat by beat breaking down some struggle each of the heroes are going through that enabled this Red Tornado to recruit them to the team. For Simon Baz, he was supposed check in on his cousin who had violated his parole. Rather, he could have violated it. When he tells Simon that he was primed to welcome distraction which is why he never stopped to ask or think about if his cousin actually violated the parole or not and accuses Red Tornado of having the ability to alter police databases. And that is when it sinks in for Simon that he could have been had.
From here we get a lot of dialogue from Black Adam on why Red Tornado would target him. And that it is the truth that he could become so powerful he could take down the entire Justice League but he doesn’t think it will come to that. That is, unless, more members of the Justice League become pawns in this game that Red Tornado is playing. They can’t beat him and he doesn’t really want them to have anymore damage done to the JLR team anyway. He convinces them they need to head back and talk to Red Tornado and find out what is truly going on.
Five issues into this run and Deadman who just appeared calls Power Girl the boss and at that point the rest of the team shares they would like for her to call the shots and be the leader of the team as well. She is reluctant but ultimately decides to be the person in charge and decide what they will do which is go to see Red Tornado in person.
On their way back the flight is super silent and she asks the team to speak up and share their opinion. Did she make the right call? Did she make the wrong call? They also did try to call out to Red Tornado using Cyborg but he didn’t answer. They believe that he has indeed been spying on them one way or the other so he probably knows they are on the way and what their intent is regardless.
On the way to get answers their flight is interrupted by red creatures which just so happen to be copies of enemies they have fought in previous issues of this run. It doesn’t take much to take them down and make quick work of them. While some on the team think this means Red Tornado is in trouble, the rest of the team thinks he could have been the one to send them. Either way, at this point there is only one way to get the answers they need. It is time to finish this flight and see Red Tornado or what is controlling him. When the team lands at the JLR HQ Red Tornado is no longer there but they are greeted by the Crimson Cloud!
All in all this felt very much like a filler issue just to make it to the sixth and final issue of this run. If you have stuck around this long you are likely going to make it to the finish like to get to the end of this mini. That being said it was likely the least compelling issue in the series and I do hope the finale makes it all worth it. I had been having fun with this series to a point but now it needs to stick the landing.
Written by: Saladin Ahmed
Artists: Clayton Henry
Cover Art: Clayton Henry