Release: December 2025 | Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Dan Mora | Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
The New Status Quo for Justice League Unlimited:
While we celebrate the holidays in the real world, the poor Terrific Ten are still trapped in Hell. One thing that is for sure though is that a precedent has been set with this book over the past 2 issues, and it's the fact that ANYBODY can die in this story at ANY MOMENT. Justice League Unlimited #14 is no different. If you’re curious about how we got to this point, read my review of Justice League Unlimited #13 HERE!
After battling through demons and losing members of their team in brutal manners, this broken down team has finally made it through the first gate and are one step closer to Neron.
*SPOILER WARNING AHEAD!*
Deeper Into Hell
As our heroes in the Terrific Ten continue their arduous journey through Hell to get to Neron, only a select few members remain.
While they continue through a dark cavern, they are met with horrors such as bodies they are forced to walk over, much to Batman Beyond's absolute disgust. But it is not just lifeless bodies that are lying on the ground; Charon, the Ferryman of the River Styx, is waiting for them. He is the only thing standing between them and the heart of the underworld. All they need to do is provide a payment to him, but simple currency is not enough.
Back on Earth, the plan to evacuate the planet before Darkseid's arrival is at a shocking 94%. The remaining villains on Earth are those still under Neron's control. Kid Flash and Martian Manhunter are on their way to Oklahoma City to help resolve a standstill in the evacuation plan.
But before Red Tornado can deliver more help to them via Blue Beetle's boom tube, the portal suddenly stops working completely. This traps them away from the fight and prevents them from being able to help the heroes below.
A Hero’s Sacrifice:
The Terrific Ten all give up their most meaningful items that they have. While heroes like Batman Beyond give up their batarangs, or Doctor Fate giving up her Learned Bracers. Mr. Terrific and Superman have to give something more personal due to their lack of gadgets or trinkets present on them. Mr. Terrific is now forced to no longer follow his standard of fairness and equality, what that entails we're still yet to see. But Superman has the toughest hand dealt to him.
Superman has the one thing he stands for stripped away from him. His hope. Now with the heroes paying their fees to continue on this journey, they press forward. But what cost has this hurt the team more than we've already seen?
Before that question can be answered, we're sent back to Earth where Kid Flash, Martian Manhunter, Mary Marvel and Dr. Occult arrives at a small town which is allegedly the most treacherous place to be in the world at that moment. After some confusion as to why that is, they all receive that answer fairly quickly at a local church.
This church is the home for some soul stealing treachery at the hands of Neron's follower The Atomic Skull. Kid Flash immediately tries to stop this by uppercutting Atomic Skull to no avail. The church absolutely gets blown up and decimated by The Holy Army of Neron, putting this team on Earth on defense.
The river in Hell known as The Styx is a dangerous thing to be on. As The Terrific Ten float along The Styx they soon realize they aren't alone. A giant demonic water creature expels itself from the water, attempting to take out the boat. Unlucky for this creature, Aquaman is still here.
He jumps into action without hesitation due to this being his element. Mr. Terrific begs for Aquaman's safety before he returns from the sea, covered in the creature's blood and pleased with his work. That is until the creature shows it's still not done with him yet.
Aquaman is the latest victim on this mission.
Struggling is the name of the game in Justice League Unlimited. Mr. Terrific struggles with hum team dying so brutally on a mission he created. And all the heroes attempting to evacuate Oklahoma City are struggling with being on the brink of death with no help seemingly in sight to save them.
What happens? We'll have to see NEXT MONTH how these heroes attempt to fight through these tough challenges.
A Hell of a Creative Showcase
Dan Mora. Need I say more? His art jumps off the page with any story he can get his hands on. Whether he is illustrating the brutality of heroes' deaths or the deep depression taking over Superman's hopeless body, the work is always expressive. Even when it comes to the church in Oklahoma City, there is something eerie about the emptiness of the tombstone-filled backyard.
Besides Mora's stellar art, Mark Waid continues to be equally stellar in his writing. While I feel like this issue slowed down the story in Hell a bit, the focus was split equally with what is happening back on Earth, which picked up a lot of steam.
Balancing two intertwining stories is a challenge for some writers, but I do not think that is the case with Waid. There is a tremendous building of tension in each issue, mixed with the uncertainty of which hero will perish next.
Conclusion
While I enjoyed the previous two issues more, this one is not horrible at all. This is absolutely a key issue of this story arc that will be fleshed out more soon enough. How will a hopeless Superman pan out? If Mr. Terrific has lost his "Fair Play" mindset, how will that affect the whole team? Or better yet, how will the team losing their most important possession affect their fight in Hell against Neron? A lot of fun questions are laid out after reading this book, which I am a fan of. It is something to bite on and come back for over the coming months.