The first collection in this series features one of the best portrayals of Wonder Woman in quite awhile. Not just in her ability to fight and motivate others to go against great odds, but in her ability to feel the pain of everyone, to understand why people do things and to just accept. You do need to know the lore of almost all the magical characters in the DC Universe, which can get a tad confusing sometimes maybe Justice League Roll Call like in the past would be useful. As a reader I found the series to be very interesting, well drawn and left me wanting to know more. Impressive debut

ARC from Netgalley.
A very unique team if I ever saw one.... Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Man-Bat, and Detective Chimp make up the new Justice League Dark. This time officially (not unofficially set up by Constantine), set up in the Hall of Justice (albeit in the basement), and with a new mission: fix magic.

A door in the Tree of Wonder has opened and whispers of "The Otherkind are coming" can be heard. Zatanna's backwards incantations no longer work correctly, and even Doctor Fate won't help. When the first of the Otherkind shows up, introducing himself as "The Upside Down Man", the team is struck with fear. Constantine comes to help, but it is only a manifestation of magic from Wonder Woman (possessed by Hecate; see my review of WW & JLD: The Witching Hour) is able to send him back through the gate... at least for now.

Bobo, otherwise known as Detective Chimp, has become the new guardian (Nightmaster) of the mystical realm of Myrra. Last time he was there, after the death of the previous Nightmaster, he cast a really bad spell, which reversed Death in that realm. The whole JLD go with him to set things right. Definitely a story that highlights the ongoing evolution of Bobo.

Lastly, we get a few short stories of other heroes encountering some of the Otherkind who are starting their invasion (I'm assuming in Volume 2?): First of the Fallen, I Vampire, and Frankenstein. BUT... we also see that Zatana is alive and well (in a spiritual realm) and wants to help them fight the Otherkind.

We'll see what happens in the next Volume. Really liking the darkness of the title. Recommend.

Wonder Woman, Bobo - Detective Chimp, Swamp Thing, Zantana, and Manbat are the Justice League Dark. They are tasked with fixing magic. The problem they find is that there is an outside force that is seeking to steal back all the magic and destroy humanity in the process. The art work is very good, the plot is decent DC, but this volume is missing a part (found in a recent Wonder Woman volume), so the story line seems lacking and uneven. But if you are following the current DC story arc, you will need to read this volume to make sense of everything.

I love weird hodge-podge teams like this.

And, if you're assembling a magic-based Justice League team that is firmly based in the mainstream DC Universe, who better to be the superhero representative than Wonder Woman?

I've been taking a hard pass on most of DC's recent output. In fact, I've pretty much given up on all new comics coming from Marvel and DC in favor of picking up tricked-out collected editions of old favorites or storylines that I regretted missing the first time around. But the lineup of this book proved too intriguing to resist. Zatanna and Detective Chimp, PLUS Wonder Woman....? Sign me up!

I've never been a fan of writer James Tynion IV. His output, in my opinion, has ranged from awful and derivative to merely adequate. But he really shines here in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, VOL. 1: THE LAST AGE OF MAGIC, delivering the closest approximation to a Vertigo story that DC has seen since they rolled out "The New 52" and absorbed John Constantine and Swamp Thing back into their main superhero universe.

I won't dwell too much on the story (Massive magical threat forces The Justice League to set up a supernatural spinoff group), suffice to say that I found it to be superbly executed. Tynion IV seems to have really found his footing as a writer, or else he's just really taken with this concept and particular group of characters. The characters that he has chosen to round out this team are all excellent picks (Detective Chimp, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Man-Bat, and Swamp Thing, who now looks like a green Alan Moore.....), and it was delightful to see DC's supernatural archives broken busted open, allowing appearances by The Phantom Stranger, Eclipso, Zauriel, Sargon The Sorcerer, Zatara, Baron Winter, Blue Devil, Nightshade, John Constantine, The Parliament of Trees, Black Orchid, and Doctor Fate, among others. The art is excellent (Sooooo many double-page spreads, though....), and I had a blast reading this book. The inevitable complaints.....

....as usual, DC has no idea how to collect a book. This volume collects issues 1-3 and 5-7. Where's #4, you ask? In DC's THE WITCHING HOUR collection. Which is NOT OUT YET. Yes, DC waited a whole three months before doing the mandatory epic crossover....way to roll out a new, otherwise new-reader-friendly, title, folks. This collection skips #4, and the rest of the crossover, entirely, opting instead for a small one-paragraph recap. As shitty as THE WITCHING HOUR was (It consisted of two one-shots, one JLD issue, and two WONDER WOMAN issues, all written by Tynion, who delivers the kind of bland shit that I had come to know him for), it is essential reading if you're going to keep up with this title. Hell, it is essential reading if you want to read the last half of THIS COLLECTION. I don't really see what the point of the crossover was, as it all could have been easily accomplished in the pages of JLD. It had the vibe of an editorially-mandated event, though, since Tynion IV seems to have been totally tuned-out during it. He pulls it back together once the crossover ends, thankfully, but....this is a pure cash grab, and it is bound to irritate and upset readers who pick up this collection expecting to get every issue of the series. At the very least, DC should have included issue #4, had a MUCH longer recap, and told readers where to go to get the complete story. Shit like this is why I've mostly given up on current comics.

Overall, a VERY solid first volume, marred by a pointless crossover and a senseless omission. The creepy-factor is strong here, the characters are winners, and I am dying to see more of "The Upside-Down Man". I'm in for Volume 2.

DC Comics provided a review copy.

Magic is broken? Wonder Woman is trying to fix it and trying to get others like Swamp Thing, Bobo aka Detective Chimp, and Zatanna to help out too, but, they're not being very receptive.

Eventually they do come together (it would be a boring book if they didn't) and because this is Justice League Dark they sorta kinda almost win? Sorta?

Then there's another story where we find that Bobo has screwed up another dimension quite spectacularly.

And finally we're back to the Otherkind trying to destroy our world and quite the cliffhanger.

There was only some John Constantine, so that was awesome. I really liked the Traci character too. And there was plenty of Zatanna and Wonder Woman. Overall a horrific mind bending TPB.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

This wasn't a graphic novel I would normally pick for myself, but I enjoyed the familiarity of most of the characters and was introduced to some new (to me) ones. The realm of magic in the DC universe seems very complex, so it took me longer than usual to get through these comics.

Justice League Dark V.1: The Last Days of Magic

****
I've always wanted to get into the DC magic stuff, so I jumped at the chance to snatch this from NetGalley.

DC's magic titles have always intrigued me but I've never been able to get in to them. It has been hard to find good hop on points, even in the New 52 era. I'm happy to report that I found Last Days of Magic, to be a great introduction to the world. The characters referenced events from stories I hadn't read, but it was intriguing instead of off-putting. Overall I found this to be a very successful start.

The story deals with a slew of magic based characters coming together to basically save magic itself. That's a good hook. I rarely think of Wonder Woman as a magical character, a point she makes quite well in the story, but it totally makes sense. And really, hats off to anyone who can make a successful go of Detective Chimp. I have a soft spot for that character and was pleasantly surprised to see him not only be taken seriously, but given something serious to do. I'm all in for the follow-up volume and am now going to seek out the events referenced in the story that I haven't yet read. Well done my friends.

Hard to find new things to say about this series that haven't already been said! The artwork never ceases to astound; I found myself going back and pouring over the work here. It is stunning in its concept and presentation. You can tell a great deal about the strength of a writer by looking at their application of humor. In this, Tynion succeeds spectacularly. Humor in comics can feel forced, arbitrary and unnatural but here it never does. There's an ease to the writing that just well, works. If there is any character that perhaps doesn't live up to the depth of the other characters here, it's Diana. She feels almost too good, but it's hard to say if that's unintentional or not just the reader primed always to consider WW as good. What we have here is the right balance of horror and fantasy. It shows how provocative restraint can be. When this GN lets loose, the reader feels the power and considerable talent of the creators attached to this series.

I have to say that I have always loved Justice League Dark in concept, and it contains two of my favorite fringe characters for DC - Swamp Thing and Zatanna. Both are amazing characters that have almost always been written well and had great stories.

When it comes to magic in fantasy, I usually take the Conan approach: if it’s magic, break and/or kill it, immediately and without regret. So I initially planned to avoid Justice League Dark like the plague. I read Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League: No Justice, so I was familiar with all of the set-up, but I typically don’t read things I expect I won’t enjoy. Yet, I kept seeing online mentions of how Justice League Dark was a great horror story. I didn’t believe it at first, but it kept popping up. So I finally gave in and decided to read it.
Something is going wrong in the magic world, and Wonder Woman knows she needs to do something about it. But none of the magic users on Earth want her input. She’s too squeaky clean. However, after Zatanna receives a vision, the two put together a small group of oddball outcasts to take on the Otherkind, transdimensional evil forces bent on ripping magic, and part of the foundation of the universe with it, from existence.
I’ve been a fan of James Tynion IV’s work for a while now, and his writing abilities really shine here. Matched with strong art teams, he presents a dark story of heroes from the fringes trying to stop bizarre creatures not of our realm of existence. The Upside-Down Man presents himself as a primary antagonist, and he clearly has some evil plans in mind.
This was the most enjoyable comic I have read from DC in quite some time. I loved it, and I highly recommend it to fans of dark fantasy with a super heroic twist.
NOTE: There is one detraction from this collection. Right in the middle of the issues collected here, Justice League Dark crossed over with Wonder Woman for a story called “The Witching Hour.” That story is important to the plot of Justice League Dark, and is not included in this collection. The collection of the crossover will not be available until May. If you read through this collection, some of the plot of “The Witching Hour” will be spoiled.
Review will be available t the provided link of 3/14/19

Thanks to Netgalley for this copy in return for an honest review

This has a combination of horror and magic and contains some of the best loved characters. The art work is beautiful and really stood out. A little weird but well worth purchasing

Horror story plus magic adventures with Wonder Woman , Zantana , swamp thing, man bat and detective chimp . Justice league Dark has reached new levels of bonkers storytelling . Magic and humans are in danger of being extinct unless our heroes can save the day . Bizarre And thrilling with gorgeous artwork

Requires more than a passing familiarity with the magical characters of the DC and Vertigo universes. Definitely not a good jumping on point for any of the characters