The DCU’s Mystical World Changes Forever – The Witching Hour: JLD/Wonder Woman #1

The opening pages of The Witching Hour’s conclusion gives us an ominous warning–the DCU’s magic has changed. And that’s a bad thing.

James Tynion IV, Jesus Medina, Fernando Blanco, Miguel Mendonca, Romulo Fajardo, and Rob Leigh bring this crossover to its explosive conclusion in this issue. I talked about The Flash forging new mythology in its recent issues, and that’s exactly what this issue does as well, however, it’s on a bigger and much grander scale.
The JLD is losing–Wonder Woman has been fully claimed by Hecate, the Parliament of Trees is dead, and two of the three pillars of magic have been claimed by the Goddess of Magic. This leads to a desperate plan, as Diana’s soul learns what she must do to defeat the Witch Goddess. With the full forces of Earth’s magic behind them, the JLD makes a difficult choice that could change everything…

Tynion trades the horror tone of the last few issues for something much grander and epic. In the span of this issue he reveals one mythology, and ends it, setting the stage for a new one. This is all done while still giving its characters its due, with most of the group getting a moment to shine.
Unfortunately, some do get neglected, which is a bit of a downside to this issue. John Constantine is barely a blip and Man-Bat isn’t more than wallpaper. It’s disappointing, but I hope it won’t be the status quo for JLD moving forward.
The art team does great work. Medina and Blanco’s styles are very similar, so the shift between them is subtle and prevents the change from being jarring, while Mendonca’s is perfect for the different ton of his scenes. Adding Fajardo’s excellent colors really makes this issue an artistic high point of this crossover.

I’m really looking forward to what’s next from here, for both the JLD and Wonder Woman!
The Witching Hour: Justice League Dark/ Wonder Woman is available now from DC Comics.