WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Justice League Dark story “The Trouble with Books,” by Ram V, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Rob Leigh, in Justice League #62, available now.
The Justice League Dark has jumped out of the frying pan and into the supernatural fire as the Infinite Frontier era has taken shape, with the Arthurian sorcerer Merlin resurfacing in the present-day with plans to subjugate the world of magic as hinted at during Future State. And as the magical heroes take the time to regroup and plan out their next strategy to stop Merlin from achieving his plans for total paranormal domination, new evidence has revealed that the Justice League Dark may be betrayed by one of their own from an unlikely source in a surprising moment that shatters the fourth wall.
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The Justice League Dark bursts into the Library of Babel, the mythical library where every book that has been and will ever be written is stored. Dispensing with monsters that appear to have their own designs for the library, the team rearranges the books as they search for a book that contains information on what magical tools Merlin has obtained and where to stop him from achieving total victory. As this takes place, Ragman finds the plot outline for Justice League Dark’s plans for 2021 written by the comic’s actual writer, Ram V. While Ragman is relatively unperturbed by the knowledge that he and the rest of the team are actually comic book characters, he does learn that Zatanna is still possessed by the evil Upside Down Man’s insidious influence.
Created by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez in 2018’s Justice League Dark #1, the Upside Down Man was formed at the creation of magic. While the Hecate, the magical forces that were integral in powering the old gods and especially linked to Wonder Woman, were largely comprised of light, the Upside Down Man personified the darker aspects of magical energy and originated from the Dark Multiverse as a counterpoint to the Hecate. The Justice League Dark put down the rampaging Upside Down Man, but at a heavy cost for Zatanna as she took point during the final battle.
The text Ragman discovers indicates that every time Zatanna taps into her powers, the Upside Down Man’s influence within her grows, with this condition progressing at an accelerated rate if she pushes her powers excessively. The rest of the team quietly noticed that Zatanna refrained from tapping into her powers against the monsters in the library, with Jason Blood and John Constantine sharing their concerns privately in a quiet moment during the battle. And while Ragman’s discovery could shake the team to its core, he opts not to inform the rest of the team of this literary revelation for now.
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Given Zatanna’s visible reluctance to tap into her powers, the magician is aware that she is slated to become the new host for the Upside Down Man should she ever let her powers literally consume her. The team is increasingly aware that something is wrong with her and her control over her powers and it’s only a matter of time before the uncomfortable truth comes out.
But with one of the Justice League Dark’s most powerful heavy hitters sidelined by a dark secret, the final battle against Merlin could go disastrously unless Zatanna risks letting the Upside Down Man take over.
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