Justice League Dark #10

Which brother runs the House of Mystery? Abel?

Last issue, Justice League Dark had acquired the Tesseract which would lead them to the Books of Magic. Aren't those on Tim Hunter's bookshelf? The New 52 merged with the Vertigo books, so Tim Hunter probably exists out there somewhere! I bet they meet up with him during this story arc! Although all the new comic book fans will claim he's a Harry Potter wannabe.

As I suspected, Constantine wants the map for himself and Dr. Mist doesn't mind going along with it.

John Constantine, being full of secrets (like Laura Palmer), just happens to have a key that causes any door to open onto the House of Mystery. It looks like it's going to be Justice League Dark headquarters for the time being. And a safe place to store the Tesseract. Unless I'm using the word safe incorrectly. Doesn't the House of Mystery have a bunch of residents that tell stories to pay for their drinks? Where are they? Maybe Constantine just avoids the rooms that are in use since we warns everyone not to go around opening random doors.

Meanwhile, Madame Xanadu is off spying on everyone as usual.

And, as usual, she's seeing their apocalyptic future as well.

Her vision of the future continues and she sees that dead Constantine is really dead Black Orchid. And then Constantine appears with the Books of Magic and a warning for her, since he knows that Xanadu can see this horrible outcome in her visions and learn from her mistakes. Sure, sure. It's one of those plots where the character acts because of a vision from the future. But since that's all Xanadu really does, and since it pretty much stands to reason that the Books of Magic are so powerful they're going to corrupt whoever uses them, this is an acceptable use of the trope. Madame Xanadu really doesn't need any special powers to know that some magic items should be left alone.

I'm pretty sure he meant "Tim" and not "him." So, yeah, looks like Mister Hunter will be returning!

Back in the House of Mystery, Constantine explains the legend of the books. It's the usual story. Bound in human flesh. Inked in the blood of the first born. God angry with man. Books hidden across globe. You know? I'm pretty sure Disney made a musical out of it.

Constantine also explains the creation of the Tesseract.

Nobody but Constantine and Dr. Mist think finding these books are a good idea. But John drops the bomb on them all and reveals that it doesn't matter what they think. They're kind of in the quest for the long haul.

There it is! I figured master manipulator John Constantine could figure out a way to keep Justice League Dark together, even if it is against their will.

After realizing Constantine lied to her again (and possibly again (and probably another time (and then that other thing))), Zatanna storms out. Deadman follows her to convince her to stay until they find the Books and figure out what to do with them because, you know, leaving John alone with the map probably not a good idea. Which nobody tells Black Orchid and Dr. Mist who also leave the room to confer about what to do with the map and A.R.G.U.S. So while everyone is gone, Constantine fondles the Tesseract in just the right kind of way to cause trouble.

Remember these guys? I mentioned Faust was the first person to ever summon them last commentary. This is their New 52 debut!

Abnegazer, Rath, and Ghast steal the Tesseract and escape from the House of Mystery. And that's when Constantine's arrogance finally diminishes a bit and he realizes Faust played them all. Faust couldn't open the map. But once he captured Dr. Mist, he realized The Black Room was real and it could help him open the Tesseract. All he needed was the A.R.G.U.S. team to come rescue Mist and capture him. That would get him close to The Black Room. Then he just had to wait until someone tried to fool with the Tesseract, releasing his demons who would bring him the Map and break him free. Which, you know, is entirely what happened. It's actually a pretty good plan since it doesn't actually rely on specific people coming to save Dr. Mist.

No, seriously, I'm actually giving the thumbs up on a comic book villain's plan!

Anyway, the issue ends with Justice League Dark deciding their next move at the House of Mystery. Abnegazer, Rath, and Ghast have just arrived to break Faust out of his ARGUS prison cell as Steve Trevor was interviewing Faust to find out where the JLD went. So Steve Trevor might be in trouble! I don't know if this takes place after Steve Trevor had his soul sucked by David Graves or before!

Justice League Dark #10 Rating: +1 Ranking. Lemire grabbed this title and hit the ground running. And I'd like to point out that he did it by incorporating and building on what Milligan wrote before! I don't know that any of the New 52 writers that have replaced other writers have done this. If they have, they haven't done it well. Usually they just go their own way and ignore everything that happened before. That's just aggravating, even if what happened before was lousy. At least acknowledge it!