Review by Frank Plowright
That The Sixth Dimension is such a large collection is an indication of how difficult it would be to break down into smaller story arcs, so an epic, while the title comes from what’s described as being the control room for the multiverse. It’s another highly conceptual spectacular from Scott Snyder, this time with artist Jorge Jimenez credited as co-plotter.
Much of it takes place in the future, as the Justice League search for a way to defeat the forthcoming threat of a celestial presence who can rewrite the universe. There’s much to ponder, as in the background a considerable number of weighty ideas are discussed. Is it worth purging the universe for those who believe in peace and harmonious co-existence to achieve their ideal and future proof it for generations to come? Is that justice? Whether it is or not, it’s already been well documented that the Justice League are a collection of individuals who rub along, but their methods differ greatly. How will they react individually to being told what may be an unpalatable truth, that what’s been set in motion can no longer be stopped?
When drawing previous stories, especially The Totality, Jimenez wasn’t the ideal artist, and it was sometimes difficult to figure out what was going on, but that’s no longer the case. Here everything is clear, and everything is spectacular. A scale is needed given the events being told, and Jimenez supplies that. Less pleasing are Javier Fernandez’s contributions to the final three chapters, featuring loose and sketchy people in a loose and sketchy world. There’s vast improvement when Bruno Redondo and Daniel Sampere take over for a few pages each.
Much of Snyder’s Justice League has been heavily influenced by Grant Morrison’s take on the heroes from the late 1990s onward. Morrison’s Justice League concerned themselves with event-level threats, and Snyder’s inflated the definition of that by placing the entire multiverse under threat. What’s prevented it being just another in a long line of cosmic calamities is the attention paid to the people in the League, although Snyder (and in this case Jimenez) and Tynion IV who writes the final three chapters are selective with that. There’s not much time devoted to Flash or Green Lantern, while Mera’s spotlight was during Drowned Earth, and Wonder Woman is minimised throughout Snyder’s run. The Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter dynamic prodded forward during Hawkworld is ultimately given the most attention, while Batman and Superman feature heavily earlier.
There’s barely a chapter here without some kind of bombshell, and despite reservations about Fernandez’s art, everything reads smoothly and thrillingly, leading into Justice/Doom War. The Sixth Dimension is combined with Hawkworld as the second hardcover Justice League by Scott Snyder.
