In this review of Justice League Unlimited #9, we get an epilogue of the “We Are Yesterday” storyline, we join the JLU as they try to save time-displaced heroes, find a missing hero, and, of course, save a gorilla.
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #9
Written by MARK WAID
Art and Main Cover: DAN MORA
Variant Covers: FELIPE MASSAFERA, TIAGO DA SILVA, TRAVIS MOORE, NIMIT MALAVIA, DERRICK CHEW
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: July 23, 2025
This review contains spoilers.
Justice League Unlimited #9 begins in the Watchtower, as the Justice League continues to assess the time displacements caused by the Legion of Doom. Likewise, they are trying to return all the time-displaced heroes to their proper times. They are interrupted by the Time Trapper and the World Forger.
We cut to Terrifictech, where not one, but two, Mr. Terrifics and Blue Beetle are trying to locate AirWave who has been dispersed into non-corporeal energy. As soon as he figures something out, the Mr. Terrific of the past disappears.
Back on the Watchtower, the chronal disturbances become worse. The World Forger states his intention to vivisect Gorilla Grodd—now a prisoner of the JLU. There is residual Omega energy inside him that can balance the time displacements.
Bouncing back to Mr. Terrific, he realizes that Airwave needs a tuning fork to focus on to return to his corporeal form.
A brawl breaks out on the Watchtower as the heroes try to defend Grodd from the Forger. Grodd comes to his own defense and says only his knowledge and experience with the Omega power can help fix the problems it’s caused. The Trapper, Forger, and Grodd disappear from the Watchtower.
Mr. Terrific makes a heartfelt plea through the tuning fork’s vibrations and Airwave returns to his bodily form.
With the disappearance of Grodd, the time fluxes have stopped. The JLU gather the few remaining time lost heroes as the others have returned to their home timelines.
As Justice League Unlimited #9 comes to an end, we get a short epilogue, the Trinity assemble as Batman reveals they may have made a catastrophic mistake with the new League.
Analysis
Mark Waid is still a fantastic writer. And he managed to wrap up the “We Are Yesterday” storyline and still maintain some action, mystery, and drama. There are some great character moments between Mr. Terrific and Blue Beetle as Beetle has to talk Terrific down. This leads into a nice moment when Terrific has to talk Airwave in order to give him a real voice to focus on.
On a personal note, it’s always fun to see both older versions of our beloved heroes and variations of them. (A favorite of mine is seeing Electric Boogaloo Superman again!)
The art in Justice League Unlimited #9 is top notch, and I would expect nothing less from Dan Mora. Both the quiet character moments and the action scenes are well done. There are panels that are harshly angled during some of the time fluxes, and it’s dramatically jarring. And it’s not just a tilted “camera” angle, entire panels are tilted—across an entire page. It’s a great visual for the chaos on the Watchtower.
Some of the coloring effects for the disappearing heroes is a little jarring and can make it hard to tell exactly who is disappearing. However, the coloring and visual effects used for Mr. Terrific when he enters the tuning fork’s vibration field to plead to Airwave is a cool visual—and very effective for the scene.
Final Thoughts
Justice League Unlimited #9 is a great epilogue for the “We Are Yesterday” storyline. It still has a nice bit of action, drama, and good character moments. The world and the multiverse are again safe to continue more great adventures in the next issue.
