Justice League #39 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm going to say that the ending to this arc is anti-climatic, but maybe I'm just super-jaded.  After all, it's totally valid that the heroes discover that Patient Zero is vulnerable to cold when Captain Cold freezes him, just as it's completely believable that Superman's physiology doesn't allow viruses to bond to his cells.  Put together, the heroes are able to freeze the infected victims, giving Lex enough time to synthesize an antidote.

Plus, it's not like everything just returned to normal.  Three percent of the infected retained their metahuman powers; it's like the inverse of M-Day.  It means the world is now up a lot of potential new heroes and villains, implying that this arc could really have an impact on the future of the DCnU.  Plus, Patient Zero himself becomes Amazo, essentially a fully sentient virus.  It's clearly not the last we'll see of him.

Also, it's not like Johns wraps up everything in a nice little bow.  We're left wondering about how Luthor is going to react to Captain Cold stealing the spotlight and what information he gleaned from Superman's DNA.  Also, it seems possible that Steve Trevor was the one that sent Neutron to kill Luthor (kicking off this arc in the first place), though Neutron himself doesn't seem to know that?  Curiouser and curiouser.

But, it all still felt kind of rote to me.  It's hard to explain, but it just wound up feeling predictable.  It feels like Johns has something up his sleeve, and this arc was just meant to get us one step closer to its reveal.  I guess that we'll see.

** (two of five stars)