Eric Canete’s art changes lives. Or, at least, that’s what I’d like to believe. It would probably help him get more exposure if it cured cancer, fixed mortgage debt, or birthed incredibly cute puppies, but like other art, it doesn’t quite do that. No, what it does do, though, is completely change your perception of just what comic art can be. My eyes first fell in love with his pencils on the very excellent Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin where his energetic story telling breathed life into Marvel’s most talked about (and most used) character. With his first full issue of The End League he has reminded me of just why I love his art, and why his art is changing the life of this book. His energetic style, thick lines, and great sense for action made this book exciting to read again. His pacing is perfect and his art style with the different areas in which the book takes place are perfect fits. From the insane world of the Smiling Man (i.e. Joker’s city if Joker ever took over Gotham) to Wolfsangel’s fortress (i.e. Red Skull if he ever won) are completely perfect fits for these archetypes, and the contrast between them is excellent. They feel like two separate places. Basically, I’m on board this book because of his art.

But luckily, after slogging through the first four issues of what I’ll dub as “The Struggle,” Remender’s words and story match the quality of the art. I’m enjoying the direction he’s taking with the story, and you can tell that with Canete’s coming, Remender is getting more creative and adventurous with these characters and stories. My only qualm with the issue is that we didn’t see the cliffhanger of the previous issue tied up, and I hope he takes the time to update us on what those characters are doing soon. It would be bad to come back 4 issues later and not know what’s going on. For me, this is the first time since the first issue that this book has made a lick of sense. And for that, I commend it, and hope that this trend will continue.