With Justice League coming out next month I've decided to read and review Geoff Johns run during the New 52 era starting with the first trade. I'm hoping to get one of these out every week. Here goes nothing...
When the New 52 launched in 2011 the responses from fans and critics were incredibly mixed. Unnecessary retcons, characters who seemed out of sync with their core values and a generally dark, downbeat tone rubbed many DC fans the wrong way. Perhaps no one title better illustrates what was wrong with the relaunch than
Justice League. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jim Lee this book should have been a winner but something went terribly wrong.
The first big problem comes up almost immediately as we learn that this story takes place 5 years before the "current" timeline that the other books operate in. This effectively meant that the entire, complex history of these characters happened in a period of 5 years. This raised all sorts of questions about which events from before Flashpoint were still in canon. Did Bane still break Batman's back? How is Damien Wayne 13 years old if Bruce has only been Batman for 5 years? Was Superman killed by Doomsday? How many of the DC rogues gallery are currently operating in this universe? Some of these questions would never really be answered satisfactorily.
Another problem is the visual redesign of the characters' classic costumes. Gone are Superman's red trunks and Batman's black ones. Superman now has a military-esque gorget and Wonder Woman sports a totally rad choker based on her logo. Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman are relatively unchanged except for the addition of well, lines. Lines everywhere. I'm not sure what the motive behind this stylistic choice is but I wouldn't be surprised if, ten years down the line, putting unnecessary lines on costumes will be looked at the same way that pointless pouches in the 90's are now.
This may be nitpicking but really there's not much to say about this book. Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg meet for the first time whilst fighting off an invasion from Apokolips. They beat Darkseid, the end. There's really not a whole lot of character development for anyone except Cyborg, as this story serves as his origin. Batman goes through kind of an arc, I guess, in that he thinks it'd be better for the world to fear him and the others at the beginning of the story and by the end has changed his mind for some reason.
Really I'm just not sure who this book was written for. If it's for new readers than why aren't any of the characters (again excepting Cyborg) given more than the barest hint of depth. If it's for the fans then why is the majority of the cast acting out of character. Superman is impulsive and way too untrusting, Wonder Woman comes off as positively bloodthirsty, Green Lantern is mostly just a jerk and Aquaman barely registers as a character beyond affirming "I'm cooler than people think" which is something comic fans already know. The only characters done any real justice (see what I did there) are Batman and Flash. Even Darkseid comes off more as a random alien monster-of-the-week than the formidable, machiavellian villain he is.
With that said the art is (mostly) good, though there are inconsistencies. Jim Lee really delivers some impressive, cinematic panels. The action is all pretty good, though it's also rushed and the early fight between Superman and Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash is terribly contrived. There's this incredibly retarded moment where Batman peels the Bat symbol off his suit for no apparent reason and it magically reappears in one panel. There's also some ugly facial work.
Justice League Volume 1: Origin is alright if you're just looking for a mindless super powered beatdown but as an introduction to these characters it fails miserably.
Score: 5/10
Next week things get worse with
Volume 2: The Villians Journey...
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