Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Justice League

I rather liked Justice League, although there wasn't all that much story for the price. Hal is a hothead, Bats outhinks him, nice Green Lantern effects and a parademon. Don't think I'd keep this one as a monthly, though; it looks like a slow build that may read better as a trade.

There was more going on with JLI. They've got a devious, manipulative and self-serving boss (good), a good mix of powers and personalities. I assume Guy will be back and Bats will hang around. Rocket Red and Iron General seem a bit clichéd (funny Russian talk funnier in Cosmo the dog) but not too overbearing.

The team seemed to come together awfully quickly, which is fine, but a great contrast to Justice League, where we don't even have a team (and may not for several issues yet). JLI's probably a keeper, for now.

The slow build of this JL reminds me of "Supreme Power" although this isn't nearly as compelling. In that book, the slower pacing of the plot allowed for depth of character. Not so much here. Batman and GL seem like character types rather than people. The benefit of using recognizable character types is that you can hustle the plot along, but that's not happening either. We'll see how things move along in the coming months.

Agree about Dr. Light. She totally fits the premise - brownie points with Japan, has worked with the UN a lot, and even with her temper she's still a lot more controllable than Guy Gardner. Maybe later - they DID say more candidates were waiting in the wings.

Page 1 had an add collection. Captain Atom and Metamorpho aren't surprises, but the Creeper and Frankenstein are.

Choosing Plastic Man seems kookier. He doesn't add to the International-ness, and I agree that he's not exactly easy to control.

I think they're overplaying the Godiva = conflict card. Fire calling her felt natural, since Fire has worked with Rocket Red before when the stakes were higher. But Batman telling Godiva to be more involved? She was fighting the rock monsters too. Book could have used more panels on that.

So far I think the writers have the men on the team (Batman, Booster, Guy, Rocket Red and August General) down okay. But Vixen, Ice, and Fire haven't really had much personality, and Godiva seems overplayed. Still, it's only the first issue, so... let's see.

As for the protesters, I can sort of see their logic. I just found it funny that a couple of unarmed (apparently) and non-powered protesters were able to sneak a BOMB and plant it on the wall of the HALL OF JUSTICE - I know it's supposed to be accessible to the public, but yeesh! You'd think something like the former HQ of the Justice League would have more security.

Over on Justice League...

I like how GL and Bats are being written. They work well enough together, but there's some cocky banter going on, too. Superman's a bit surprising, though - he seems pretty cocky here. I guess I'm just so used to the well-mannered blue boy scout portrayal that I can't really get used to this. Maybe Bats (and later on, WW) will knock Supes down a peg or two.

Check out the "Re-compressed" issue of JL #1. With a little editing the same story takes less than half the pages:

http://onlythevaliant.com/justice-league-1-edited/

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1 was a pretty good read. Zatanna, Shade and Enchantress are quite compelling, as is the story they're beginning. The use of June/Enchantress is a little confusing, but I think it's meant to be. The out-of-control witch spell scenes were creepy and sort of fun. Like Enchantress, herself.

Shade's introductory scene was similarly eerie, in a more profound way. The usage of both Shade and June plays off of longtime character history without announcing it in any way.

Zatanna isn't nearly as risque-appearing in the issue as she is on the cover, though her look isn't anywhere close to as appealing as her 'classic' appearance.

Fans of Peter Milligan will rejoice upon reading Justice League Dark #1 because its about as Peter Milligan-y as any comic I’ve ever read! I mean that in a good way, since Milligan brings his A-game here and all of his good qualities shine throughout the entire issue. There is a strong sense of ‘the weird’ ever-present, and a great collection of characters that are not only unique but are totally out of the ordinary in ways that make you just want to read more about them.

If there is an argument for the re-integration of the Vertigo characters back into the DCU, this is the comic that makes it. We get Shade, the Changing Man at his most interesting, Madame Xanadu being her awesome self and a quick glimpse of John Constantine that definitely had me wanting to see more of him again. Best of all, they will be matching up with DC mainstays Zatanna, the Enchantress and Deadman, and who knows who else? Each character is glimpsed but not everyone is featured heavily, so I definitely but the comic down looking forward to the next issue.

Artist Mikeal Janin does a great job and showcases a very clean art style that is entirely his own, though there is almost a hint of Phil Jimenez in there (albeit with all Perez influence removed). I liked it very much, and I was glad to see that while all the characters are sexy, both Zee and Nimue were not given the Starfire treatment in anyway (something I always fear about a new rendition of Zatanna). The coloring is naturally well, er, dark, and it works well.

I really enjoyed this. Of the three Justice League titles, this was the best one.

Some amusing rebooted Justice League ideas from some dude on teh intarweb.

I like his envisioning of Green Lantern, Cyborg and Wonder Woman, particularly.

It's on Tumblr though, so it loads about as fast as a paraplegic tree sloth that's been sedated.

In my eternal struggle to catch up on my backlog of funny books, it is only now that I finally arrived at my first DCnU book: Justice League #1. Of course, I've read nearly every single review of it that's been put out on it, so I pretty much knew what to expect.

Heck, most of the criticisms are 100% on the nose--this was a decompressed book with not all that much happening in its pages. GL and Batman meet for the first time as both pursue an apparent Parademon hybrid. It goes boom, leaves behind a mother box and GL decides to drag Bats along to find Superman because, hey, the Parademon thingy and Superman are both aliens!

Whuh? Kind of goofy and as forced and silly a way to get more heroes involved as one could imagine. That's pretty much all that happens, except that we have a scene of Vic Stone pre-Cyborg playing football, having daddy issues and seeing GL and Bats fly over. Yep, there's your 24 pages of story.

On the plus side, seeing Jim Lee on pencils again is like comic book comfort food. This is the kind of book that Jim excels at, and I'd say he has not lost his touch. The Parademon chase was very kinetic and well-executed. I'd say Jim nails everything he's given to draw.

I'd say something else I found annoying was Hal's boasting. I know he's a brash test pilot, but his repeatedly saying he's "got this" or whatever is just annoying.

Honestly, this felt like a Silver Age throwback in a bad way with the simplicity of the plot and the 2-dimensional characters without the Silver Age's good tendency to pack its pages with excitement and wall-to-wall story.

I'll keep buying in hopes that things will improve, but I'm afraid next issue may very well be a big fight between Superman, Batman and GL. If that's all it is, my patience may wear very thin.

If it was a better GL, like John or Guy, then Brave and the Bold #1 might have... wait, you're saying it was a Justice League comic? That's silly!

HEEEEY!!! I resemble that remark!!

I thought JLI #2 was a move towards a stronger series by Jurgens, Lopresti and Ryan. There was a lot of characters arguing and talking yet it felt like there was still a lot happening. Rather than have this play out for issues on end, Jurgens gets right to the heart of it so the team can address the ‘new team can’t work together blues’ and move past it. Same with the ‘Government telling us how to run the team’ bit, which I also is dealt with and then given some sort of twist.

I really enjoyed August General in Iron’s quick speech.

Also really enjoying Batman’s role as Booster’s supporter.

Now I want Fire, Ice and Vixen to get some showcasing instead of just looking good and kicking ass in the backgrounds.

Loved the banter between Fire, Ice, Vixen and Godiva. They have a good dynamic between them.

Also loved the team discussion about Booster's battlefield decisions. Those reactions were realistic.

Hopefully issue 3 will give a quick background on everyone's powers and skills - I can accept that they didn't really have time to do more than introduce themselves on the first mission, but going on a second without a full who's who would be sloppy.

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RE: Justice League #2

This was a really enjoyable book. If you are a Jim Lee fan, this issue is a must. His best work ever, perhaps? That's a big statement to make, I know. It's worth considering.

The team starts to come together. I loved the interaction between Barry and Hal. A couple of the lines made me laugh out loud, Genius. Victor's story has my interest.

After reading the first issue of Wonder Woman, and being disappointed by the lack of back story for her, I wasn't expecting to find it in the text pages of the Justice League. A new motivation for Steve Trevor's initial trip to Paradise Island? Interesting. A Shazam reference? That caught me by surprise.

Those who are still holding out on picking up this book may want to reconsider. It appears to be shaping up to be a quality era for the League.

re: JL #2

Man, I am totally getting sucked in by this book... loved the interplay between the four leads, especially Hal and Barry. Like Jerry, I laughed out loud a couple of times. Lee's artwork is top-notch, and the text pages were a nice bonus surprise. Looking forward to Wonder Woman's intro to the mix next issue.

Four fins up (out of a possible five) on the Sharky scale

"And you just called me Barry, genius."

"Batman's real?" "Yeah, and he's a total tool."

Love the Hal-Barry exchanges. Love Batman being the voice of reason this time - he couldn't intimidate Superman, so he reasoned with him. He's got my vote for JLA leader.

Hate how Superman is more aggressive. Part of what appealed to me was the Big Blue Boy Scout persona, since he knew how powerful he was and acted responsibly about it.

Still, this is supposed to take place in the past, so I'll wait and see how they're written when the stories jump back to the present.

Also a bit disappointed that the Martian Manhunter apparently won't be a founder this time. Doesn't really feel like the League without J'Onn.

Justice League Dark #2 was OK. It was really more of a breather/gathering issue whereas I was ready to jump right into the meat of the story. The primary focus is the Deadman/Dove relationship, which was really, really relateable, as most couples have sex as their relationship Achilles heel, imagine having to possess a third party to even think about it and you can see how this gets messy. Enchantress and Madame X are suitable creepy and Zatana is great, but there was no Shade and not enough Constantine. I want this party started now, not in a few issues.

So I thought JL #2 was a big improvement over #1! From a writing perspective at least, as the Jim Lee art was terrific in both issues.

Having Flash there helped add a new element to the banter, and it also helped humanize Hal a bit more other than being a jerk. I'm really enjoying the new portrayal of Superman, so it was also good having him there interacting with them all, especially Batman.

I second IB's comment about Batman being the mature one of the group here. It's a role that fits him, rather than being a dick like writers tended to have him be over the last few years.

I'm not sure how Johns writes his various series, but from a reader's standpoint, it felt as if Aquaman #1 rejuvenated him as a writer and he brought his A-game to JL #2. His dialogue seemed to click a lot better here.

This was a solid issue and has helped alleviate a lot of my concerns and fears for this series. I'm hoping #3 gets right to it with both Wonder Woman and Aquaman, though I suspect Aquaman will wait until #4.

Click here while reading Justice League Dark #2.

Open to Peruasion

Carry on.

Read issue 2 at B&N (they're good for something).

Like is said by Cobie and others, this was a huge improvement over issue 1. Art was solid all the way around, and the writing was a big improvement for me at least.

Green Lantern calling Flash at work to come save his arse was great. Flash actually did pretty well against Superman too.The banter between the characters was good, especially Barry and Hal. Loved Hal lecturing Barry on his secret ID as he blurts out Barry's name...when all Barry did was say he was a cop.

JLA #2 - not sold on it. I really like the artwork but well... is this book worth 3.99$?

I decided to call it quits and stop buying it. Especially because it does not deliver anything useful for the additional dollar.

Justice League #3 was pretty underwhelming. Not a fan of Johns' Diana interpretation, nor tying Cyborg in to Apokolips tech (though I suppose that's how the League will ultimately win this one). I did like watching Superman unload with the semi-truck and GL and Batman weren't too grating, but the "Meet a member or two an issue" thing just doesn't play well for me.

#3 had a great introduction of Wonder Woman, but other than that, it felt VERY padded and dragged out. Basically a never-ending battle sequence that could have been taken place in 5-6 pages max.

The ending sequence with the big introduction (and c'mon, it's not really a spoiler if we all knew it was coming) was done very well.

Jim Lee continues to knock it out of the park. He may draw my favorite Superman depiction ever, actually. But somethign I wonder if others may agree on: does anyone else feel that while its still great, his art is not quite as good as it was in the early 90's on X-Men? Again, I really do enjoy it still--but there's just a little something that's missing. I keep thinking of his arc with the Imperial Guard, or where Psylocke goes from boring telepath to kick-ass super-ninja. I reread those two years ago and the artwork almost made me have to take a valium it was so good. I wonder what's slightly changed? Inker? Coloring?

#3 confirms that while this series is definitey good enough to buy on an ongoing basis, there is still some editorial trickery going on that detracts from it slightly.

#3 was not as good as #2, but I'm comfortable with the pace. Wonder Woman looked great. We finally get on panel confirmation that Steve is a much younger man in the new DC universe. I sympathize a bit with those getting tired with what seems like a slow and formulaic introduction of the members. The advantage of this approach is that each member gets a bit of a spotlight. With the final page, everyone has now been introduced, and I imagine the pace will be pretty breakneck by the time to get to issue #5.

I found Justice League International #3 to be quite enjoyable! In a weird way, I'm kinding of finding all three JL titles about the same level of quality each month.

JLI #3 used in good effect the old Gardner Fox ploy of splitting the members up into groups. Batman & Booster Gold have great chemistry as written by Jurgens and I found the Fire / Vixen pairing to be the highlight of the issue. Also, I did not mind at all that Godiva was revealed to be somewhat of a fraud (that word might be too harsh) since it would make sense someone would have that motivation--and it could be interesting as its not Booster anymore.

Glad to see the "Giants" plot is going somewhere. I'll be real impressed and pleased if Jurgens can wrap this story up next issue or at least by #5. It does not need to go to #6.

And the UN guy is uber-annoying and not at all interesting. Better characters have played that role before. I'm not looking for characters to be killed but if there was ever a candidate to kick off a murder mystery, I'm just saying...