The New 52: Justice League

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Aquaman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, the Flash, and more!
Post Reply
Crawler
Navigator
Navigator
Posts: 1279
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2002 5:05 pm
Title: I'm Back, Baby!
Location: Spokane, WA
Contact:

The New 52: Justice League

Post by Crawler »

Now, for full disclosure, I am not and have not ever really been a Justice League fan. I like the idea of it, being the world's mightiest heroes and a guy in a bat costume, but I've never really gotten into the book. Even when I was a big fan of the animated versions, my favorite episodes were when the individual characters got solo stories to shine.

That said, I found the Justice League (notice the elimination of "of America," preventing me from shortening it to JLA) to be a bit...bland. It's not bad, it's just not what I had been hoping for.

See, this book is the book. It is the first book of the relaunch/reboot/whatever and has DC's most recognizable creative team working on it, in Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. It is, essentially, the flagship of the new DC. It also sold at least 200,000 copies, a feat that has not been matched in the comics industry in several years. In theory, this is the most visible book that will be read by the most people.

So it was a little disappointing when it ended up being so bland. I know it's an action book, a punch-em-up, and that that's not generally my thing. But even judged objectively as a punch-em-up, there wasn't much action, much punching, or even any real danger.

I won't spoil it too much just yet, since it has been out for a grand total of about 15 hours (if you were at a midnight launch party on the east coast), but the threat is not well-established and is not all that threatening unless you already know who he is from previously reading DC.

See my problem there? This should have been the big hook, the book that gets people to pick up more of the relaunch next week, even if they've never read a comic before...and it depends entirely on prior knowledge to make the threat threatening in the least.

On the other hand, Hal Jordan is back to being brash and over-confident in his abilities, snarking at "the guy in the bat costume" (he actually says this! :D) and repeatedly telling Bats that he'll "take care of it." Not only is this fun, it's a good thing, because this is essentially the Hal Jordan people saw in the movie.

Batman gets a lot of screentime, but almost no characterization, so I can't judge yet. I am a fan of his new costume, however.

And Supes makes and appearance in a fairly good hook. He shows up with a flourish and a blaze of bright colors and makes even the most cynical reader (me) grin.

[Edited on 9-7-2011 by Crawler]
This message brought to you by the letter C.
Zack: I'm pretty sure our soul is composed of a series of toy commercials that ran from 1984-1988. When we die Hasbro does with us what they please.
Bamfette
Dread Pirate
Dread Pirate
Posts: 3278
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 9:41 pm
Location: Calgary
Contact:

The New 52: Justice League

Post by Bamfette »

Yeah. you only know who the bad guy is because one of his henchemen screams out his name at one point. to a new fan who has never heard the name before, how is this supposed to be a hook? It's only a hook to those who know he's a big deal already. I've seen some complain that the problem was that the whole team wasn't together at the end of the issue, and I'd disagree. I would actually be fine with the entire issue focusing on Green Lantern, or maybe 2 stories, one with Batman, one with Green Lantern, being told explaining WHY they think this threat is big enough that they have to seek out other heroes. Instead we have Green Lantern just.... kinda showing up, completely at random, as Batman is out doing his thing. That they'd instantly jump to the conclusion that the box they found was somehow tied to Superman and jaunt off to find him on a moment's notice is a stretch as well. this is BATMAN. he'd take that shit to the Batcave and study it, look for clues, weaknesses etc.

I did like Superman punching Green Lantern's smug face in at the end though. Hal was fun, but he does need to be knocked down a peg or two (also accomplished by Bruce pickpocketing his ring. heh.)

[Edited on 31/8/11 by Bamfette]
The Drastic Spastic
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler
Posts: 1846
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2002 3:01 am
Location: ROK

The New 52: Justice League

Post by The Drastic Spastic »

Crawler wrote: That said, I found the Justice League (notice the elimination of "of America," preventing me from shortening it to JLA) to be a bit...bland. It's not bad, it's just not what I had been hoping for.
Bland is exactly how I'd describe most DC superhero titles that I've attempted to read, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Plus, well, Jim Lee. I can't recall ever seeing his art paired with an interesting story. It seems like once his name gets on the cover everyone else just stops trying. I see that Jim Lee is involved in a project and I think, that one isn't for me.
Und die Sonne spricht zu mir
Post Reply