Review Shooter: Justice League #1

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jim Lee

DC is ushering in a new era in their storied company by relaunching all of their titles with brand new #1s. To lead the charge, DC has turned to their biggest stars. Both in story and from a creative standpoint, pitting powerhouses Jim Lee and Geoff Johns together for the first time. Justice League 1 has a lot to accomplish, and at the end of the day, it falls just short of its goal.

While the cover for the issue showcases the full team, and this is the Justice League, the first issue is really a Batman/Green Lantern team-up issue. Aside from a few pages in the middle, and the final splash image, this comic is all about Batman and Green Lantern. There is both some good and bad to it. But let’s get the obvious out of the way, the reason those two are the center is because they are DC’s best selling books at the moment.

That said, let’s get the negative out of the way. This issue feels short. For the price of 3.99, you kind of expect more story than your standard DC-fare, but this story just feels light. And once it actually picks up, the story of course ends. I get that you want to keep readers well reading, but there could have been a better way to condense this story in some fashion. The other problem is, if you were expecting the entire Justice League, most would be disappointed that a very small portion of the cast is actually shown in this book. Again, the cover highlights every core member!

There’s your negative as for the positive. First it has to be said, the art is fantastic in this book. Jim Lee knows his stuff and it really works well here. We get some awesome construct scenes as well as the final splash page, which I thought just looked phenomenal. Though, I doubt many people had fears about the art going into the story.

The story itself, like I mentioned before, does feel a bit light, but I’ve got to say I LOVED the dynamic between Batman and Green Lantern (who is Hal Jordan for those who don’t know). It is one of those stories you can only do at the beginning, but the way Green Lantern is a complete and utter douche actually works well in this story. He is just a tad bit over-confident in his abilities and of course talks down to Batman because he lacks any “power” set. Of course, Batman quickly proves his worth in a rather funny moment in the sewers. Even after that, Hal still treats Bat with a ton of disrespect.

It is a fun introduction to the characters, and it shows why DC, Jim Lee and Geoff Johns decided to do the story this way. It will be many people’s introduction to the world and the character so it makes sense to give them a chance to breath and be given actual characters before they are lost as a team.

Speaking of character moments, don’t want to spoil too much but we are introduced to Cyborg… well more like Vic Stone, who is a prized high school football player. He of course has a father who disappoints him by never showing up to his game. And that’s pretty much it for him in this issue. There’s so much that could be said, but I’ll leave it for more intelligent people to discuss.

Survival Rating: Live Between the stable of DC’s most popular characters and the dynamic duo creative team, there is no way this book fails. So it is a safe bet to buy/read.

Recommendation: Read It– Well it obviously sets up bigger and better things going forward, the first issue is still well written and a fun read to see how douchey Hal Jordan could be!

Earl Rufus

The owner of this little chunk of the internet. Enjoys having a good time and being rather snarky!

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *