This last month the Justice League of America got a fresh start with issue #1 of the New 52. Many people (Mainly my local comic book shop) were skeptical, or excited to see how the authors of this prelaunch would smoothly mesh the JLA series in, while the Justice League series is still running. For the most part, they did an excellent job telling the story.
In this first issue the Justice League has become a national risk, and have America realize that they need their own team of abnormal people with superheroes to counteract the Justice League. This issue shows them (Director Waller, Trevor) putting this team together that will defend America from evil, and maybe one day from the Justice League themselves. If push ever came to shove, and the JLA would have to destroy the Justice League, the replacements, or the match-ups would go like this. Martian Manhunter would be against Superman, Catwoman against Batman, Katana against Wonder Woman, Vibe against The Flash, Hawkman against Aquaman, the New Green Lantern against the old Green Lantern, and Cyborg against Star Girl. Now if it ever comes to this it will be an epic battle.
There were many great things about this first issue. First, they did a nice job making it a new series. By that, I mean they did a nice job telling enough back-story to make someone who hasn’t read this series in the past get engaged, and have a decent idea of what’s going on. Second, they took Wonder Woman and Superman’s relationship to the next level, and made it almost a national controversy. I cannot say that I have been a huge JLA fan in the past, but I certainly enjoyed seeing the blackmailed photo of them kissing in front of the moon, and it will be very interesting to see how they develop the story behind these pictures, and the jealousy of Trevor.
There were many things in this first issue that I did not like, it seemed like the artwork has a darker tone, which may have been their intent. Second, I thought this issue was a little wordy. I understand that they have to fill in back story and progress the series in the first issue, but some pages were just full of words, and with all the conversation bubbles it got hard to follow. They also got creative showing flashbacks of prospects that will join the team, while doing this they still had the previous dialogue carry over. This confused me, but I’m the brightest person. You can find examples of this when they introduce Hawkman, they kind of cut back and forth to show what Hawkman is doing, and what Waller, and Trevor think of him. This technique is very creative, I don’t see it often, I just think it could have been executed smoother.
However, I enjoyed this first issue, and I look forward to the next. After the cliffhanger, this issue left me with I feel like I’m obligated to buy the next one. I am excited to see how they are going to progress the story.
Spoiler Alert! 