TEEN TITANS or PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR
        RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS!


Sometimes you wonder how an artist can create something so horrible and also work on things that are really pretty good.  George Lucas, for example, gave us American Graffiti, Star Wars and was half of the creative team behind the Indiana Jones movies and yet, he also made Howard the Duck.  Was this because he was creatively bankrupt, artistically drained and under the control of aliens from space?  Probably not but it shows that even really creative and smart people can make terrible decisions.

I'm going to give Scott Lobdell the benefit of the doubt and call Red Hood and the Outlaws his Howard the Duck.  I wouldn't have been so generous just last week, the fury and bile still churning like a hairball in the throat of Dex-Starr but that was last week and this is now.  Do not think in any way that I am forgiving the horrible character rape (and I don't use the word lightly here, what happened to Starfire constitutes the greatest character violation since Sue Dibny was left alone on the JLA Satellite with Dr. Light) but I am willing to give Mr. Lobdell a second chance after reading his Superboy and Teen Titans first issues.

These two books pretty much form the cornerstone of the Young Justice side of the new 52, the stories of the young heroes of the DCU finding themselves and their place in this brave, new world of adventure, villains and an overarching conspiracy that will unite them all.  So, without further ado, let's get this review started, shall we?

                            SUPERBOY #1

This comic takes the Superboy of the previous DCU and plops him down in the new by sending him back to his origins as a vat-grown, half-human, half-Kryptonian clone grown in a lab.  His connection to the Death of Superman story is unknown at this point though we do know from comments made elsewhere that the Man of Steel did die and come back in this new continuity.  He has no real memories either than being called Superboy (though he cannot remember why) and is just floating naked and bald in a tank of fluid.  Apparently, the scientists cannot register any brainwave activity and are about to terminate the project and send the clone for dissection against the protests of a red-haired young scientist named Caitlin (we guess the computer who identified her by name only gets to call her Cait-- before getting cut off) who we speculate is this new universe's version of Caitlin Fairchild from Gen 13.  This would be another Wildstorm character brought over into the new DCU if true and one I actually think could fit if treated correctly.

Needless to say, the termination does not go well and the clone breaks free, destroying most of the lab in the process and collapsing in Cait's arms, where he gets to say "My name is Superboy" before passing out.  From there we get to see the Superboy in an apparently normal High School setting where he has a normal family and a cute girl named Rose fawning over him and acting as his best friend.  It's all a sham though and Superboy's super-senses alert him to the fact that he is living in a virtual reality simulation of a normal life.  Apparently, it is also educating him, feeding his mind with knowledge.

Outside, Dr. Cait is busy running the simulation and is puzzled when the Superboy doesn't respond to someone in danger inside the sim.  She is taunted by her colleague, the real Rose, who is apparently Rose Wilson, formerly of the old-universe Teen Titans and the daughter of Deathstroke (though we have no idea if this is true in this world yet or not).  After some banter, we are introduced to someone else who works in the lab and is secretly feeding information on it to a reporter named Lois Lane.  This is where we learn that the organization is called N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and though it claims it is working for the preservation of the world, it has darker motives.

These are revealed when a man named Templar shows up, demanding to see the clone and wanting to put it into the field to deal with some other teens with super powers who we see on the screen are actually the...

                           TEEN TITANS #1

I am not actually giving my opinion on these two books separate because I really feel they tell two sides of the same story as they are both written by Mr. Lobdell and share a storyline, a villain and a central character or two.  And while I pretty much covered the plot of Superboy I will go over more of my impressions of this book and how I feel it nicely parallels Justice League #1 in many ways.

While very, very first issuey, this book manages to introduce us to most of the main characters and mention who we assume will be the others filling out the roster on the cover, at least in the form of images on Red Robin's computer.  The first character we meet is Kid Flash, who badly botches a fire rescue when he forgets about back drafts.  Who this Kid Flash actually is remains a mystery, though the red hair kind of points towards it being Wally even if the attitude is more Bart.  Possibly he is an amalgam of the two as I wouldn't put it past DC to pull a trick like that.

His screw up is apparently only one of a growing problem of teenagers with powers causing problems for the authorities.  This fact is bothering Tim Drake, the former sidekick of Batman and now Red Robin, as well as the shadowy organization called N.O.W.H.E.R.E. who have designs on the super-powered youngsters.  They offer Tim a chance to join them, which he refuses in spectacular style and sets off to recruit the other teen heroes before they can be press-ganged by the anagrammatically named villains.

His first stop brings him to the new Wonder Girl (though she HATES being called that) a thief who apparently got her powers from some stolen Greek Artifacts purloined from an archeological dig in Greece.  One thing I like about her is her new costume, which nicely merges Donna Troy's sparkling togs with Cassie's previous red outfit and adds a nice hood for good measure.  She's got an attitude problem and denies she has any powers until the goons attack and she is forced to transform into her fighting gear to take them on.

The two teen heroes win the day at the cost of a bit of a wet landing after trashing a robotic helicopter and pause to share a moment, which has a pretty good line showing just how straight and narrow Red Robin really is:

After this scene, we cut to where we left off with Superboy.  The mysterious Templar shows up and demand of Dr. Cait that the Superboy be used, immediately.  In some ways, I really liked this issue.  The new characters were interesting takes on the old, the new costumes were refreshing and the action was pretty cool.  The faces could use some work though, Brett Booth can draw excellent bodies and poses and even mechanical devices but his faces can sometimes seem a bit unexpressive and flat, which is a shame considering how well this book would look otherwise if he could only fix that one flaw.

Now, I said I like how this parallels Justice League's first issue and it does, nicely.  We get the setup with two heroes meeting for the first time in less-than-ideal circumstances and rubbing each other the wrong way, we have a third character who has yet to meet the others but is destined for greatness with them and we end with the reveal of the Super-family character who promises to be a major headache for the others in the near future.  

The amazing thing to me is that these two issues do form the beginning of one big story but can actually function as separate tales that introduce new readers to the formation of a young team in the making.  While I highly recommend anyone reading either of these titles to read both, they CAN function on their own.  I just feel that with the shared characters, villains and plot, they serve as two sides of the same tale.  One with the group story and one with the tale of the young hero who is apparently about to be sent to infiltrate the group from his own point of view.  It sets things up nicely and will definitely be joining the ranks of my pull-list as Tribe Comics and Games.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

It just really makes me wonder how much of Red Hood falls on the shoulders of Scott Lobdell and how much had to do with Editorial fiat and meddling?  It's hard to believe that the man who could handle heroes in their 20s so poorly and ham-handedly could also write excellent teen heroes that hold my interest and do not offend my sensibilities.  The mind boggles.

THE ID OF A 13 YEAR OLD BOY SHOULD NOT BE WRITING COMICS ABOUT WOMEN

A lot has been written about the depiction of Catwoman and Starfire in the new DC Universe.  I've been trying to decide what to say about these books for the last week or so.  I wanted to read them for myself first and then, wanted to give it some time to sink in so I could figure out how to put into words what I think of them as well as review the books themselves.

I think I can sum them both up in two words: PANDERING CRAP.

Let's start with Catwoman, shall we?  I'm starting here mostly because this is the LESS offensive of the two books and that's saying something when the cover looks like a pinup from a men's magazine or some fan art horny guys would buy at a convention for some ridiculous price not knowing it's actually just a print because OMG Boobs.

The plot involved some guys in skull masks busting into Selina Kyle's apartment while she's in a state of undress and we get to see her dress quickly in her Catwoman costume from various angles that best show off her breasts and butt.  We don't get to see her face until she is jumping out the window to her apartment, a cat carrier full of kittens in one hand, one of her bra-covered breasts popping out of the side of her half-worn costume.  Yeah, the cover kind of sets the tone for the entire book.  A book all about a woman using her sex appeal to seduce stupid criminals in some cape involving an otherwise worthless picture of a horse that the Russian Mafia wants.  Oh yeah and there's some meaningless sex between Selina and Batman.  In fact, the entire story is named after their sexual antics... which really just shows what this book is aiming at, tittilation for young men.

Not only is this offensive to women by relegating them to sex objects defined by their bodies but it should be insulting to men as well.  Do we really want to comics industry to see us as money machines they can squeeze for cash with the promise of cheap thrills like some "Gentleman's Club" champagne room of frustration and teasing?  Do they really think they can sell things like this to us because "guys like hot chicks, let's write a book with lots of sex about a hot chick"?  I'd like to think we like good stories and well-written characters be they men or women above cheap ploys like half-naked girls.

Worse, what does this say about Batman?  The way it comes across, he's not really involved in a relationship with Selina, he's just having sex with Catwoman.  It comes across as her seducing him and forcing him to submit to her but is that even reasonable with BATMAN?  Seriously, he can resist mind-control, hallucinogenic drugs, drowning, lack of sleep and overcome drug addiction by sheer force of will and we are expected to believe he's so weak around a hot chick in tight leather that he just lets her have her way with him?  And a known thief to boot?  I would like to think not.  This book is garbage and an insult to men as well as a vile depiction of women.

And that's the better of the two books....

Now, let's get to the main offender.  Red Hood and the Outlaws is a book about Batman's failed sidekick Jason Todd (who used to be the second Robin), Arsenal the formerly heroine addicted sidekick of Green Arrow and apparently their brainless sextoy bimbo who goes by the name of Starfire as they fight against random "bad" people, lounge around on the beach and talk about sex.  That seems the entire point of the book.  It's like the plot to a porn movie without showing us the sex.  That is how badly written this book is.  It suffers from the above criticisms for Catwoman and then some.  Seriously, when the introduce Starfire, it's with a nonsensical reference to her breast size followed by Arsenal asking "Is she with you?"  to which Red Hood replies, "With Us, Yeah.  But yeah, she's been "With" me."  God, is that what they think men are like, dickheads bragging about sexual conquests in the middle of a firefight?  

Worst of all, they have taken a character known for her joy for life who had good friends and strong relationships and stripped her down (Figuratively and literally) to a posing bikini model bimbo who offers to have sex with a man she just met and who cannot even remember the names or faces of the men she's slept with because 'all humans look alike to her.'  Seriously?  That makes NO FARKING SENSE AT ALL!  Aside from the green eyes and bad spray-on tan, Starfire looks like a person, a normal, super-sexily drawn person.  I could buy this argument if she was a shape-sihifting blob or a machine or something but that wouldn't be sexy at all.  So, they took a well-established character who had a decent backstory and history and turned her into a wish-fulfillment skank for the amusement of lonely teens and desperate older men who get their thrills from comics.  We should be ashamed that the industry throws crap like this at us and expects us to eat it up.  

Oh and really the only thing they kept from her backstory was that she was a slave at one point.  Guess they had to work the bondage angle in there somewhere.  *sigh*

What makes this really suck is that this is what people are going to talk about, these two books are going to define what people think of female characters in comics.  Even in the DC books we have better examples of good female characters.  Batwoman, for example, is a stunningly good book with fantastic art and a compelling lead who manages to be both sexy and interesting as a character.  Batgirl has potential for that as well and the new Supergirl comic is basically one big action fight scene with the Girl of Steel taking on an entire army and thrashing them without losing her costume or getting half-naked or throwing herself at some guy she just met.  Those are books I will keep reading.  This dreck dredged up from the masturbatory fantasies of a 13 year old boy may appeal on some stunted, backwards, entirely id-driven level but I would like to think I am better than that.

These books have my LOWEST Possible score and neither should be bought, read or supported.  If I could return them, I would.  Do yourself a favor and buy Batwoman or Supergirl instead.  Better yet, buy an extra copy and show it to people as an example of what mainstream super heroine comics can be. I hope both of these books die quickly and are never heard from again.  

And just because...

No idea what this commercial is for but I'm buying it..

Ah, Mexico.  I love you and not just for your awesome food and luchadores!

              BRING ON THE BAD GUYS!!!



I have always had a soft spot for the villains in comics.  They really are the ones who drive the action.  From the common street thug that murdered the Waynes and created Batman to the evil Asgardian god of fear currently running roughshod over the entire Marvel Universe, it's the villains that make the heroes do their acts of heroism.  Sure, they might have to deal with a flood or a fire or killer bees or a giant meteor heading towards the earth but are those the stories we remember best?  Heck no!  It's the time Superman got killed by Doomsday, the time the Joker murdered everyone on the set of the David Letterman show or when Norman Osbourne took over the Avengers and made a new team comprised entirely of baddies that we really remember.

You also cannot ignore that sometimes the villains, the bad guys, the dudes we are supposed to root against, get to have all the fun.  They get to act out on their baser instincts that we suppress every day.  They have a bad day at work and they shoot the annoying guy down the corner in the face.  They get cut off in traffic, they run the guy off the road or blow up his car.  All the things we can never do in real life but wish we sometimes could just to blow off steam, they get to do.  It's cathartic violence.

This I bring to you four books today from the new DCU that feature the villains.  I may be a bit generous in reviewing these books because of my fondness for villainy so take these with a grain of salt.

                          DEATH STROKE #1

Most people know Deathstroke from Teen Titans, either the classic Wolfman/Perez comic or the recent animated series (where he was just known as Slade).  Either way, he's a pretty famous villain in the DC Universe.  Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke the Terminator is a mercenary for hire.  He'll take any job no matter how messy as long as the price is right.  Altered to have enhanced reflexes, superior strength and combat skills that put him on par with Batman on his best days, Deathstroke is (as the comic says) "A Major Damn Badass."

Surprisingly of all the first issues I have read so far, Deathstroke #1 tells a nice, self-contained story that gives you a feel for who the character is, what he can do and where he fits into the world.  It doesn't have a to be continued blurb, doesn't leave you guessing as to what happens next and is the only book so far that just anyone can pick up, read and feel they've gotten a whole story.  That's good.

What isn't so good is that the book doesn't leave you feeling like you really WANT to follow this character.  He really has no redeeming qualities aside from his aforementioned badassitude.  He comes across as a jerk, a loner and a murdering asshole.  Let me explain.  Early in the story, Slade is given a job and given some teammates to work with.  To say they are a little green is an understatement.  They are n00bs in the world of mercenary work, three 20 somethings who call themselves The Alpha Dawgs (they chose that name over The Harmory).

They outfit Deathstroke with some new guns, tech and give him so intel and logistic support, all of which he begrudgingly accepts because he is being paid to do so.  The mission in relatively generic and of course, runs into some problems involving genetically modified soldiers.  In the end, of course, Deathstroke completes the contract, kills the enemies and then, in an act of utter contempt for his new allies, guns them all down with the weapons they made for him.  It's supposed to come across as a badass act of a loner but it just seems to me like some dick killing a bunch of annoying kids.

I like the character back in the old DCU but this version is going to stay a one issue wonder for me.

Only Recommended if you really like Slade.


                        DEMON KNIGHTS #1

Now this book was a surprise.  I didn't except anything from it, thought it would be a throwaway that I was just getting because of the deal I'm getting from Tribe Comics and Games but found it strangely compelling and interesting.

Here's the setup.  It's the Dark Ages, Camelot fell 400 years ago, the world is plagued by darkness and evil, nobility is barely known and the forces of chaos and magic hold sway over the land in the form of the foul wizard Mordru (Yes THE Mordru, enemy of the Justice Society of America and much later, the Legion of Super-Heroes).  Enter our "heroes".  Standing against the mystical might of Mordru and his mysterious Queen are; Jason Blood, the host of the Demon Etrigan who was bound to him during the fall of Camelot, Madame Xanadu who tried to take Excalibur as it was thrown into the waters after during the fall and thus she was cursed with immortality, the female Shining Knight Sir Ystin (who is very girlish in appearance) and the immortal Caveman who will later plague to heroes of the modern DCU, Vandal Savage.

What I like is how this book takes the conventions of the medieval fantasy genre and blends them in a mashup with DC characters we know.  It comes across as a D&D version of Secret Six.  The characters even meet in a tavern through sheer coincidence (or so it seems right now) in what has to be the hoariest of genre conventions.  Yet, they each have a role to play.  Jason Blood is the reluctant monster who can change into the fire-spewing, armored Etrigan by reciting a simple incantation, Madame Xanadu is apparently the mage of the group, Shining Knight is just that, a Knight and Vandal Savage is a hulking barbarian with an axe.  All the ingredients needed for a rip-roaring fantasy adventure.  Heck, by the end there are even dragons.

This is fun and a nice change of pace from the actual super-heroics going on in the other books without leaving me feeling cold like Men of War did.  My only complaint (and it's a big one to me) is that Etrigan apparently does not rhyme in this book.  Whether that is going to be explained or not, it bothers me.  Despite this annoyance, I am going to come back for at least a second helping of this amusing romp.

Recommended.

                          RED LANTERNS #1

I have been reading Green Lantern for a while now and though some of my friends are not big fans of the other Lantern Corps, I think it's a pretty neat idea.  I really enjoyed Blackest Night and was sort of glad to see that the characters introduced in that (and the series leading up to it) got to stay in the new DCU.  Heck, it seems the Green Lantern universe has been barely touched by the reboot in the least.  Then again, the entire basic cosmology of the Lantern backstory and the DCU as a whole was altered in the GL titles BEFORE the reboot so, there is that.   But of all the Lanterns introduced in the recent War of Light, I really like the Reds.  Powered by rage and anger, they oppose the Green Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps in equal measure, guided by their leader Atrocitus who blames the Guardians for the destruction of his entire Space Sector and Sinestro for his defeat when he first came to seek vengeance.

I can chock my entire love of the Reds to once character, Dex-Starr.  Who is Dex-Starr you might ask.  Well, this, my friends, is Dex-Starr.

Dex-Starr is the Red Lantern kitty cat.  He's not some kind of space cat, he's not super-intelligent or able to talk.  He's just a cat that had a really, really bad day, got really pissed off and attracted the attention of a Red Lantern ring.  Imagine that, a REALLY, REALLY angry kitty with the ability to kill you by shooting flaming napalm from his mouth.  Yeah, scary isn't it?  I love Dex-Starr.

And though this book is almost ENTIRELY setup and backstory for the Red Lanterns, the opening few pages where a horde of alien sadists confront first Dex-Starr and then Atrocitus himself (who enters with the best line ever spoken by a pissed-off Red space murderer "What Are You Doing To My Cat?") is worth the price of admission in my book.  The rest is merely letting the uninitiated know who these characters are and what they stand for.  It's nothing special, except for the opening.  Plus, the art is by Ed Benes, who I have really enjoyed ever since he did the last few issues of Peter David's Supergirl run.

Still, I will come back for more. If only to see the further adventures of death kitty with a power ring.

Recommended!

                         SUICIDE SQUAD #1

This has to be one of the most controversial books in the entire relaunch.  Not only is it a revival of a beloved title from the past, it features revamps of two characters with massive fan followings; Harley Quinn and Amanda Waller.  A lot of sites I have seen really, really, really hated this book.  I guess I stand in the minority when I say, I like it.  I like it a lot.

I did not read the original Suicide Squad (though I will if they ever bring our a Showcase volume or some trades) but the basic premise is known to me and remains intact.  Super villains are given a way to commute their sentences in exchange for being part of a government black ops unit.  Killers, mercenaries, assassins and psychopaths are told they can have their records wiped clean if they do what they do best for Uncle Sam.  Of course, there is a catch.  They don't call it the Suicide Squad for nothing.  To earn that Pardon you have to survive the missions you are given and obey orders.  Fail to obey and your handlers detonate the bomb in your body, killing you.

I won't go into too much detail on the plot here.  It's kind of a transparent bait and switch plot once you get into it but the story isn't what really grabbed me.  It's the premise and the characters.  I like the new Harley.  Sue me.  I just do.  I even like her new costume to a certain extent.  Here it is:

And yes, it's a total departure from her costume previously.  It's not the animated series costume in the least but this also isn't animated Harley.  This is a seriously messed up girl who got caught murdering people to try and win back her psychotic boyfriend who went missing.  She's a true wild card and I like that in her, I like that you have no idea what she might do on the team.  I also have a feeling she might be the one to last the longest.  Which is good.

The other characters I like in the first issue are Deadshot (though not so fond of his new costume) and King Shark, who I REALLY like the redesign of.  Before, he was kind of a Great White type thing, a really generic shark man.  Now, he's a Hammerhead and I've always loved the way those things look. So, yeah!

The new Amanda Waller is also a sticking point for people.  Before she was known as The Whale because she was a massive, solid block of muscle.  Now, she looks more like Pam Grier.  That's ok with me.  As long as she has the same basic personality and force of will, I can accept a little weight loss.  Not  deal killer for me at all.  Then again, I would read any book about a team of super-criminals doing wetworks operations.  That just appeals to me on some level.

I like this book though your mileage may very.

Cautiously recommended for those who aren't caught up in things having to be the way they used to.

Three books I will NOT be picking up issue 2 on...

                                                                            OMAC #1 




First things first, I NEVER liked the entire Brother Eye concept or how it was used in Infinite Crisis and I am REALLY not happy it got carried over into the new DCU.  The writing for this book just does not grab me and the art is trying much, much too hard to be Jack Kirbyesque.  I really hate the character design for the main character, that mow hawk is too huge and silly-looking and the costume is just a mess.  This really is the first book I've read in the new DCU I can say is just not even worth a look.  Skip it.

Men of War #1

This book is kind of the opposite of the problem I had with OMAC #1.  Both the writing and the art are good for what they are but the problem here is the subject matter.  I am just not all that interested in the adventures of soldiers fighting foreign wars in the DCU.  I don't read comics to see men with guns doing military maneuvers and fighting terrorists.  I get enough of that on the evening news (especially this week) and even the inclusion of what I assume is Superman in the first story really cannot convince me this book is for me.  Going to skip this one for now, though I may revisit it in trade if I hear good things about it from others.  I just cannot see why this book was one of the 3.99 titles.  It just doesn't feel like it deserves the same price point as Justice League #1.  

STORMWATCH #1

One of my biggest problems with the reboot is the inclusion of Wildstorm universe characters in the mainline DCU.  This is the first book to really touch on such characters and it just feels incredibly out of place among the other books, perhaps mores than Men of War.  The inclusion of the Martian Manhunter really doesn't help here either.  While the book is well-drawn and well-written, all of the characters come across as total jerks and unlikable, even MM.  I don't feel like this book really has a true place being in the DCU and I do not see a reason to have Apollo and the Midnighter around when Superman and Batman fill the EXACT same roles without coming across as bastards.  This is another book I would say read if you REALLY like Stormwatch or the Authority but if you like the more heroic types in the main DCU, then skip it.  So far, the fit between Wildstorm and the DCU really doesn't feel all that good.

It's a bird, it's a plane... it's damn good!

DC comics promised us a reboot to the universe, promised us a fresh new take on things and to do this, they have taken a GIANT leap backwards.  How?  Well, they've given us back the Superman who first appeared in the original Action Comics #1 way back in 1938.  This isn't the Superman who fights against Bizarro, the Parasite or Mongul.  This is the Superman who fights against corrupt officials, slumlords, wife beaters and the rich who prey on the poor and desperate.  This is a man who has great powers and uses them to right the wrongs of the little guy because that's what he SHOULD do.  He's a social conscience in jeans, a cape and a blue t-shirt.

This is a breath of fresh air to me, the kind of book I was hoping it would be. Grant Morrison has always had a way of recreating the old as is evidenced by his run on Batman where he wove stories based on almost forgotten tales from the Gold and Silver Ages into a compelling narrative woven into the modern continuity (or rather the continuity that once was now).  His All-Star Superman run was a fantastic update of the Silver Age version of the character and now, his all-new run on Action creates a Golden Age Superman for the modern age.

This Superman cannot fly yet but only leap tall buildings in a single-bound.  He is faster than a speeding bullet and (probably) more powerful than a locomotive, though that last is left a little in doubt by the end of the issue.  Sure, he has the heat and x-ray vision powers that would be given him later but this really feels like the original Superman from the late 30s.  The story even makes reference to one of his oldest adventures, where the would-be Man of Steel beat up a man who was a habitual wife-beater.

The script by Grant Morrison is a fun, fast read aided by the art of Rags Morales who really gets to play with the Superman/Clark Kent difference in the way he draws the two characters.  Superman is all action, a dynamic force of change while Clark is a slumping nebbish in too-large clothes who plays the schlub to perfection and works for the rival of the Daily Planet while maintaining a friendship with a lowly photo hound from that paper by the name of Jimmy Olsen.

Lex Luthor makes an appearance as well and really makes an interesting comparison between Superman and the invasive species that have devastated native ecologies on our own planet.  You actually feel his concern that the presence of this incredibly powerful alien being might somehow spell the beginning of the end for humanity as we know it.  At the same time, he comes across as aloof, arrogant and just the kind of corrupt, ruthless character this Superman Of The People would despise.  I cannot wait to see the first face to face meeting between these two.

As with the Justice League book, this tale is told in the past of the new DCU.  We have yet to see a book set in the new present, which I find a little strange but if this is the kind of groundwork being laid for the future of the entire Superman Family of books, I cannot wait to see how it plays out.  This is a far, far better book than Justice League and comes with my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!  BUY THIS BOOK!  BUY IT NOW!!!!

It's time... JLA #1 is here!

"There was a time when the world didn't call them its greatest Super-Heroes.  There was a time when the world didn't know what a super-hero was."

So starts the first panel of the first page of the first issue of the new Justice League.  So starts the first page of the first issue of the new DC Universe.  In the wake of the Flashpoint storyline, the entire DCU has been recreated, reshaped and reimagined.  This is the massive gamble the folks at DC Comics are taking to try and jump start a flagging market and reignite interest in comics among even non-comics readers.  To be sure, it is a HUGE gamble for the venerable comics publisher and their corporate parent, Warner Brothers.  If this succeeds, they may reap rewards not seen in almost 2 decades by a comics company back when Marvel relaunched the X-Men with Jim Lee on art and the masterful Chris Claremont doing the writing.  If it fails, DC may be killing off their cash cow and alienating long-time readers who have stuck with them through thick and thin, possibly even poisoning the well from which sprung massive franchises like Batman and Superman.  After the relative failure of the Green Lantern movie this summer, it's a BIG risk to take.

So the question remains, is the new Justice League any good?  Did it make me interested in the direction the new DC is going to go in?  I'm happy to say, yes.

The art by Jim Lee is really well done and very detailed.  Having him doing the duties on what is the biggest, splashiest, most important title of the relaunch was a great idea considering his past track record on events like this.  His redesigns of the classic costumes are modern without really losing the iconic nature of the characters.  You can look at Batman and yeah, that's Batman.  Even with the more armored look, that is still recognizably Superman.

Having Geoff Johns as the writer is very important as well.  More than anyone else, Mr. Johns has been the chief architect of DC's major events and revitalization in recent years.  Though I do not always agree with his choices such as bringing Barry Allen back from the dead or his recent revamp of the entire cosmology of the Green Lantern Corps and the history of the Guardians, he has never failed to write compelling, intriguing tales crafted from what has come before.  Now, the keys to the entire kingdom seem to be in his hands and he is able to start everything from the ground up.

The story open Five Years Ago, as the blurb after the first box says, telling as that this really is the tale of how this new Justice League (no OF AMERICA, just the Justice League which I think is a nice touch considering that only three of the big member of the team have traditionally been Americans) meets for the first time and comes together.  I do not want to go into any major spoilers here but I will point out that I was a little disappointed in the number of heroes who show up.  3 actual heroes and one who is yet to become who he will be.  The cover has 7 heroes on it; Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash yet in the book itself we only see the first three and the man who will become the fourth.

One thing that really struck me about the book is the tone.  People with super powers are universally feared, seen with suspicion and mistrust.  Of course, Batman seems fine with this.  His entire crusade is based on people fearing him.  Sure, the authorities wanting his head is inconvenient but just imagine what that means for the criminal element.  The fact that he doesn't actually have any powers doesn't seem to matter, people ASSUME he does (even Green Lantern does at one point) because of the costume and having your enemies not know what you can do would be an amazing psychological edge.  For the other heroes, this isn't really such an advantage, they are hunted and feared by the very people they want to help, though there are hints in the book that the younger generation doesn't hold the same view of these modern myths as their parents and the powers that be.  What they really need is a major PUBLIC victory to show the world they can be trusted and that only evil needs fear them and that is where I think this initial arc is going.

The other factor that got me upon my first reading wsa the age of the heroes.  They are all so much younger than I am used to.  Not Teen Titans level young, they are clearly all adults but definitely in the dawn of their careers.  The five years ago setting shows us a Batman, Green Lantern and Superman who still make mistakes, are still finding their places in the world and the men they will soon be.  Hal Jordan is an overconfident, swaggering braggart, best summed up when he tells Batman "Note to Self Batman: Green Lantern can Handle -Anything-."

Batman is a hyper-territorial urban myth who actively wants everyone else out of HIS City, even telling Green Lantern to go home when the Dark Knight is up against a foe he cannot possibly handle alone.  Of course, Batman finds a pretty neat way to prove that even without powers, he still has an edge Hal doesn't see coming.  Though he's younger and less experienced, you still get the feeling this Batman is a master of many skills and talents who is more than capable of dealing with the kinds of crime he is used to in Gotham City. There is one problem I feel should be brought up here and one mentioned to me today by someone at the local comic shop.  If this is a young Batman who has only been at the gig for a little over 5 years or so, how does he have an 11 year old son with Talia (Damien is apparently still in continuity) and what kind of jerk is he to have gone through 3 Robins in that space of time?.

Suffice it to say, the threat he faces here is something he won't be able to handle alone, something not from Gotham and not even from Earth. This leads Batman and Green Lantern to head to Metropolis to seek out the only alien they know of for answers, Superman as they assume he must know something of this new threat, being an alien on earth and all.  This bothers me a bit, seeing as how Hal knows other aliens (we know he has to, he makes a crack about the Guardians who are his alien bosses at one point.) so why would he assume the weird, techno-organic, shapeshifter they face in Gotham would have anything to do with the Blue and Red powerhouse in another city?

Vic Stone shows up at this point, a top High School football prospect, being actively courted by every college around for a full-ride scholarship.  Anyone who knows this character from the previous DCU will know what happens to the man and how it ruins his college plans even as it catapults him into a new playing field.  Spoiler: He become Cyborg.  Though we only get hints that something greater lies in store for him at this point and it's nice to see how everyone around him sees him as having the perfect life, never knowing of the familial conflicts  he is having that threaten his bright future.I like the way this plays out, giving him a nice, grounded backstory far removed from aliens, space cops and millionaire playboys.

As for Superman, we don't see much of him in this book, they save his big reveal for the end.  His revamp really is the most crucial to the success or failure of this entire project as he (along with Batman) really are the lynch pins of the project.  He is a MUCH younger Man of Steel than we have grown accustomed to and the more armor-looking costume may rub a lot of the older fans the wrong way but he does come across as powerful, confident and dangerous and I like that.  What he does in way of introduction is pretty impressive and puts one of the other heroes in his place nicely.

Overall, what happens in this book is all setup for the bigger conflict to come and in a way, setup for the entire new DC Universe.  These are all familiar faces with familiar looks but with a new take on things, a new way to look at them divorced from all the years of continuity.  In many ways, this reminds me of the DC Universe in the mid-80s after Crisis on Infinite Earths where all of the various alternate worlds were done away with in favor of one, unified reality.  Superman got a revamp there as well, starting over from scratch and being helmed by the top creative mind of the time.  I get that feeling here as well, though replace John Byrne with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.  This really does feel fresh and more modern, without losing what made these characters great.  Let's just hope this turns out to be more of Post-Crisis DC and less Post Zero-Hour DC, which was one of the worst, most confusing messes ever thought up in the name of "fixing" things.

I look forward to seeing what comes next and will definitely be picking up the next issue.  This is a nicely polished package from two masters of the superhero game.  There are a few minor mis-steps here and there but overall, this is a really interesting book that starts something I can see going places I like.

Also... their choice of villains is perfect for uniting heroes from around the world.  I won't spoil who it is but it is one of the big time baddies from the old DCU and I cannot wait to see how they handle this character in the new universe.  I eagerly await issue #2 and think that if the others books can come close to being this good, DC may have a hit on their hands.

Highly Recommended!

And as always, if you live in the south of Austin, TX, check out Tribe Comics and Games for all your new DCU needs!  The guys at Tribe are friendly, helpful and know comics like no one else's business.  http://www.tribecag.com/