"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/
