Justice League #1 Review

You know what's a great feeling? Knowing that the New 52 is gone. Sure, the teams and characters from it are technically still around, but "Rebirth" has brought so many new changes and ideals into the company that the New 52 feels like a nightmare we've finally woken from. Sure, there are good things about it (Snyder and Capullo's Batman being the biggest highlight), but on the whole, it just didn't work. Started to work, sure, from a financial standpoint, but by the end, with DCYou, it was obvious that this was a doomed idea. And I think there's no better first issue to show this off than Justice League #1. 

The New 52 was meant for an older audience--at least in the minds of several DC Executives. They thought readers wanted stories that were darker, edgier. Identity Crisis was dark and took risks, why couldn't the rest of the company?

Plus, apparently things needed a major overhaul. And by things, I mean pretty much everything. Costumes, backstories, entire character's existences, locations; all of it changed with the New 52. Wally West was never the Flash, Green Arrow now operated fully out of Seattle, Roy Harper was a mercenary, the Teen Titans never existed (except they did apparently). 

The big problem with the reboot was that there was no continuity. In an effort to make continuity happen, they lost track of what was meant to be saved and what wasn't. Blackest Night and the most popular Batman events still happened, apparently, but how much else could be saved from other characters? Questions would be answered as the stories continued to unfold, but at the start it was a mess. 

So where does Justice League fit into this? Well, besides the editors and executives claiming that all superheroes had only been operating for five years, this comic all but confirms it. This is the first major appearance of the seven New 52 Justice League members (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Aquaman, and Cyborg) in the universe. Up until this point, Batman was a myth. Nobody knew if Superman was really an alien. And Cyborg didn't even have his powers yet (this would be resolved later in the opening arc). 

I don't have a problem with the story. That's fine. Telling the origins of the Justice League was going to happen sometime, so, why not at the start? It lets there be little continuity errors with the other titles if you just tell us how the team came together, and then we fill in the gaps. My problem is that they put a time on it. 

Five years? For Batman to raise and lose four Robins? For Superman to die and be resurrected? 

This issue was fixed, sort of, with "Rebirth," as the original Wally West revealed that ten years had been stolen from their lives. That doesn't make a lick of sense in terms of characters and their aging, but it does make sense for where the stories went. I'd buy fifteen years way before I buy five years. 

Still, I suppose they had to label it something. Marvel's superheroes have been active, apparently, for only ten years in-universe, but the universe has been restarted so many times that the Celestials Order and Chaos actually decided to go insane (Ultimates 2 #3, just released, pretty weird). 

Justice League #1 could have been an amazing selling point for new readers who would be skeptical about the relaunch and complete wiping of previous continuity. Show the characters coming together to fight some threat while they have a bit of fun. 

Or, at least, just show them all coming together and meeting for the first time. 

But that's where the modern comics formula comes in as a problem as well. For a while now, comic books have been written not necessarily in terms of individual stories, but how they'll be collected in a trade. Stories will take six issues so that they can be released in a collected edition a few months later. This helps for the major, epic events (Spider-Verse, Darkseid War, Armor Hunters), but not necessarily for bringing new readers on. They need a hook issue, something that will catch their attention immediately. 

When Peter Parker came back in Amazing Spider-Man back in 2014, the first issue was all about him adjusting to what Doc Ock had been doing in his body. It was almost as if the reader were settling in just as Peter would. 

Here, as we'll see, the Justice League isn't even shown. Four members show up, and only three are in costume! Who are they and what are they doing? Well let's find out! 

The cover, while a lie, is solid for the first issue. I'm not a huge fan of the logo, since it seems kind of plain, but it's whatever. All the heroes are well-drawn and in nice, epic posing. Simple, effective if not mundane for a team book. 

Our comic begins with the police trying to shoot Batman. 

Neat. 

The strange thing about this isn't that the cops are going after Batman--or that the building is apparently exploding--but that someone is narrating. Um. Who? Green Lantern? No, the lettering is off on that. Is it one of Darkseid's soldiers? Perhaps. The only person that the lettering matches up with correctly is Grid, a member of the Earth-3 Crime Syndicate. But why? 

I get why it's here (to point out that super-heroes were vigilantes way before they were deemed "heroes") but why isn't it Batman narrating in the first person? Makes sense, especially in this comic where Batman's mindset is "it's good for normal people to be afraid of us." 

You'll see throughout this issue that Batman is actually kind of a jerk. Thanks Geoff Johns! 

Batman flees but not before he comes across a strange visitor on the rooftop. At first the art and coloring makes it look like Clayface, but upon further inspection, it's revealed to be an extraterrestrial. And what do we do to aliens, kids? 

If you answered "talk diplomatically," you're clearly wrong! The correct answer is to hit them with a fire truck! 

So yeah, here's Green Lantern. And there is Batman. And barring one appearance on the final page, this is your Justice League for this JUSTICE LEAGUE comic. 

Not to mention that Geoff Johns decided to make Batman a bully and Green Lantern is the only one in character, so technically there's just one member. Yay. 

Anyway, Green Lantern disposes of the Parademon (spoiler?) along with Batman while the police continue to rain fire on them. Geez, Gotham police aren't messing around in 2011. Rough crowd. Batman makes a remark that this is how things are in Gotham and while I have to agree, given how Zero Year just ended, I still think they're a bit trigger happy. Keep in mind: Green Lantern, for all they know, could've also been there to take out Batman. 

The Parademon gets up and attacks them again, almost escaping, but Green Lantern manages to disable both it and the helicopters, effectively making him a vigilante. Good thinking, Hal. Especially the part where you attacked police officers. 

Idiot. 

Batman decides to keep putting Hal down, too, which is pretty idiotic all things considered. 

Telling him to go home to Coast City? Really? Dude, you couldn't take on one of these things, and now there's a giant one roaming the streets! 

Sure, Batman has a bunch of gadgets at his disposal, but Green Lantern just showed the ability to make giant green bats spawn from nothing all with the power of his mind and putting no real strain on his body. Sounds like a solid partner to have. 

But no, this is Batman. He needs to work alone. He needs to be on the edge, he needs to seem like someone who could become a villain at any second! TORTURED SOUL. 

It's stupid, and that's what kind of makes it funny. All-Star Batman and Robin tried to go for an edgy Batman but just made one that is absolutely hilarious. This Batman, in this single issue, bullies Green Lantern, steals his stuff, and tries to seem "too cool," when really the regular Batman would take all of this in stride and be using all of his assets to keep the city safe. Besides Superman or Wonder Woman, Green Lantern is the best help Batman could ask for against this threat in Gotham! 

The two escape to find the runaway Parademon and actually have a funny moment together. 

Heh. 

If you've ever seen Justice League: War, then you'll immediately recognize this scenario, since the movie is the first arc of the comic in about 75 minutes. This scene is better in the movie thanks to the fast animation and well-timed voice acting of Nathan Fillion and Jason O'Mara. Still, this is a nice scene to relieve the tension. The same cannot be said for the scene that follows. 

Of all the bad cliches in DC Comics, this three-panel assembly has the two worst: Batman can do everything, Green Lantern's ring being taken right off. It's such a dumb thing to do, too. Batman says later that the little stunt was just a joke, but it isn't very funny. How does he know taking the ring off won't seriously injure Hal? Plus, really? He just wasn't concentrating? Dude, his willpower exceeds yours, otherwise you would've been the chosen of Earth. 

And of course it has to be Batman that does it, because the presiding mindset in 2011 was that Batman couldn't be beat. The best! And he's so edgy, too. WHAT A GUY. 

Now, while The Dark Knight did bring some much needed gravity to the character and the world that Batman was in, it still had fun while showing Batman's humanity. The whole movie was about showing Batman's limits, but it still had him crack a joke every now and then. I can't see this Batman being the one to staple a delivery letter to a criminal's shirt in front of the GCPD building. 

At least Green Lantern, while he is portrayed as kind of a doofus, is still in character. 

Also: why hasn't Hal ever threatened Batman with the ring? Maybe it's just an empty threat, but why hasn't he at least summoned a giant, like, hammer and hung it over Batman's head and said, "It took my a second to make it and it'll take a second to drop. Back off." 

Instead it's always: "Why I oughta!" 

But, back to the comic. They find the Parademon, who explodes back into a Boom Tube, trying to take Batman and Green Lantern with him while proclaiming "For Darkseid!" 

Okay...that's pretty great. Darkseid's coming? Nice. 

Hal and Batman deduce that aliens must all be alike, so they decide to go to Metropolis to find Superman, who is also an alien, and will therefore know something about this tech. 

I'll let you people decide what route of stupidity that is. 

We move along to a football field in Metropolis, where Victor Stone catches the game winning touchdown to send his team to the State Finals. 

FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!

Also: Ford is playing Mumford? Seriously, Geoff Johns, you can bring Hal Jordan and Barry Allen back to life but you can't come up with two distinct high school names? 

Victor gets recruited all of a sudden by a bunch of different colleges, but he laments that his father isn't there to witness any of it. He also reveals that his father is deeply involved with research based around the super-humans that are popping up everywhere. Implying that the world has indeed been seeing them for a while and why hasn't anyone been making a bigger deal about all of this? 

Hal and Bats touch down in Gotham, and while Hal says he can handle Superman, our comic ends with the big blue boyscout arriving after having taken him out, now confronting Batman. 

So, how do you like my new costume? 

This comic is perfectly okay for the opening of an arc, but a bit mismanaged for the first issue of the flagship title. The promise of Darkseid is very well done and the action throughout is pretty exciting, showing off Green Lantern's abilities as well as Batman's evasive skills against tougher foes. Victor Stone is established well enough...

But the absence of the League is felt here. Batman and Green Lantern really didn't have to be the focus of this issue, this comic could have been seven different stories all headed for Metropolis to meet Superman by the end. It makes sense, since Superman would eventually lead the League. The scenes with Bats and Green Lantern do feel padded. Some of it is funny, and some of it is stupid. 

At least Teen Titans #1 showed Tim Drake studying up and preparing to assemble the rest of the Titans. There isn't even mention of the other members in this comic. 

I didn't feel the need to talk about the art all that much because, come on. It's Jim Lee. You already know it's phenomenal! 

Next time, #1 Month concludes with another New 52 title (yay), but this time with a hero that was actually rejected from the Justice League: Green Arrow #1. 

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