Justice League Vertigo
The Good: Ryan Sook's cover is definitely cool. The interior artwork of Mikel Janin is a weird blend of realistic and surreal, and it fits the tone of this book perfectly.
The beginning of this book sets up an interesting mystery. Everything is deliciously creepy without being grotesque.
Having Madame Xanadu as the 'omniscient narrator' was an interesting choice. I know nothing about her, but this gives me a good feel for who she is. Nearly all of the characters are unfamiliar to me, but I got enough of a taste to get a decent grasp of who they are. Shade the Changing Man especially impressed me with his intro. And the villain, Enchantress. I know nothing about her, but the way she's set up in this issue, it's very clear that she's a credible threat. She's built up as some kind of huge force of magic, and characters seem surprised that she's in action. We don't get much explained about her, but it does a good job at keeping her wrapped up in a sense of mystery.
I LOVE the issue title. in the dark describes how the readers begin. Totally in the dark, having the light of information about these characters shined on them. And Imaginary Women describes so many things in the issue on so many levels.
The Bad: A few bits of dialogue stick out as awkward.
Janin draws a TERRIBLE Wonder Woman. He managed to make the 1940's swimsuit look even more like granny panties. Just EWW.
I'm not totally invested in this. It's going for a slow burn kind of build to get the team together, but I feel like a little more should've happened in the issue. I'm starting to know the characters, but they're all a long ways away from meeting up and joining forces.
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
I think this'll probably be a good title once it gets rolling, and Vertigo readers will probably 'get' it more than new readers, but overall there's a lot of good things sewn into the subtlety of this series. If you're not familiar with these characters, this should still be a good series. Give it a chance.