Justice League: Cry for Justice #1

A new Justice League is formed who plan of striking down evil before it has the opportunity to act. 

I have to begin by saying I do not understand, at all, how this book has received so much negative criticism. This was a great all around read that deals with realistic topics and realities so many writers in the business either shy away from, or refuse to touch base on for whatever various reasons. It's unfortunate this book doesn't receive the appreciation it deserves. James Robinson made so many bold moves during the course of this story, many of which involved a darker approach than typically seen in the pages of a Justice League comic. 

The story takes place shortly after the events of Final Crisis. One of the main themes of the story is justice. Justice and different peoples perception of it. Hal Jordan fed up with the recent catastrophes the superhero community has faced, such as the losses of both Batman and Martian Manhunter, decides to form his own Justice League team who won't wait around for the bad guys to start murdering and instead, they'll take the fight to them. An interesting idea itself and a great basis for a story in my opinion. What I liked about it was that Hal Jordan was leading the charge. It made sense. As a member of the Green Lantern Corps assigned to space sector 2814 it is his duty to patrol and protect that sector. It's nice to finally seem him attempt to assert himself over other superheroes. Did he cross a line in the process? Well that was one of the many boundaries Robinson pushed and toyed with throughout the story. Hal's methods began to get a little more brutal as he was basically sanctioning Atom to torture the villains they apprehended. This story holds so many compelling moments of people at odds with each other about what's right and what's wrong. Torture being a controversial subject in any medium whether television or literature, is presented nicely within this story. It wold make sense that in a world full of superheroes, that many of them would have different views on how to exact justice upon criminals. Seeing some of these characters cross lines seemed to have upset a lot of people but I found it to be realistic. Great dramatic storytelling on Robinson's part. The question of whether or not you would continue to uphold the morals you claim to represent after someone close to you has either been hurt or killed was another great theme. I wish there were more stories like this one in the superhero genre. If I was in the comic industry I'd be writing stories like this. 

I liked Prometheus as the villain of this story. It reminded me of his appearance on Grant Morrison's JLA run years ago. He's an incredible tactician who poses an immense threat. Not only that but his dialogue was well written and just screamed evil mastermind. I'm sure some of the things he did in this story will have lasting effects on some of these characters. 

The dilemma towards the end was one of my favorite parts. The Justice League had to decide whether or not to release a killer in order to save countless innocent lives. The whole "for the greater good" dilemma was nicely incorporated. The ending of this story was one of the best endings of a comic I've read in a while.

One of the positives of this book can also be looked at as one of the negatives. James Robinson incorporated such a large cast of characters into this story. That's something I really thought enhanced the story on several occasions. He pushed the boundaries of many of these characters which in the end, made a great story. However, with so many characters gracing the pages of this story, it's easy for some of them to get lost in the shuffle of things. For example, Superman was present during the opening sequence of events but was mysteriously absent the rest of the story during the end of the world fiasco these events culminate in. Another example was during the scene on the JLA Watchtower where all the heroes are gathered and are beginning to piece everything together. Once Prometheus arrives and begins picking the team members apart you suddenly see Dr. Light present when she wasn't in any of the previous panels. It's as if she came out of nowhere. These minor issues do nothing to degrade the story in any way though. They're just small issues I happened to notice. 

The artwork was by Mauro Casciolo and Scott Clark. What really stood out to me was the coloring style. It has sort of a painted effect to it. I don't know how else to describe it but I will say it worked wonders for the story. I like how the artists captured all the gruesome moments of Robinson's writing. The action scenes were phenomenal. There isn't one page in this book that looks bad.

Perhaps years from now the people who dislike this book will reread it and reassess their opinion of it. I think maybe a lot of the people who didn't like it probably read it monthly. I had the hardcover and read it all together and I felt it flowed together nicely. Perhaps it's just one of those stories better read in trade. I definitely recommend reading this book. It's one of the best Justice League comics I've ever read.