Comic Review -- Justice League #1 / Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, & Scott
Justice League #1
Posted on my blog, The Comics Cove, not too long ago...
Okay, wow. The cover alone was awesome, no matter which version you got. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Jim Lee does iconic heroes and poses like no one else's business. Heroic. Modern classic. Iconic. Call it whatever you want, it just looks great.
Overall, this issue did throw me a little bit. First off was the "This is 5 years ago" premise that we're supposed to remember. That's not so difficult in and of itself, but then there's the pacing. We've got Batman being chased over a rooftop and getting shot at by the military while he hunts some alien monster thing and fights it and tries to make it talk about what it's doing in Gotham when Green Lantern shows up and Batman tells him what little he knows of these guys and they decide to go to Metropolis to check out another alien and Superman shows up looking for a fight.
Whew! It just feels like a whirlwind of mostly action and just enough character interaction to keep things moving onto the next act. I got to the end of the chapter excited for the next part, but not really feeling like I'd gotten much out of it. I think a big part of it is that so far, it's just Batman and Green Lantern, with a Superman setup at the end. No one else. It's not too much, I think, to expect to find the Justice League assembled, at least by issue's end. Not that I don't respect the story arc idea--and I realize that Geoff Johns is good at the larger arcs--I'm just uncertain it's the best way to start things off.
Art: Jim Lee. Scott Williams. That is all.
Seriously, I do admire the detail that's gone into the artwork here. I don't know what it is about Jim Lee's people, but they just look amazing. Male, female, monstrous, it doesn't matter. The guys look manly and heroic, the women look beautiful and strong, and the monsters look alien, threatening, and sinister. Action flows well from their illustrations, which makes this an idea marriage of form to content.
Overall, I'd say get it. It's the start of the reboot, it's beautifully rendered, and the writing, while a conceptually a little blurry, is nevertheless exciting. It certainly promises a grand adventure, and I can't wait to see more. Highly recommended.
