Justice League of Adequacy
The Good: Omega Man's face in the opening scene is so creepy because you just can't tell what he's thinking. Ultraman and Dark Supergirl are arguing over some stuff and Donna is being 'forced' to fight Super Woman, and Omega Man just FLOATS THERE.
Omega Man has some more odd ominous inner thoughts.
A lot of things got properly explained.
The dialogue for conversations between characters was usually pretty great.
The sheer amount of over-the-top double crossing is pretty epic.
I was genuinely surprised and really impressed with the use of Tangent's Green Lantern. Brilliant.
Blue Jay's speech at the beginning seemed to imply something predictable, but it actually subverted it pretty cleverly.
The Bad: The cover is pretty bland. Not only that but while it makes sense in context of the issue, otherwise it seems odd to have Jade be the big highlighted character. In addition, why isn't Starman on the cover?
Certain points in the issue had some AWFUL looking faces drawn. It almost felt like Bagely stopped giving a crap because it was his last issue.
Owlman's big speech to Batman was really annoying. He said he accepted the death of his world. NO. JUST NO. That's completely out of character for Owlman and undermines the entire motivations of his character.
So Dark Supergirl's difference is..... un-inhibition? Seriously? What's so different about Dark Supergirl?
Sure the entire theme of this arc as to show that they are undoubtably THE JLA. The problem is, they're not. Sure Superman believes in them, but still, no. They are not. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, but now, no.
All of Robinson's run is beginning to grate on me. Every arc is nothing more than a tease for the next few arcs. This issue feels rushed, and a bit anticlimactic, and the advertising for Rise of Eclipso has made me notice all the threads that have been leading to it, whole other things in the previous 2 arcs were leading to this arc. Too many arcs are being downplayed to set up bigger arcs that are downplayed to set up bigger arcs etc. JLA should be about nothing BUT big arcs. Don't downplay one arc to up-play another, that's just a bad move all around. Especially on a comic like JLA.
I get that it's fun to shine all the characters who were around the dome, and I was impressed with your choices before, like Aztek and Zauriel, but you tried too hard and screwed up. You gave us Golden Age Doom Patrol, not the current lineup. Not to mention that having them is a little out of place anyways with their current misadventures. You really want to impress me, use The Mighty Crusaders or something.
In Conclusion: 3/5
Robinson, listen. So far your run on this series of Justice League of America is the best yet. But you need to STOP HOLDING BACK. Give us everything you've got ON EVERY ARC. JLA is a comic about the biggest of the big adventures. The threats you need the full might of the World's Greatest Heroes for. Maybe editorial mandate is making you use this second string league, and I won't hold that against you, but stop trying so hard to make us accept them. WE WON'T. We're fanboys and this kind of thing just won't satisfy us, so just make do with what you have. Also, beg DC to let you do a Starman/Congorilla series. That one-shot was off the chain. I think you're much more suited to write a comic about that duo, or the Animal Themed Team they gathered together.
