JUSTICE LEAGUE #3 REVIEW

COMIC VINE

Writer: Geoff Johns

Pencils: Jim Lee

Inks: Scott Williams

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

"Who's in charge here? I vote for ME." That's how Aquaman makes his introduction to the Justice League in issue three, which in my opinion is a bold way to make your presence known to the world's best superheroes. The band is getting together and we may see a fully united Justice League battling Darkseid and his evil minions in issue four. Wonder Woman and Cyborg also make their first appearance in Justice League #3, which is another action-packed read from the creative team of Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams.  

Darkseid has been creating havoc pm Earth and in this issue he has unleashed an army of winged demons that are capturing people and our heroes, sans Cyborg, are battling them furiously. Superman, Batman, The Flash, and Green Lantern are in a fierce battle when Wonder Woman shows up and gives the boys a taste of how they do things in the land of Amazons.

Geoff Johns has quite a bit going on in this issue but handles the various story lines very well. The story is well paced and is an absolute page turner. Jim Lee has done it again and I was truly impressed with his work. For example, we have a great splash page with Wonder Woman taking on the demons and there is also a great page where we see Cyborg online for the first time and Lee mixes in a teaser of Darkseid, which is brilliant.

I've been very impressed with the Justice League which has been one of my New 52 favorites. There are no excuses for missing out on this series.

Justice League #1 Review

Justice League #2 Review



TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The Zombie, The End of Paradise, and Day 165.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #2 REVIEW

Words: Peter Milligan

Art: Mikel Janin

Thumbing through this past summer’s New 52 preview handout, I made a mental of note of what books were 'Gimmes', what were 'Maybes' and what should be avoided like Christmas eggnog at a June picnic. Justice League Dark showed the most promise of the 'Gimmes' and with issue #2 out on the shelves, I can safely say my instincts served me well.

Why it works: besides A-game penciling from Janin and Milligan’s storycrafting, the premise –tossing a bunch of supernatural C-listers onto a ragtag team of throwaways—works because we readers haven’t seen anything quite this before. Yeah, the companies have teamed up some no-names in the past to great success (none better than Secret Six and no, I’ll never stop harping about its cancelation.) But instead of haphazardly putting a bunch of ingredients in the pot and hoping for a winner, these folks have a reason to be. Seems like while other Leaguers like Superman and Green Lantern have no problem mopping up the galaxy with alien arse, when the baddies turn to magic—well, that’s just somebody else’s problem. Zatanna, Shade, John Constantine (!), the underused Deadman—these are the Somebody Elses.

An issue one back-peddle: Enchantress went all Wanda Maximoff on the DCU—that’s to say, balls-out insane – and started dropping some craziness on the world, so much that even Supes, Wonder Woman and Cyborg are freaked out (musta been the hailstorm of teeth, I bet) and can’t figure out what to do. That’s the first issue in a nutshell.

Number Two has Zatanna scrambling to figure out exactly how to approach the situation as she’s taunted with the whole “’I’ll kill you” spiel from Enchantress. The other “teammates” are just getting their feet wet: Deadman’s making amends with his girl, Constantine knows something heavy’s about to happen and is tying up loose ends (re: getting his ass handed to him) in an effort to figure out his role while Shade is MIA. No spoilers, but June Moone’s “rain” is over (for now.) Madame Xanadu—hers is a role you’ll find out on the last page.

Dark’s flavor is all super-heroics interwoven with psychedelic horror; it’s also a flavor I quite enjoy and look forward to from one of the New 52’s brightest spots.

Verdict: 4 out of 5.


Brian Cee is a contributing writer at Champion City Comics

JUSTICE LEAGUE #2 REVIEW (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Writer: Geoff Johns

Pencils: Jim Lee

Inks: Scott Williams

Justice League #2 picks up where the first one left off, with Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman locked in a titanic power struggle. Green Lantern calls The Flash in for back up and Batman realizes there’s been a big misunderstanding. After a few more punches are thrown Batman manages to calm everyone down and they relocate to an abandoned paper mill to analyze one of the boxes Darkseid’s minions have left behind. Meanwhile, Vic Stone (the not-yet-Cyborg) confronts his father about missing his football game. His father gets angry and tells him that his sports prowess is nothing compared to the super humans that are emerging. Vic goes to leave but the boxes begin to show some activity and legions of Darkseid’s soldiers pour out, burning Vic horribly.

This issue definitely fixed the action to story ratio that was a little off last time. A great deal happened, in both story and action, but was kept at a good pace. I like the character they’re setting up for Green Lantern. It’s common canon that Hal Jordan is cocky, brash, and a hot head, but this is really the first time I’ve felt it. With Pre-52 Green Lantern most of his flaws had been worked out by the time I got to the comics, even though they still shone through on occasion. The other characters also have some good, discernible development as well. Batman is a tactician and, at least in this issue, peace keeper amongst the group. Flash is cautious, encyclopedic, and only wants justice for people who don’t get any. Superman’s a little off, at least in this one. We don’t really get much from him, other than him being a total badass in his fight with Batman and Green Lantern. I’m holding out that his infallible moral compass will surface in the coming issues, and his abilities as a leader within the JLA will as well.

The art by Jim Lee is just that, it’s Jim Lee. The panels are gorgeous, and there’s a two page spread inside that is just amazing in both detail and just the subject matter itself.

The end of the comic has something that threw both Michael Newton and I for a loop at first, a transcript of an interview between Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor about his crash landing on Paradise Island. Other than some insight into Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam that anyone not familiar with the characters would find useful it doesn’t really add much to the experience. What it does do, that I am extremely pumped for, is foreshadow the 53rd comic to the line up that has been announced. Geoff Johns will helm a Shazam book.

Back on point, this issue of DC’s flagship book was a step up from the already solid first issue. And it’s only going to get better from here.

5 out of 5


Michael Knoll is a contributing writer at Champion City Comics.