The Justice League is no more. Batman is dead, Superman and Wonder Woman are dealing with their own problems and Green Lantern has gone off to form his own team. Disgusted with the lack of respect she has been shown, JLA Chairperson Black Canary disbanded the team last issue. But it seems that the remaining members have their own ideas.
Firestorm, Vixen, Zatanna, John Stewart and Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) meet in the Justice League’s subspace lounge to discuss the future of the team, including a membership drive and electing a new chairperson. Later, Dr. Light and Firestorm pay a visit to the Shadow Thief, who is currently incarcerated in Van Kull Maximum Security Prison. Things don’t go exactly as planned and a dangling plotline is tied up as Starbreaker shows up and puts a whuppin’ on the Leaguers before beating a hasty retreat.
The characterization in this book is excellent. Each individual JLA member’s personality is perfectly encapsulated in this issue and the dialogue is top-notch as well. It would be a perfectly acceptable issue if it was just the JLA-ers sitting around talking, but there’s a decent fight in there as well.
Oh yeah, and Rags Morales is drawing it too. That’s good stuff right there. Not that I didn’t enjoy Ed Benes and his unique ability to show every female member of the team in a pose which displayed both boobs and ass on every single page, but Rags is pretty sweet and I like seeing his work.
Cover art to Justice League of America #32 by Ed Benes and Pete Pantazis
© DC Comics
I have to admit that I’ve seen Rags Morales’ work look better. Some of it (mostly the faces on the first 4 or 5 pages) looked a little weird. Perhaps they were a little rushed or perhaps it was the fault of the inker, I really don’t know. But it looked a bit inconsistent and somewhat out of place here and there. A fairly minor complaint.
Despite being a fan of Dwayne McDuffie, I really haven’t been very fond of his run on Justice League of America, with the exception of last issue, which I found to be nothing short of brilliant. So this was a do-or-die issue for me, and I’m happy to say that ranks as a very firm “do”. Not only did McDuffie deliver a solid issue, he left me eager for the next one.
Some folks like to see a JLA made up of A-listers, sort of a Super Friends-type book. They want the big guns fighting the big fights. But if you’re someone who prefers a team made up of the B-team, then you might want to go ahead and pick up this issue, as it gives the players who usually sit on the bench their own chance to shine. It’s also a perfect jumping on point that kicks off a new storyline and serves as a really excellent introduction to each character. Good stuff.
Um...okay. As for someone that didn't have any of that come to mind when they read this book, I agree with you Chad. McDuffie is finally giving us some good work and it's soooo long overdue. Still, I do think they could've chosen some better characters, most of these aren't B listers, they're more around C territory. But still, it was a good book and I too am looking forward to the next issue!
checkeredman2 - If superheroes aren't your thing (and they clearly aren't) you might be more at home reading The No-Fly Zone in lieu of reviews of superhero comics. It runs every Wednesday and doesn't feature superheroes, villains or anything of the sort. Kurt writes some great stuff and has turned more than a few readers on to some really cool comics, including myself.
superfist - yeah, C-listers is probably more accurate. I like C-listers though! Characters like Firestorm and Dr. Light could never carry their own book, but I enjoy seeing them, so I always dig it when a shake-up like this happens.
I wonder if McDuffie's lackluster work on this book was due to the big companywide crossovers like Final Crisis and all that R.I.P. crap going on in the Batbooks? Now that he's freed from the restraints that have been placed on the Big Three, he can finally cut loose and tell some good stories? Whatever the reason is, you won't hear me complain.
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Firstly, I know history dictates that it is indeed doomed to repeat itself [sigh] and unfortunately, in the world of comics and in particular this JLA book’s current break-up is nothing more than a sad return to a formula that has plagued comics in the recent past. This “new” JLA was created by a big break-up and quickly reformed (so DC could get a fresh new high profile #1 out to market). I mean…didn’t we just go through all this?
Secondly, who cares? In big uber-team books like JLA, Avengers, X-Men; teams get flip-flopped around so often it’s obscene. I know that variety is indeed the spice of life, but the Big 2 have suffered from severe Attention Deficit Disorder in the Trade Paperback Era of comics.
Thirdly, as much as I understand the logic and strategy behind the Big 2 strictly enforcing writers to script 6-issue arcs (the easier to collect and market a TPB my dear…) it has consistently pigeon-holed compelling concepts into lackluster sludge. As long as you know what part of the 6-issue arc your reading you can accurately predict an issue of set-up, conflict, or resolution…wow, how fun and exciting. [yawn]
Fourthly, the constantly changing weather of creative teams is a tornado of annoyance devastating the once fruitful heartland of comic storytelling. Creative teams touch down on a title; devastate a trailer park of characters; and then up and vanish as quickly as they arrived. Sadly, many “core” books are so overwhelmed by upper-editorial nooses (like the Blackest, Secret, Civil Crisis) that these creative individuals must make sure to fall in line rather than spread their wings; and in turn earn their paycheck.
Fifthly, in the 1990’s comics in-bred themselves into a mutant-filled wasteland of overpriced, collectors issue, chromium blech? Folks eventually stopped buying; Marvel went into Bankruptcy; lots of talented people were hard up for work… However, with their collective noses to the grindstone, the Big 2 rebuilt their empires (in part thanks to Hollywood) in a surge of earnest offerings in a creative boom in the early 2000s. Sadly, this issue of JLA suggests that the Big 2 comic-producing community is perhaps a wee bit short-sighted and has not been doing their homework. Perhaps history is not only doomed to repeat itself, maybe it already has.