By: Geoff Johns (writer), Jim Lee (penciller), Scott Williams (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist)
The Story: You know, I guess it’s not a new-fangled Rubik’s cube after all.
The Review: While the debut issue of this series had quite a lot of fun, engaging material to it, it also had the disappointment of a false promise. When you have a book with “Justice League” slapped on the cover, you expect to see more than a couple guys in costumes bantering their way through a sewer. Considering how hyped the group portrait of the League got in the preceding months, no wonder you felt dismay on discovering most of them don’t even appear in the issue.
Once you get through this issue, you’ll see why Johns chose to bring the team together in stages. Remember, we’re dealing with a world new to superheroes, and consequently the superheroes are new to each other. So what does that mean? Hero-on-hero battle. And once you have Superman going toe-to-toe with Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, any more cooks would crowd the kitchen and overcook the dish. Better to let the guys get the obligatory duking over with so the others can just get to business when they show up.
Besides, you have plenty of juicy tension as is. Johns made his name in the Green Lantern and Superman properties, so it’s unsurprising both characters come off the boldest in this issue. Hal proves a lack of fear means never worrying about putting your foot in your mouth (“I’m with Batman…and he’s a total tool.”), while Clark demonstrates a quieter cockiness. Heck, how can you not smirk a little after shattering a Lantern’s constructs just by flexing your chest?
Don’t worry; Flash and Batman get more than their own two cents in, with Barry being the perfect straight man to Hal’s more frenetic antics (“Barry, you’re exposing your identity!” “And you just called me ‘Barry,’ genius.”). Bruce of all people acts the team player here, getting the impulsive metahumans around him to calm down long enough to “keep us on point.” As the crisis builds, his razor-sharp mind will prove crucial to maintaining the team’s integrity.
And the crisis is building fast. Those cubes don’t keep pinging forever, and when the timer goes off, things get ugly fast, becoming ugliest for poor Victor Stone. You might be curious as to how he gets involved in this mess. Well, remember how his friend mentioned his dad has been studying superheroes? As it turns out, Vic’s dad works for none other than S.T.A.R. Labs, which just got a small, pinging cube of its own.
Not only does Vic reap the results of that acquisition, he also gets a major talk-down from his dad. The conflict between them goes beyond inattentive dad and resentful son. Vic’s dad not only recognizes his distance, he doesn’t even seem apologetic about it. Even so, you have to concede his prejudice against Vic’s extracurriculars: “Super-humans… They will make what you can ‘do’ obsolete! …Catching footballs and scoring touchdowns is a joke!” The scene only makes the following events that much more painful.
Lee gets a chance to demonstrate a wide range of artistry here, from your superheroic action (love that he brings back Flash’s “disorienting spin” move—and that he uses it on Superman, no less) to scenes with greater emotional depth. Again, Lee has a very mainstream appeal that doesn’t stretch the boundaries of comic art, but you have nothing to complain about.
Conclusion: In terms of classic superhero comics, this title might prove to be a great example of the genre’s appeal and popularity: pleasurable and exciting, if not exactly literary.
Grade: B+
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – You have to admit, nothing adds insult to injury more than getting trashed by a finger-flick.
– I kind of like how Barry treats Hal almost like an illicit affair he’s trying to cover up: “I told you never to call me—”
Grade
Conclusion