Justice League International #3 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Actually, I can believe it’s not the Justice League.

The Review: On the topic of super-teams that need to distinguish themselves from the Justice League, let’s turn our attention to one of the most obvious offenders.  We mustn’t forget that for a long time, JLI was the Justice League, one that some readers loved and still remember as their definitive version of the team.  Ever since Grant Morrison’s “pantheon” version of League, however, JLI has been relegated to running joke status, a rut that can be a challenge to get out of.

It looks like Jurgens wants to tackle the issue head-on, but at an angle.  Instead of setting up JLI as an actual joke (vis-à-vis Geoff Johns’ take on Aquaman #1), Jurgens establishes them from the start as more of a PR stunt, a band of heroes that excel more in political correctness than actual competence as a fighting unit (Godiva proves, once again, that she is nearly worthless in a crisis situation).  Think of Vatican City’s Swiss Guard, and you’ll get the general idea.

To get the group past that image, Jurgens throws in a global-scale threat, betting they have what it takes to beat the odds and actually use their multinational strength for global good.  Of course, you have to question why other, more practiced teams (say, Stormwatch, or, I dunno, the Justice League?) don’t step in to take care of things as they usually do, but let’s leave that matter aside.  After all, the JLI have to prove themselves useful at some point, right?

Unfortunately, they don’t do much of that in this issue.  Overall, the plot becomes your typical “split off the team and watch them fall apart, two-by-two,” which becomes a bit predictable after a while, especially since each unit has exactly the same mission (one distracts the giant, the other establishes access to the cavern underneath) and they wind up scrapping with the exact same enemies (earthen golems that chitter—“Chtk-chtk-chtk!”—in an increasingly annoying fashion).

At least dividing the team into duos allows each character to have some sustained one-on-one time with each other, allowing you to get intimate with them for the first time.  Sadly, you realize that only a select few have a personality worth talking about, like Rocket Red (“Da!  Would light Rocket Red’s rockets!”).  The rest can barely muster even the most generic dialogue.  It is highly problematic that Jurgens seems incapable of writing lines for the women that go beyond stating the obvious: “Seems like there are hundreds of them!”  “…we can’t possibly deal with them all!”

You also have to question the wisdom of including Batman, who’s stretched pretty thin already, in the mix.  While his presence might lend the title some star power, ultimately, he only reveals how ill-defined and lower-tier his teammates are by comparison.  Only Booster comes close to generating the kind of attention and familiarity Batman does, but not very much at that.  But you can hardly expect him to act the leading man when he’s essentially serving as Bruce’s sidekick.

Lopresti clearly has a lot of talent, and no one can deny his mastery over the fundamentals of comics storytelling.  But somehow, no matter how strong his work gets, it never comes off as inspired.  This “new” villain Peraxxus looks far too much like a Jack Kirby rip-off, and the giants pretty much mix design elements from Marvel’s Celestials and Sentinels.

Conclusion: A pedestrian read in almost every way, at times almost blatantly poaching off old storyline formulas.  It so sincerely and desperately wants to be up to par with the majors, but the spark just isn’t there.

Grade: C

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – The parallel between the giants here and the Celestials becomes even stronger when you consider they just kind of stand around, looking foreboding.

– Not that DC editorial will catch wind of this or take it seriously, but I suggest putting Lopresti to work on one of the Young Justice titles, like Static Shock or Teen Titans.  His lively, cartoony style would settle with those kinds of series very well, I think.

– No JLI comic would be complete without Guy Gardner knocked out on the floor, with a goofy face.