The DC New 52 Justice League 1-6 Review

So, last couple of things I put up in here was a little less comic book like than this one, though related to them at least. Now, it’s pure comic awesomeness and for a change, not Marvel ComicsJ. Though I prefer Marvel, it doesn’t mean I don’t keep a look on other stuff as well and I doubt it needs saying, but the Justice League and Batman in particular is of course an item of interest. I’m pretty sure I knew of and liked Batman even before any of the Marvel characters. I remember some Danish TV channel showing the Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman & Robin, way back when I was a kid. Since then, I’ve never really gotten into reading Batman or any other DC comics book. DC comics have for the most part been superior to Marvel in the animated universe (Batman, Superman and the Justice League animated series), but as far as comics, I never gave them much attention. Recently, DC decided to do a so-called reboot of their entire multiverse, calling this move/event The New 52. Roughly put, that meant erasing 70 years of continuity and starting from scratch with new numberings, origins and costumes.

Some would consider a move like this, to say the least extreme, maybe even disrespectful to those fans that have followed the characters for a long time. Something I would agree with, had I been a devoted DC comic’s reader. I know for sure it would piss me sincerely off if Marvel decided to simply erase everything I’ve read for the past 20 years and start over. But hey, this isn’t Marvel, it’s DC, lucky for me. And the very positive side of DC’s move to a non-reader/non-knower of their universe like me, is that it’s a great jumping-on point. 

Left to right: Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash & Cyborg

I’ve read the first 6 issues of Justice League and am currently getting through the same first of Batman. But I thought I’d give JL a short review here, from the perspective of a, relatively, stranger to the DC universe. Written by Geoff Johns and with art by Jim Lee, the first issue kicks off with blow-it-out-of-the-sky action as the Gotham city PD is hot on the trail of Batman who in turn is chasing some alien looking creature. Eventually joining the fight is the emerald knight Hal Jordan AKA Green Lantern. The two of them tracks the alien creature to the sewers of Gotham in which they, upon finding the creature, are too late to prevent it from detonating what seems like a bomb. Before the explosion, the creature cries out “for Darkseid”, letting us know who/what the main villain of this first story arch is. Since they are dealing with aliens Batman and GL decides to go to Metropolis, to question the vigilante known as Superman, rumored to be an alien.  They find him, but this being 5 years prior to “current” multiverse continuity, Supes isn’t his usual friendly self and greets them by knocking GL down and the issue ends with a cocky Superman posing as Mr. tough guy (which I guess he is, still annoying though) and asks Batman “so.. What can you do?” leading to next issues promise of Batman vs. Superman. And well, basically, that’s the first six issues… Not, of course, this fight in particular, but the pattern of these heroes running into each other (besides the mentioned, also the Flash/Barry Allen, Wonder Woman and Aquaman appears), having their arguments and then agreeing to stand together against the common threat of Darkseid. During and eventually clashing with our main heroes’ story, is the origin of Victor Stone/Cyborg. This part of the story seems to be an attempt to add an emotional side to the story and does so indeed, though only slightly. The relationship between Victor and his father could’ve been explored more to add further depth to the characters. But instead, Cyborgs origin and the inclusion of this ends up looking like it was only added for the heroes to have an advantage over Darkseid. 

On the positive side, the art is amazing. Jim Lee is an artist I am well familiar with and his work in this book is great. A lot of people consider the creative team of Johns & Lee to be THE dream team of a Justice League book. And while I enjoyed these first 6 issues, it was mostly due to the fantastic art and the fact that I’m new to most of these characters and as such don’t need much to be intrigued perhaps. This first story is mostly composed of big fighting scenes and while that is entertaining at times, the book will need to deliver more deep and character focused stuff to keep me on. The story has got humor, action and a fast paced narrating style, which some might claim is what can be demanded as well as expected from a flagship team-up title such as JL. I see the point of starting out like that to catch new readers, but the style has its faults. 

For instance, the villain Darkseid simply isn’t done justice in this story. We’re talking one of the most powerful and evil villains of the DC universe and he does kick some ass, but is still taken down fairly quickly (doesn’t even show up for real until the end of issue 4 and has no lines at all until issue 6), he almost has no dialogue/monologue except stating the obvious fact: “I am Darseid”. He does state that he is looking for someone when being asked by Wonder Woman why he is there. Darkseid simply replies he is there “for her”, assumingly his daughter, whom is mentioned by his servants elsewhere. To my knowledge Darkseid has never previously had a daughter, but several sons who were important/semi important characters of the DC multiverse, such as Orion and Kalibrak, but no daughter. The JL of course defeats Darkseid, aided by Cyborg and subsequently being recognized as heroes by the goverment. 

The issue ends with a short story about a mysterious, new to the DCU, female character called Pandora. She first appeared in the final issue of the Flashpoint storyarch, which launched the New 52 and have since appeared in every single one of the new 52 DC issue 1’s, mostly in the background. In this story, she is confronted by the Phantom Stranger, who warns her to stop whatever she’s doing. He references a lot of things that I personally don’t know of, maybe because I’m new to that world or maybe it’s all new stuff since this is a reboot. Either way, the stranger accuses Pandora of rewriting reality, implying that she is responsible for the changes in the DCU. I myself, along with several other fans, wonder whether this Pandora might be the daughter that Darkseid is looking for. 

It all reeks of a larger conspiracy-ish scheme, just waiting to be revealed, which is probably what’s going to keep me reading, at least for now. So my first encounter with the Justice League has been with mixed experiences, but overall, satisfying enough for me to read more.