Cover To Cover: JUSTICE LEAGUE #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Jim Lee, Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair
DC $3.99

Stewart R: When DC announced all those months ago that they would be renumbering, rebooting and relaunching their entire line of DC Universe comics there was an air of mystery and a clamour for details on just what this new look universe would be like and how it would differ from the current set-up along with a myriad of predictions of just which titles would make-up the now famed 52.

One thing from the very beginning was certain however: Justice League would return and spearpoint the tales of this newly reshaped world.

Geoff Johns, having crafted and calculated the chronological influences that the Flashpoint story would have upon the world, starts off by setting events ‘Five Years Ago’. That’s a tad confusing for me as it’s now hard to gauge if this is set five years in the past from the point where Barry Allen ‘reset’ this reality or whether it’s five years previous to a specific Justice League event or occurrence. Regardless, Johns quickly establishes that we’re now bearing witness to a world that isn’t familiar with the superheroes who operate in it and there’s plenty of mystery surrounding them from the public’s perspective and from the perspective of the individual heroes who are yet to make contact with any other do-gooders flying about in capes.

That quickly changes with a chase sequence across the brooding rooftops of Gotham City as the interests of Batman and Green Lantern collide when attempting to apprehend a dangerous visitor of alien origin. There’s a brief acknowledgement of each other’s reputation from the pair and Johns slips in a little reinforcement of the point that the authorities are afraid of these characters meddling and interfering in their affairs. Johns then drops in the clearest indication that DC are aiming for new, uninitiated readers by giving brief overviews of both heroes powers through a well realised conversation that tells long-term readers that at least this is still the Bruce Wayne that we know and love.

Through all of this Jim Lee has been working his penciller’s magic. Be it the Dark Knight’s leaps across the roof tops or the Green Lantern plowing down a foe with a fire engine construct, he’s showing just why he is held in such high regard and why the comic book world was more than excited that he’d be taking point on this title. Lee’s well suited to the dynamic action and occasional need for a grandstanding, poster-book moment or two and also manages a subtler line as seen with Vic Stone - soon to be the robotic-enhanced Cyborg we will assume - in his slightly shoehorned-in section. Perhaps I’m being a touch harsh there but Johns’ willingness to intersect Vic’s story, albeit it very fleetingly, with that of Bats and the Lantern at this early stage seems a touch unnecessary.

There are definitely plenty of positives to be found in this debut; the art is great, the reveal of the extra-terrestrial threat that seems likely to bring the League together is an exciting touch - obviously tipping a nod as it does to the origin from the 1960s - and there’s fun to be had with the banter-filled nature of Hal and Bruce’s early partnership. For the ‘newbie’ there’s certainly a decent origin story in the making and I’m sure many regular and long time DC readers may get a kick out of the familiarity that can be found in Johns’ characterisation which indicates that the heroes that have been known and loved for years aren’t a million miles away. But that’s where I’m not quite sold on this relaunch, it’s all a little too familiar and it seems that DC may be playing the game a little too safely. Admittedly it’s still very early in the day but here was an opportunity to really cut loose and get creative and importantly bring us something new. Shaking things up and making some controversial changes would -yes - provoke some outcry, but also deliver a fresh feel to their universe and show some ingenuity. Instead it appears that we might just be getting a cautiously tweaked and polished retelling of origin stories and characterisations that date back 50 years and that we have seen before.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be picking up Justice League #2 along with a good handful of the other 51 new titles and this debut is still worth picking up for sure. I guess I’m a little disappointed that I got a good comic book when I really could have done with great one... 7/10