Justice League Vol. 1
Apologies for posting this so late. I got bogged down with technical difficulties and college essays, and had to push it back a bit.
Plot Summary and Credits
Earth is invaded by an alien army, and the only ones who can stand against them are a group of superpowered individuals who are feared by the people they protect. After one of the aliens leaves a mysterious device in Gotham City, Batman and Green Lantern join up with Superman and the Flash to stop another in Metropolis, where it opens a portal to Darkseid’s home planet of Apokolips to allow a much bigger force to come through. Wonder Woman has a similar problem in Washington D.C. and Aquaman comes to the surface when the oceans are attacked. One of the portals causes an explosion that injures the young football star Victor Stone, whose father uses alien technology to revive him as Cyborg. Together, the team send Darkseid back home and are heralded as heroes by the world.
Geoff Johns (writer), Jim Lee (penciller), Scott Williams, Batt & Mark Irwin (inkers), Carlos D’Anda (epilogue artist), Alex Sinclair, Gabe Eltaeb, Toni Avina, Hi-Fi (colourists), Patrick Brosseau (letterer)
Collects Justice League #1-6
My Copy
There used to be a comic shop in my town. It wasn’t really that impressive; the shelves were often pretty sparse and they relocated across town three times, so it wasn’t really a surprise when it finally closed for good. While it was still around, I tried to visit whenever I could, and their limited stock always held something interesting. A hardback with the words “Justice League” and “Origin” on the cover? Sounds like an instant buy.
Before Reading
As mentioned above, the title is pretty self-explanatory. I hadn’t read many Justice League comics at this point, so this was an ideal place to start.
After Reading
When I first read this comic, I really enjoyed it. It was great to see a bunch of my favourites coming together for the first time against a world-ending threat. It was only after rereading it a couple of times that I noticed a lot of its flaws, which are mainly to do with how much is packed into it.
There’s a lot going on in these six issues. As one of the earliest titles of the New 52 era, it serves as an introduction for a lot of its reimagined characters. It goes on the assumption that you know their respective backstories, dropping you straight into the action.
It’s appropriate that this new version of the League are still relatively new to superheroics, showing us their story from the very beginning. The Flash states several times that he’s “never been touched”, implying that he’s only encountered the weakest of his rogues gallery, and Batman and Superman are both greatly underestimated by their fellows who haven’t seen them at their fullest potential.
Speaking of their fullest potential, we don’t see any of it in these six issues. This makes sense from a storytelling standpoint, because Superman, the Flash or even Aquaman could end the story pretty quickly if they used all of their powers.
With the most overpowered characters in the DC universe coming together, they need a villain who can match them. This makes Darkseid an ideal choice, being the literal god of destruction with an army of flying demons at his disposal, and historically any time he shows up something big goes down. He feels kind of misused here, treated as a villain-of-the-week who gets banished without too much drama. Apart from a couple of brief scuffles with the heroes (the scene where his omega beams split up to chase Superman and the Flash is honestly pretty cool), he isn’t given a lot to do before his inevitable defeat. Additionally of the action seems to be focused on a couple of cities, which Darkseid could flatten all on his own, never mind the rest of the world.
The main characters here are really Green Lantern and Cyborg. Lantern is one of the first characters to appear, and is given the most time to develop from arrogant hothead to slightly less arrogant hothead. As for Cyborg, he has his origin story interwoven with the main plot. While it’s supposed to bring him onto the same level as the rest of the team as well as Darkseid himself, not getting an origin storyline of his own makes him feel like little more than their tech support guy.
Oh, and Aquaman’s there too, I guess.
Closing Thoughts
Volume One is something of a speedrun origin story. It has a lot to cover, and manages all of it, but definitely feels like a much longer storyline crammed into six issues. My enjoyment of having it in my hand for the first time was undeniable, but rereading it under a critical lens revealed a lot of its flaws, but it still holds a special pace on my shelf.
Next week I’ll be looking at something a little more obscure, a prequel to a film that holds a kaiju-sized place in my heart.
