Thursday, September 1, 2011

DC Comics reboot - JLA 1 Review



The much anticipated DC Comics reboot is finally upon us, and it all starts with Justice League of America 1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. After all the hype and intrigue, I must say I'm more than a little underwhelmed. Here is the chance to start everything again, and what do we get? Standard superhero fare. Different, but really pretty much the same. As someone who hasn't read DC Comics for quite a while, and am completely out of the loop, I would guess I'm the exact type of reader DC Comics is targeting with this relaunch. And maybe I'm being a little harsh since this is the first issue out of 52 new first issues, and since we're starting 5 years in the past, there's a whole lot of story to unfold, but this is not the big bang I was expecting.

Things start of with Batman chasing down an unknown villain across rooftops in Gotham. The artwork is, as always by Jim Lee, simply brilliant. But the story telling is sub-par. The whole premise of everyone meets each other and they get off on the wrong foot but eventually they'll team up for the greater good just seems like the lazy way to kick off this whole universe.

What is it about the docks that continually attracts shady villain types? .


So Batman is chasing this villain, while himself being chased by the authorities, because we're in a world that fears and distrusts these new superheroes. How do we know? Because Batman tells us. Then Green Lantern shows up. Cue some witty banter and explosions galore and then it's off to meet Superman, who seems kind of pissed off, leading to the inevitable showdown between Bats and Supes in Issue 2. We're also slightly jarringly introduced to the would-be Cyborg and get some more lame exposition showing how the world is confused about these new emerging superheroes.

Green Lantern is such a douche...

It seems like DC have played it very safe here. I don't understand the point of rebooting an entire universe only to make it the same as before, but I'm willing to give this series the benefit of the doubt and see where it leads. If nothing else, Jim Lee's art is beautiful. Let's see what the rest of the titles have to offer.




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