About.com Rating

Introduction:

Part of the big push by DC Comics New 52 event, this is an all new DC Universe with a reborn Justice League. We are all on the same page, learning what is new and what has stayed the same from decades of history and continuity. This Justice League has not even been formed yet, but powers and events are conspiring together to pull forth the greatest team any universe has ever seen.

Vitals

Title: Justice League #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jim Lee
Cover: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair
Inker: Scott Williams
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Patrick Brosseau
Content: Justice League contains violence and is for most age ranges.

Publisher: DC Comics
Cost: $4.99

Story:

Justice League #1 starts everything fresh. As of issue number one there is no Justice League, the heroes are unknown to each other, and everything is a fresh start. The story so far revolves around an alien with what appears to be some kind of bomb that this being is hell bent on planting. In his way are both Batman, and Green Lantern. These two heroes that have to meet and greet in the midst of battling a constantly changing foe.
The duo soon become three in a blast of light and might and the newest edition changes everything between them, spoiling for a fight. If the heroes can’t work together, there might not even be a Justice League to come.

Review:

This endeavor by DC Comics is very gutsy to say the least. They are wiping away over 70 years of history in one blow and building things over from scratch. New costumes, origins, and characters are only a start to the New 52. It is exciting to see, but worrisome as well.
DC is not wasting any time, effort, or money in their latest plan to bring this concept to the forefront of the comic book world and beyond to new readers.

They have some big guns playing in this sandbox with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee signing on as writer and artist. In joining these two together they are making sure this has everything it needs to succeed.

The art by Lee is stunning as always. He is doing what he is best at, drawing the top superheroes in the world in tons of action. I’ve always enjoyed Lee’s style and he is extremely talented in doing team books of this caliber.

There was a lot that I liked about Johns work with the story. He had some great humorous moments throughout the book and captured the essence of these characters very well. One of the issues I had however was how abrupt the jump was into the new continuity. To catch us up to speed with what is new and the same, Batman and Green Lantern have big conversations in the midst of duking it out with an alien creature. I’m sure it will work well with people who are new to Justice League and the DC Universe, but I think longtime fans might be wanting things to move along at quicker pace to find out what is truly different so they can compare notes.

DC also made this issue a “combo pack” where for $4.99 you get the comic and a digital version of the issue as well. To be honest I don’t really get that. Why would I want another copy of issue number one? The hefty price tag of the issue does not seem to match what you get. Personally, I would have preferred a digital copy of issue #2, but I imagine that part of this reasoning was to appease brick and mortar retailers.

Conclusion:

Right now there is a lot of mystery around DC’s New 52 initiative. I understand their desire to have a clean slate when there was so much complicated history going on, but just like Marvel’s Ultimate line, it is only a matter of time before this New 52 is filled with its own massive amount of continuity. Time will tell if this is a good move on DC’s part but I have fears that many of these titles will struggle.
Justice League has everything going for it with some of the top talent in the industry working to put this book together. Right now it also has that new and shiny feel where everyone is curious to find out the skinny on their favorite characters. While I felt the package was well done, I can't help the feeling that something is missing, that something being the original characters I know and love.

In the end, I enjoyed the comic. I love seeing Lee back in the saddle coupled with Johns, but to be honest, I think I was more interested in seeing what was different than what happened in the story. This might be a good thing though as new fans get to start fresh and longtime fans get to try to spot all the differences. I didn’t think it outweighed the big price tag though, as that was the biggest letdown.