Comic Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #3
The team is almost fully assembled and Darkseids rise seems closer than ever.
The team is almost fully assembled and Darkseids rise seems closer than ever.
With #3 hitting our shelves writer Geoff Johns is finally able to touch on the real core of this story without relying too heavily on introductory quips throughout the team.
This issue sees the introduction of Wonder Woman, she's a slightly more comical version than what we are used to. Much like Thor in this years summer blockbuster, we are whiteness to a powerful god who is looking at our world with entirely fresh, almost childlike eyes, causing them to be astonished at the smallest thing (in this case ice cream). Its an interesting shift from the Diana we know (especially when compared to the Wonder Woman see inBrian Azzarellos current run on the character). Geoff Johns has had some hit and miss moments with Wonder Woman before, but Im looking forward to where they go with this younger version of our beloved Amazon and the journey she takes as she becomes a more wiser and more mature heroine.
One of my favorite parts of this issue is ironically the story thread that in previous issues I had least interest in: Cyborgs origin. For the past two issues I felt his story thread had been running on the spot and made our introductory character into this new world pretty unlikeable and hard to connect with. For two issues we had the same scene on a loop in various locations Vic Stone attempted to connect with his father (Silas) over his successes only to be brushed off almost instantly in favor of his work. Thankfully there is a mammoth level of growth and development in the character of Silas as he deals with the aftermath of seeing his son mutilated by the power of Darkseid. The raw determination Silas has to bring his son back to health amid all of the destruction is a welcome change to the somewhat one note character we had seen for the past few issues. Vics physical transformation into Cyborg should also be noted as a highlight of this issue. Tying Cyborgs birth with a deep connection to Darkseid was a smart move and brings the impact of the story much closer to home. Also who doesnt love a glimpse at Apokolips and Darkseid through the eyes of Jim Lee?
Art overall is an improvement from the last few issues. Pages dont feel as rushed, set pieces feel more vibrant and dynamic and a nice contrast is struck between dialogue scenes during the day and fight scenes during the night. Inker Scott Williams once again helps bring clarity to Lees work and makes this one of their best issues on the series yet.
The recurring problems I have with this book are thankfully beginning to diminish, #3 saw release only 4 weeks after #2 (over the original gap of 7 weeks), the issues page count stays afloat at 22 pages but even the tacked on behind the scenes work drops down to 7 pages.Im beginning to enjoy the fictional historical references (as unnecessary as they may be) but the character sketchbooks still feel like flat out filler in my eyes. A lot of the quips back and forth between the League have been toned down, Superman feels in character for the most part and a fun comparison is made between Batmans more stealthy fighting style and Supermans raw wrecking ball approach to fighting his enemy head on (with a truck in hand preferably). The only quip that felt somewhat out of place was during the final line of the book - it took me out of what would have been an amazing, momentous reveal and made it yet another quick gag. Hopefully these traits will continue to diminish as the characters grow and mature into the heroes they are destined to become over the next few months.
Overall this might be my favorite issue in the series to date and the plot is thankfully progressing at a smooth pace considering the issue number. Bring on Darkseid.
rating: 4