27th May, 2008

KRIS BATHER

Justice League of America #21

"For those of you whose only knowledge of a superhero team is the X-Men, this is a great jumping on point. It looks great and doesn’t bombard you with unfamiliar characters."

I love the Justice League. Over the last 15 years in which I’ve been an avid comics reader, it has always been the one title that has consistently offered stories and characters on an epic scale.

It was Grant Morrison that gave DC’s long-running title a shot of adrenaline in the early 90s with a sense of grandeur as these legends, and pop culture icons, fought side-by-side against everything the crazy Scot could throw at them. His relaunch brought back DC’s Trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) and various other fan favourites together in one book and launched the writer into his current status as critical and commercial darling.

Novelist Brad Meltzer recently took the reins of the current series after his astonishing Identity Crisis mini-series that made these heroes look at their lives a lot more solemnly. Dwayne McDuffie has written the last few issues since Meltzer’s (hopefully) temporary absence and has done a stellar job.

McDuffie knows these characters like old friends, after writing episodes of the animated awesomeness that was the recent Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoon. It begins with the Trinity discussing their relationship and new League members in a secret room in their hi-tech HQ. Then it’s on to long forgotten bad guy, The Human Flame, to beat up Hawkgirl and Red Arrow during a bank vault heist.

Artist Carlos Pacheco can make anything look cool, even the overweight Flame as he fights the winged warrior and crimson archer, and eventually flees. Then it’s Libra’s turn, another character who hasn’t graced the pages of a DC title for years. Upon rescuing the jaded Flame from certain embarrassment he then introduces him to villains much more legendary then himself and makes him an offer he can’t refuse - a chance at empowerment and revenge upon Martian Manhunter, his first enemy.

For those of you whose only knowledge of a superhero team is the X-Men, this is a great jumping on point. It looks great and doesn’t bombard you with unfamiliar characters. This is the official launch of DC’s next big event, Final Crisis, which has all of fandom talking. It’s sure to be a great adventure and this is an intriguing first step.