Comic Book Review – Justice League of America #1

“Green Lantern! Green Arrow! Catwoman! Katana! Vibe! Hawkman! Stargirl! They aren’t the world’s greatest super heroes—they’re the most dangerous! But why does a team like the JLA need to exist? What is their ultimate mission? And who is pulling the strings? Plus: Find out why Martian Manhunter is the most dangerous of them all. Period.“

Having scored some major successes with DC’s A-list superheroes, Geoff Johns (Aquaman, Green Lantern) now turns his attention to a selection of the company’s lesser known characters as he takes on a second Justice League book, teaming up with artist David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight) for the new ongoing series Justice League of America. The book has been the subject of considerable hype since it was announced last year, and is set to play a major role in the lead up to the impending Trinity War crossover, so naturally there’s a lot of expectation around the series, and with Justice League of America #1, it’s got off to a solid if not quite spectacular start.

Distrustful of the Justice League and concerned about the ramifications should any – or all – of them decide to go bad (particularly now that Superman’s been locking lips with Wonder Woman), Amanda Waller tasks former Justice League liaison Col. Steve Trevor with setting up a new government-controlled group, the Justice League of America, who can aid other super-humans, or take them down should the need ever arise. And so, as you’d expect from the first issue of a new team book, the rest of the time is pretty much devoted to introducing the core roster of the team, using the discussion between Waller and Trevor as a framing device to run down each of the characters, before a last minute plot point to kick-start the rest of this first story arc.

The biggest success of Justice League of America #1 is that it caters to both regular DC readers, as well as newcomers to the New 52. The story here feels important to the wider DC universe, but it’s handled in such a way as not to alienate readers less familiar with current continuity, or the heroes – or rather rag-tag bunch of misfits and anti-heroes – who comprise the JLA. Johns has certainly opted for an interesting line-up in this department, with a selection of characters either new to, or yet to reach their full potential, in the New 52 – Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Catwoman, Katana, Vibe, Hawkman, Stargirl and Simon Baz, a.k.a. the New Green Lantern. They’re also set up individually against their counterparts in Justice League, and while some of these match-ups look promising on paper (Martian Manhunter vs Superman, for example), others are a little head-scratching, and I’m not too convinced that Catwoman and Katana would fare to well against a rogue Batman and Wonder Woman.

Barring Green Arrow and Simon Baz, each of the team members are given a moment in the spotlight, with Catwoman, Hawkman and especially Martian Manhunter standing out as highlights from this first issue, and looking splendid here  thanks to Finch’s dark, shadowy visuals. We don’t really get any insight into how this group will operate as a unit, but that’s just one of several questions raised here. How will these ‘heroes’ react to receiving orders from the US government? How will the public respond to their unorthodox methods? What will the Justice League make of these pretenders to the throne? And if push comes to shove, will the JLA have any chance of taking down the World’s Greatest Heroes? There’s a lot of possibilities here for Justice League of America, and if issue #1 is anything to go by, this could quickly establish itself as the stand-out title from DC’s Fourth Wave and one of the must-read books of the New 52.

Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.