Justice League Volume 1: Origin Hardcover Review

Introduction:

DC continues to forge ahead with The New 52 and their flagship title Justice League. This hardcover edition contains the first six issues and has some bonus features that will whet the appetite of any DC fanboy in a tale that chronicles the first adventure of this burgeoning team as they struggle to defend the earth against an alien invasion.

Vitals

Title: Justice League Volume 1: Origin
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: $24.99

Story:

The first six issues showcases just how these superheroes are drawn together to form the Justice League. Aliens have been appearing all across the globe, both on land and under water. An initial strike team has been placing devices in strategic locations, but in doing so set off the alarms of many of the world’s strongest superheroes. When the heroes start to cross paths, accusations and brawls break out between them instead of teamwork and organization.

Everything gets turned onto its head when the devices activate and unleash a horde of the same monsters the world over. The beings converge upon humanity, whisking them away to worlds or dimensions unknown. It would seem that the heroes are going to need to work together in order to save the Earth from a being so powerful and evil that no single hero stands a chance in stopping him. His name is Darkseid and his mission will consume all of humanity in the process.

The heroes known as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg are all thrown in the mix and must learn to work together in no time flat. If they don’t then all of humanity will suffer the consequences.

Review:

One of the things that was great about The New 52 was how DC got a lot of top talent into their core books. To say that I was excited to see what Jim Lee and Geoff Johns was going to cook up for one of their flagship titles is putting it mildly. I’ve been a fanboy of Lee for quite some time now (yes I own every one of X-Men #1 alternate covers) and really enjoy his artwork. I have also grown to enjoy and respect Johns writing over the years. Having read and reviewed the first issue of Justice League and liked what I saw I was very interested to see how it would pan out over time and while there were some things that I thoroughly enjoyed in this first arc, there were some things that also found me wanting.

If you are looking for action, then this comic is for you. Pretty much the entire first six issues are full of high octane action that levels city squares and showcases the great art muscles of Lee. The issues are full of fight after fight and not just with the bad guys. There were some great action scenes between the heroes as they struggle to begin to trust each other.

I liked the interactions between the heroes, with just about everyone announcing that Batman has no powers and must be crazy to be there. Green Lantern certainly had a good share of the limelight in having much of the humorous lines devoted to him. It would seem the relaunch has him very early in his life with his arrogance completely out of control. Another humorous interaction was in how many of the team members would say that they were the leader of the team and were pumping their chests up to show dominance.

We also get to see the origins of most of the heroes, some in full depth like Cyborg, and others more in passing with Green Lantern and Batman. Most everything is the same, but some have had a considerable power boost and others have been retconned to earlier versions of their character as in the case of Wonder Woman whom has no idea about Earth culture and has to struggle to fit in.

When Darkseid comes onto the scene in full force, it become evident that Batman is the brains as we see him working with the rest of the heroes to formulate a plan and put it into motion to bring down this almost omnipotent being. Everything gels together in the last few moments and humanity is saved with the world declaring this group true heroes. It is a picture perfect moment that ends on a high note.

In mulling over this first arc, I think it was that picture perfect ending that bugged me. For all their trouble in their first encounter with Darkseid, they had little problem eventually taking him down. I really liked the issues the heroes were having with human agencies but that was wiped away at the end as well. The only tension that seemed to remain was the tension between the team and that wasn’t very much at all.

Conclusion:

This comic book has a lot to offer fans of the Justice League. We have some stellar art by Lee with some of the top characters of the DC Universe. I guess in the end it seemed like everything was a bit too easy for these heroes and I would have liked to see more conflict from these giant ego filled beings or at least some continuing conflict that was unresolved. It was just a bit to perfect and cookie cutter for me personally, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless.

The hardcover also comes with some nice features, like the pencils of Lee for every cover, alternate covers of the other issues, a hero sketchbook, and other background material on the heroes of the Justice League. The $24.99 price tag seems a bit high even with the hardcover and extra items, but at $3.99 a pop you would basically pay the same price for the first six issues anyway.