There's been a fair bit of controversy in regards to the relaunch of the DC Universe, and it's completely understandable. While I may be more of a "Marvel Guy," I can still appreciate why long term fans were upset to hear to the news that the company would pretty much start things from scratch with the release of 52 #1 titles this September. While they're not exactly wiping out 70+ years of history, this is still a fresh start for DC, and at this point it's still way too early to decide whether or not it was the smart choice to make. Over the past couple of years, I've made a real effort to get involved with DC, and while it was easy enough to get into the various
Batman and
Green Lantern titles, I often found it difficult to understand and appreciate the convoluted and confusing universe. This wasn't exactly helped by the dreadful "Grounded" and "Odyssey" arcs going on in
Superman and
Wonder Woman respectively. Great jumping on points, but terrible arcs overall. So, it wasn't exactly difficult for me to start getting excited over the relaunch (reboot?!) and I for one was pleased to be rewarded with
Justice League #1.
This first issue focuses primarily on the first meeting between Batman and Green Lantern, two characters Geoff Johns has brought to blows quite a few times in the past. Both of their personalities are instantly recognizable despite this tale being set fairly early on in both their careers, with Batman deciding that being feared is a necessary and effective way to fight crime and the cocky Hal Jordan confident that he can do anything and everything while wearing his ring. There's a fair bit of humor scattered throughout the comic, with the moment Hal realizes that Batman is, "just some guy in a bat costume" and the Caped Crusader swiping his ring moments later being two of the most memorable. It's during moments like this that Jim Lee's art really shines, as the subtle smile we see on Batman's face during these remarks tells us more than any captions could ever have. Following some hints in regards to the first arcs mysterious villain ("For Darkseid!") our heroes head to Metropolis, where we're then introduced to a young Victor Stone, aka Cyborg. Now, I know absolutely nothing about this character, so the decision to explore his origins in the first arc rather than just introducing him as they're doing with the rest of the iconic team members is much appreciated, and Johns makes him an interesting enough part of this book to make me want to learn more.
And it's from here that we have the comic books real payoff. The fact that neither Batman or Green Lantern know much about the mysterious alien in Metropolis enforces just how new the emergence of superheroes is in this universe, and instantly reminded me of the early days of Marvel when the heroes knew little about each other and would come to blows. And that's exactly what happens here! In a flash of red and blue, Hal gets his ass handed to him and Batman comes face to face with Superman. He may have only a couple of lines, but to me, this is how the Man of Steel should be written. Compared to the mopey, seemingly middle aged bore I've endured reading in "Grounded" for the past year, but his new look and attitude has made me think that this will be a Supes well worth reading. And once again, we have Jim Lee to thank for this. Throughout
Justice League #1, his work is pretty stellar, although it occasionally suffers from being a little too sketchy for my liking in places, although that is a very minor gripe on my part. Whether it's the mysterious transforming alien invader or Green Lantern's many constructs, he clearly has great fun with this comic and I'd like to see him stay on the book for a very long time.
So, what were the bad points with this first issue? Well, I think that depends. I've seen complaints about the choice to not include all of the members of the Justice League, but I believe it would have become far too cluttered had they decided to cram them all in. Overall, this issue will more than likely make for a better read when put alongside the next five as an entire arc, but it's a strong opener which left me excited about this new universe and counting down the days to #2. However, there's no getting around the fact that this is basically a Batman/Green Lantern team-up, featuring a couple of very brief cameo appearances from Cyborg and Superman. Set five years before the rest of the relaunched titles set to be released this month, this would have perhaps been better served as being the titles second arc, with the first instead just giving us a simple tale of the League facing off against some sort of threat. Regardless, I still very much enjoyed
Justice League #1, and think the six part story will end up being something very special indeed. Sure to appeal to new and old fans alike, this is a comic that everyone (yes, even the Marvel fanboys like myself) should be buying, especially as it looks set to be the flagship title of "The New 52."
I can only hope that the rest of the upcoming relaunched titles will manage to live up to the expectation laid down by Justice League #1. Not perfect by any means, this is still a superb way to kick things off, and I for one am now pleased to consider myself a "DC Guy" as well as a Marvel one.