Justice League 3000 1 (February 2014)

936488 Being insincere and not funny are two things Justice League 3000 can’t handle. It’s a dumb idea–in the future, the Wonder Twins clone the Justice League so they can save the galaxy. Only there are problems. For example, Superman is a lot like the Giffen/DeMatteis Guy Gardner, only with some Ultimate Captain America thrown in. He and Batman threaten to kill each other every few panels. Then Batman quips about kryptonite.

3000 isn’t just not funny, it’s desperately not funny.

Keith Giffen gets a plotting credit, so he isn’t as responsible as J.M. DeMatteis, who scripts this terrible dialogue. He’s trying to surprise with the clones, which just makes things worse. Except not as bad as the Wonder Twins banter. Nothing is as bad as the Wonder Twins banter.

The Howard Porter art doesn’t fit the story and isn’t an original future design; clearly no one cares.

CREDITS

Yesterday Lives!; writers, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis; artist, Howard Porter; colorist, Hi-Fi Colour Design; letterer, Sal Cipriano; editors, Kyle Andrukiewicz and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League Dark 3 (January 2012)

If nothing else, Milligan’s mishandling of Justice League Dark shows why pairing Justice League members off for issues has always worked. Because when you try to tell eight individual stories, you end up with a Deadman comic with some pointless guest stars.

Sadly, Janin’s art doesn’t hold up this issue. The first half or so is absolutely gorgeous, like the previous issues, then Janin starts to get sketchy and lazy. It’s not bad, it’s just nowhere near as good and, without Janin being amazing, what’s the point in reading Dark?

Milligan’s so disinterested in the characters, he resorts to the occasional sex joke (Zatanna and Constantine, Deadman and the girl he’s protecting), but without any enthusiasm. Cheap sex jokes are supposed to be funny, but Milligan apparently disagrees.

The series does show signs of eventually becoming cohesive, but the pacing makes waiting painful.

Or, with Janin off his game, pointless.

CREDITS

In the Dark, Part Three: Shibboleths and Alcohol; writer, Peter Milligan; artist, Mikel Janin; colorist, Ulises Arreola; letterer, Rob Leigh; editor, Rex Ogle; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League 3 (January 2012)

You know who should be writing DC’s new Wonder Woman? Geoff Johns.

You know who can’t write Aquaman, apparently, in Justice League? Yeah, Johns too.

This issue opens with Wonder Woman, gives a really quick look at her arrival in the new DC Universe, immediately establishing a strong female character. It’s utterly fantastic.

Shame the rest of the comic is crap.

Why is Jim Lee doing Jack Kirby creations? Lee’s denizens of Apokolips look awful. Darkseid shows up for a second. My “Super Powers” action figure looked better.

Just to elucidate, Lee’s art on the Wonder Woman scenes is pretty weak too.

Justice League was previously absent any quality. Johns brings some and doesn’t even seem to notice the difference.

If Johns and Lee–DC’s chief creative officer and co-publisher–can’t even figure out their own strengths and weaknesses, how do any DC comics have a chance?

I’m bummed.

CREDITS

Justice League, Part Three; writer, Geoff Johns; penciller, Jim Lee; inker, Scott Williams; colorists, Gabe Eltaeb and Alex Sinclair; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Darren Shan and Brian Cunningham; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League International 3 (January 2012)

It’s an action issue in the old Justice League tradition, two heroes break off and have a related adventure. Jurgens takes it even further, with the administrators teaming up too. Only Guy Gardner gets to play it solo.

The result’s a mixed bag. Batman and Booster Gold are good together, but only because Jurgens’s characterization of Batman as encouraging Booster is interesting. He sells the unlikely mentorship.

The Red Rocket and Ice though? Boring. Red Rocket’s a self-stylized ladies’ man. It’s weak. So is Fire and Vixen. Of some interest are the two new characters, the Chinese guy and Godiva. Their sequence is fine.

Lopresti and Ryan start rough, but have things mostly under control by a few pages in. They can’t handle the administrators, but they do manage the crazy scale of the comic. Giant Sentinel looking things, huge spaceships and sci-fi nonsense; they pull it off.

CREDITS

The Signal Masters, Part Three; writer, Dan Jurgens; penciller, Aaron Lopresti; inker, Matt Ryan; colorist, Hi-Fi; letterer, Travis Lanham; editor, Rex Ogle; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League Dark 2 (December 2011)

Strangely, I don’t care about any of Justice League Dark‘s significant problems. It’s got Janin on the art still and he’s still fantastic, so it can pretty much be about anything. And Milligan isn’t going to write anything offensive. It might get bad, but it won’t offend on any level other than wasting time.

But there’s Janin’s art, so Dark can’t be a waste of time.

Now, it is interesting what a big part Deadman plays here. He’s got this book, DC Universe and Hawk & Dove. I’d hate to think DC is overexposing him just because there’s a TV show in the works.

Sadly, Milligan writes Deadman like he’s a Seth Rogen character. He always begging Dove for sex… and considering she’s not even on the team, it’s strange she gets more page time than the erstwhile principals.

Still, Dove by Janin is awesome.

Dark‘s both bad and wonderful.

CREDITS

In the Dark, Part Two: Dark Matter; writer, Peter Milligan; artist, Mikel Janin; colorist, Ulises Arreola; letterer, Rob Leigh; editor, Rex Ogle; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League 2 (December 2011)

Superman’s a dick.

And so is Cyborg’s dad.

Other than those two developments, I’m not entirely sure what new developments Justice League has to offer. Jim Lee and his funny new superhero outfits?

Towards the end, when Darkseid’s minions break through to attack, it almost works. Johns and Lee almost get the issue to the point where it achieves some kind of visceral moment. But it’s only a two page spread… the rest of the comic is totally ineffective visually.

Marvel Studios guy Kevin Feige describes the Marvel team-up style as heroes who “fight each other, then they fight together.” So, yet again, the new DC Universe is just the old Warner Bros. underwear washed with Disney-brand detergent….

It’s better than the first issue if only because Barry and Hal are slightly amusing together. They remind of better comics, whereas Batman and Superman remind of crappy Frank Miller.

p style=”font-size:11px;”>CREDITS

Justice League, Part Two; writer, Geoff Johns; penciller, Jim Lee; inker, Scott Williams; colorist, Alex Sinclair; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Rex Ogle and Eddie Berganza; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League International 2 (December 2011)

It’s not exactly a talking heads issue. Instead, it’s an arguing heads issue. Oh, there’s action at the beginning, but it’s just to show the team isn’t a team. But Lopresti’s art doesn’t work for showing that failure. He splits up his pages into four tall panels (during the action scene), showing what the team is doing. It doesn’t come across like they’re outgunned.

And Lopresti does do all right for most of Justice League International. It’s just a superhero team book and he and inker Ryan handle it (though there are some problems distinguishing Booster and Guy Gardner and the chins are funny). But he can’t do nuance.

I never realized a Dan Jurgens book would require nuance, but apparently it does.

Some small problems aside, this issue’s really… pretty good. Jurgens moves past all the relaunch nonsense. It’s about people working together.

International is far better than expected.

CREDITS

The Signal Masters, Part Two; writer, Dan Jurgens; penciller, Aaron Lopresti; inker, Matt Ryan; colorist, Hi-Fi; letterer, Travis Lanham; editor, Rex Ogle; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League Dark 1 (November 2011)

Who is Mikel Janin and why isn’t he on a better book?

Janin is an exquisite artist. He brings a sense of realism to his figures and settings… and the magical nonsense in Justice League Dark. He’s not an inappropriate artist for the comic at all, he just should be on something much, much better.

Because, so far, Peter Milligan isn’t doing anything interesting with Dark. Some of the problem is the plotting. He’s going to introduce the reader to the whole concept—along with the regular Justice League failing. Now, as far as I know, this comic is the first appearance of the “modern” Justice League.

And Cyborg is apparently Robocop.

Milligan doesn’t even get the cast together, which is a peculiar move. He mostly narrates from Madame Xanadu’s point of view. Either he’s not doing a good job writing it or she’s boring.

Regardless, Janin makes Dark worthwhile.

CREDITS

In the Dark, Part One: Imaginary Women; writer, Peter Milligan; artist, Mikel Janin; colorist, Ulises Arreola; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Rex Ogle and Eddie Berganza; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League International 1 (November 2011)

I can’t believe I’m saying it… but Dan Jurgens writes a pretty good Batman. Jurgens’s Batman is empathetic and can work with people. Having him be Booster Gold’s cheerleader makes Justice League International something different.

The book is mismatched superheroes against threats they aren’t powerful enough to overcome. Jurgens manages their personalities well enough–though he’s got problems with their United Nations bosses. It’s strange. His superhero dialogue is fine, his bureaucrat dialogue is not.

But Jurgens also goes so far as to deal with anti-U.N. sentiment in the United States–homegrown terrorists blow up the Hall of Justice. It’s a surprising subplot.

It’s not quite good, but it’s certainly readable. Jurgens introduces some new stuff–Batman and Booster–to the superhero team standards. It’s fine.

As for artists Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan? They get the job done. They could be better, they could be much worse.

CREDITS

The Signal Masters, Part One; writer, Dan Jurgens; penciller, Aaron Lopresti; inker, Matt Ryan; colorist, Hi-Fi; letterer, Travis Lanham; editor, Rex Ogle; publisher, DC Comics.

Justice League 1 (October 2011)

So what’s Geoff Johns’s big insight into relaunching the DC Universe? Make it a lot like Marvels. A super-lot.

And there’s another difference. It’s not superheroes in the new DC Universe. It’s super-heroes.

What other big changes? Jim Lee draws Superman like a teenager and everyone’s costume now has small, unbelievable (and nonfunctional) bulky little patches. Maybe Lee likes to draw egg shapes or something.

I’m trying to think of what else is so special. Batman talks about Green Lantern like his fights with the Air Force are the Hulk fighting Ross… Oh, wait, there’s a “special” moment. When it becomes clear Johns’s “Year One” Batman talks exactly like Rorschach out of Watchmen. Better than Frank Miller, I guess.

Pre-Cyborg Vic Stone shows up for a useless scene. Johns should’ve told the comic through him.

Lee gets lazy immediately after the pages DC released as preview ones.

CREDITS

Justice League, Part One; writer, Geoff Johns; penciller, Jim Lee; inker, Scott Williams; colorist, Alex Sinclair; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Rex Ogle and Eddie Berganza; publisher, DC Comics.