Notable Drop: Justice League International
The basics: Dan Jurgens (Booster Gold, The Death of Superman) tackles the fan favorite team for DC Comics’ New 52 relaunch. He’s joined by artist Aaron Lopresti, who recently drew the team, pre-reboot, in Justice League: Generation Lost, which was intended to bring the JLI into the post-Brightest Day canon. Despite its enduring popularity thanks to Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis’ run, Justice League International was never about monumental crises — it’s therefore always been a bit “under the radar” compared to, say, Grant Morrison’s JLA. This book, which launched alongside Justice League and Justice League Dark in the fall of 2011, seems poised to raise the stakes a bit by placing the team of superheros under UN control and pitting them against a Galactus analogue named Peraxxus.
Issues read before dropping: #1-#4. The fifth was released today.
What happened?
Nothing much, which is exactly the problem. Previously defined by witty banter and rich character interactions, even in the relatively dark Generation Lost, the JLI doesn’t have much of a pulse in this new take, which focuses more on bland, Saturday morning-style action sequences. Giffen and DeMatteis let the second-stringers pop in their acclaimed run, but the likes of Godiva and Rocket Red are proving to be pretty limp in the New 52 universe, especially compared to, say, Aquaman. Things are looking bleak when a writer can’t make a buxom Brit with unending prehensile hair and a mechanized ex-Soviet interesting.
That said, the book is boring, not terrible. It’s totally by the numbers, but it’d probably be a good introduction to these characters for some 12-year-old plain Jane who’d rather watch a few episodes of Young Justice than dive into V for Vendetta. If the New 52 initiative is meant to make old properties accessible, this is doing a fine enough job, and I must admit, it’s probably not meant for those of us who rip through these things in the couple of precious hours we have before our night shifts, foaming at the mouth and nearly growling (involuntarily) over the alleged desecration of a team of superheroes that was created a year before we were born anyway. (“Use the prehensile hair better!” we all but scream, choking a little.)
It really ought to be a fun book, though. Grant Morrison is over on Action Comics guaranteeing a blown mind per issue with fresh takes on concepts that are over 70 years old. And Dan Jurgens is here, bringing us what amounts, basically, to a somewhat stimulating coloring book once a month.
Hope for the future? Indeed. I’d definitely pick this up if a new writer took over, and I’ll probably check out the upcoming crossover with O.M.A.C., just because I like that book so much. I’m done with it otherwise, though.
Herein, recommendations for those interested in Justice League International.
- For the completely uninitiated: Justice League International, Vol. 1 (1987). Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis’ original take on the gang of superhero misfits is light-hearted but still manages the requisite action sequences and cosmic villainy with aplomb. Those used to glossy pages and big-time spectacle may find this volume to be a bit plain, however.
- For the impatient: Formerly Known as the Justice League (2003), I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League (2005). Giffen and DeMatteis return to the JLI nearly 20 years later with two miniseries that offer refined art and a sharper sense of humor. These two volumes verge on parody and make good picks for those who are increasingly tired of standard superhero fare — anyone else may not quite “get it.”
- For the canon hound: Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005), Justice League: Generation Lost (2010-2011). The one-shot prologue to Infinite Crisis (available for free on ComiXology) essentially closes the book on the happy-go-lucky JLI as Blue Beetle gets his brains blasted out by his former boss Maxwell Lord, who’s made the jump from “shrewd businessman” to corporate megalomaniac. Comic book fans and working stiffs the world over make their way to the therapy couch, and the healing process continues with Justice League: Generation Lost, which concerns the pre-New 52 rebirth of the JLI.
- For fun: Batman: The Brave and the Bold Season 2, Episode 24: Darkseid Descending! (2010). Batman brings together the JLI to battle evil incarnate in this episode of the beloved TV show, which marries pop-camp with a refined comic book edge.
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"Superhero science has taught me this: Entire universes fit comfortably inside our skulls. Not just one or two but endless universes can be packed into that dark, wet, and bony hollow..."—Grant Morrison, Supergods
"Glunders" writes and edits (professionally!) in New York City.
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