CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 – A Justice League For the B and C-List Heroes.
by ComicSpectrum Reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
Lots of characters are re-introduced or revisited in this zero issue of Justice League United. Adam Strange, Animal Man and the newly created Equinox are just a few of the heroes that will make up this new team as writer Jeff Lemire builds a new Justice League team from of “B” and “C-list” characters of the DC Universe. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. There are a lot of great characters that wouldn’t get as much fan interest when tossed onto a team with the likes of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. With this cast, there’s opportunity for some special and unique interactions that will hopefully materialize after this team is finally put together. Since this first issue is mostly setup, it ranked a bit lower from a standpoint of pure “what is on the page for me to read here”, but shows a really good potential for future stories.
While at a celebrity meet and greet, Animal Man and Stargirl are approached by anthropologist and professor Adam Strange looking for help after his girlfriend went missing during a dig in the forests of Canada. This search ultimately leads to the larger team coming together as the mystery surrounding the disappearance becomes more and more complex. The book has a nice pace at the beginning, but the ending seems to jump around fairly quickly as more characters are introduced, some of whom I was genuinely surprised to see since they don’t show up on the cover. The ending, although promising, seems to come a bit out of nowhere, but I have faith that Lemire will tie all these plot threads together in future issues.
Mike McKone is an artist that I always enjoy. His art works for this book, but some of the characters do look a bit younger than they should. Animal Man in particular looks to be in his teens, which is out of place for how the character has been portrayed historically, and within the New 52. McKone’s time spent on Teen Titans and Avengers Academy was a perfect fit for his style, but with the diverse cast here, it would be nice to see the differences in age between the characters portrayed more realistically. All that being said, the art is still very well done, and he has shown his consistency in handling long runs on titles before.
There’s quite a bit going on in this first issue and overall it’s an entertaining read that shows a lot of promise. We’ll see where this book is at after its initial storyline wraps up, but with the wide range of characters involved and the great creative team, it has a really good chance to hold its own when compared to the other Justice League books.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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