CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 – Tony Daniel’s Art has Never Looked Better!
By ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
I was really enjoying Bryan Hitch’s run on JLA before it was unfortunately cancelled (possibly resolicited) due to the then upcoming Rebirth of the DCU. Hitch had a nice handle on the characters and his art is really made for a book like Justice League with its larger than life characters and action. Then the announcements for Rebirth came DC stated that Hitch would be writing, but not drawing a new Justice League book. Instead, Tony Daniel would be handling the art. I like Daniel’s work but I’d prefer Hitch on a JLA book, especially since we’re coming off of Jason Fabok’s exceptional work on the title in the Darkseid War. After reading this first issue, my feelings have flipped. Daniel’s pencils are the star of the show so far!
There’s a whole lot of action in this first issue and Daniel handles it with ease. I actually walked away from this issue thinking that he’s never looked better! His Wonder Woman looks great and is definitely the star of this first issue as she opens it up and closes it out. The opening double page splash has her striking the ground as tanks and soldiers fly up into the air, framing her within the action. There’s plenty of details in within the destruction, and then it gets even better from there. Daniel uses another two page splash later in the issue as we watch Flash save a girl from a falling building. Daniel uses nine inset panels to creatively show just how fast the Flash can be and it’s crystal clear in its storytelling and progression.
Hitch’s story has each of the Justice League team members, minus Superman getting two or three pages each. Because of this, the story feels disjointed. Only the Green Lanterns are together in this issue and unfortunately their dialogue comes off as a bit clunky. The League are all dealing with earthquakes across the globe as a force called the Kindred is infecting humans that attack the League as they try to help. Hitch doesn’t explain too much as this issue is clearly a set up. As far as first issues go, this wasn’t great, but I understand that this first issue is a first part of a larger storyline, and honestly, Tony Daniels art made it worth buying the book for me. Although I didn’t love the story, I trust Hitch writing these characters based on his previous JLA series, and I’m more than pleasantly surprised with Daniels art so I’m looking forward to more.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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