Justice League United #6 - A Review

The one saving grace of Justice League United #6 is Jeff Lemire's ability to bring little moments of character into what is essentially one gigantic fight scene. It is these moments that have defined the series so far. And it is these moments with all the little interactions between the regular cast that make the book so interesting.


Alas, most of this book is taken up with the sort of Claremontian battles that have come to define any story involving The Legion of Superheroes.  There are no characters here - merely a loose collection of bodies attached to various superpowers.

These scenes consist of various characters standing around, explaining the action to the reader (Quickly, Ass-Kicking Lad!  Kick the ass of that big guy while I hold him in the grasp of my Magnetic Mind Grip!) while clumsily letting us know their codenames.  It's a shame because Jeff Lemire is capable of so much better than this and the scenes in which his Justice League speak to themselves showcase the difference between the two teams.



As before, the artwork is erratically mixed.  Neil Edwards is a clearly skilled penciler, but too many of his figures seem artificially posed. The best aspect of the artwork is the energetic colors added by Jeromy Cox.

Justice League United Annual #1 - A Review

The biggest problem with Justice League United's crossover with The Legion of Superheroes is that it is a Legion of Superheroes crossover.  The good news is that thanks to The New 52, readers will not have to worry about any of the cumbersome continuity problems that beset the classic LOSH comics.  The bad news is that the LOSH are still a collective of bland characters largely defined by their individual super-powers, with only Brainiac Five and Mon-El possessing any kind of personality. And those personalities are "know-it-all jerk" and "hot-headed douche-bag" respectively.


Writer Jef Lemire does what he can, but even he can't battle the inherent inertia of an storyline involving The Legion of Superheroes.  Too much time has to be devoted  to explaining who they are and listing off the individual members of the team. It also doesn't help the plot is strictly standard, with The Legion having come back in time to kill Ultra (Jonn J'onzz's adopted multi-ethnic alien son) before he becomes a world-destroying monster known as Infinitus in the future.

The subplot involving the rest of The Justice League trying to track down the body of a deceased Hawkman is far more interesting for a number of reasons.  Chief among these are the interplay between the team members and the little character touches that Lemire excels at. My personal favorite was the interplay between Supergirl and Green Arrow, with the inherently rebellious Oliver Queen struggling in a position of authority as he tries to reign in the equally rebellious Supergirl.  



The artwork this time is a bit of a mixed bag.  Neil Edwards is a skillful penciler and there are a number of Kirbyesque splash pages throughout the book.  The problem is that many of the poses of Edwards' figures seem overly forced and artificial, up to and including two women pointing their posteriors directly at the reader while curving their backs so we can see the profile of their chests!   The inks by Jay Leisten are competent but not particularly noteworthy. The best aspect of the artwork is the coloring, with Jeromy Cox using a vibrant, heroic palette that makes everything jump off the page in just the right way.

Justice League United #5 - A Review

I've spoken before about how Jeff Lemire is one of the few modern writers who seems to follow the classic rule that every comic should be written as if it were someone's first exposure to the characters.  It is for that reason - and perhaps because of the delay between issues caused by the Future's End specials - that this issue opens with a recap of just how the new Justice League came together and why Martian Manhunter has now taken on guardianship of a genetically engineered being born of multiple alien species known as Ultra.


This story - as well as the majority of the team going to investigate the sudden activation of the distress beacon of a recently deceased Hawkman - take a backseat to the main focus of the issue, which develops two heroines who haven't been seen in the book much so far and indeed haven't really defined themselves as heroines yet.  One is Alanna Strange, who despite having a space-suit, a brave heart and a ray gun, still isn't quite sure what to make of the destiny that has been thrust upon her and her husband, Adam.  The other is Miyahbin - a young woman who is about to discover her own special powers and her family's legacy as protectors and guardians.



The artwork of Timothy Green II and Joe Silver proves the equal of Jeff Lemire's amazing script.  Green is a grand visual storyteller and he has a gift for drawing interesting inhuman figures, such as J'onn J'onzz or the monstrous Whitago. Joe Silver is a soft touch with the ink pen, but that suits this bright, largely hopeful story just fine.

All in all, if you haven't been reading Justice League United, this is a good issue to start with.

Justice League United #3 & #4 - A Review

Through no fault of my comic shop, I somehow neglected to pick up the last two issues of Justice League United until this past week.  And I find myself wondering how I could ever have forgotten this book, even with my busy schedule.  Granting that it has been slow in finding its footing and in bringing its cast together, these two issues finally see our new Justice League united, including Jeff Lemire's creation Equinox and Alanna Strange - no longer a passive romantic figure but now a hero in her own right.


As always, the best parts of these issues are Jeff Lemire's grasp of these characters and his development of their personalities and the relationships between them.  The key sequence of Issue 4 sees these characters - working together but not yet a team - paired off and made to play off one another.  Green Arrow reaches out to Animal Man only to try and shrug off his olive branch with a joke.  Supergirl proves as cool and and jagged as Kryptonian crystal when Stargirl tries - and fails - to make a similar gesture of friendship only to stick her foot in her mouth.  And for the first time in a long while, we see the paternal side of J'onn J'onzz as he takes it upon himself to take charge of the newborn Ultra The Multi-Alien (long story) as well as the responsibility for failing to save an ally's life.


The book's weak point continues to be its artwork. Mike McKone is a competent penciler but the rotating team of inkers on this series do his work a disservice - particularly when multiple inkers are employed on a single issue and all hope of a consistent look is ruined.  I've noted before that McKone also seems guilty of recycling his panels but these two issues bring us a new problem - that of the artwork not matching up with the script. Consider this panel in which J'onn asks for Green Arrow to accompany him, Stargirl and Supergirl only for Ollie not to be included in the away team. For the rest of the issue, Ollie is seen standing in the background with the other half of the team, not saying anything or doing anything.  I blame the editor more for not noticing this problem before the book was printed but it is still a vexing point that takes the reader out of the story.


Despite this, the scripts are good enough that I can forgive the missteps in the art.  And it is gratifying to see so many characters that I enjoy in their New 52 incarnations being given a chance to shine.  So I shall be sticking with this book for a while longer.