Justice League, Vol. 1: Origin (The New 52)

I have been a fan of DC Comics since I was a kid. When I heard that they were rebooting the universe in favor of a more contemporary universe with an edge I was concerned. I had stuck with them through years of muddled and unclear continuity. Every crisis and crisis tie in, every retcon and unretcon, and some things that just did not flat out work. I was concerned when I heard that everything was going to change. I read Flashpoint which I recommned you read before you pick this up. You dont have to but its the catalyst to how the New 52 began. Flashpoint After reading Justice League Vol. 1: Origin, I am no longer concerned. This is an awesome book and I highly recommend it. This is not your grandfathers Superfriends. This team is going to be a sledgehammer. Superman is very comfortable in his skin. He was always written before as being somewhat conflicted about pleasing humans but not anymore. He is a warrior here and he embraces his power. Wonder Woman is a brawler. Batman is cool. He is the skilled tactician who may be the most powerful member of the group. (Sounds crazy, but think about it Read this story from the old continuity and you will see what I am talking about JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel ) I love Aquaman and Green Lantern is cool but he is kind of obnoxius and relies way too much on the ring. I like this alot. It has been and will be very controversial to purists of the original continuity. It reads like a movie and the visuals from Jim Lee are awesome. If you have ever read Justice League you know that we have been bombarded with various origins of the team. If they ever do a film this is the origin they need to pay attention to. I highly recommend that you pick this up. Its a good story.

As an introduction into the new Justice league of the new 52, this collection stands well on its own, bringing you into a realistic world in which meta humans and superheroes are not the saviors of the day like in the old gold and silver age comics, but instead are regarded with fear. The early stages of the book are well paced, slowly bringing together the team, and providing a well fleshed out and emotional origin for Cyborg. All in all the feel of the store is reminiscent of the secret origins from the JLA cartoon of the early 2000's. Which is not a bad thing... The story is fast paced, and quick witted, pitting hero against hero before they must band together to fight a much greater threat, and ultimately leading to the formation of the JLA in the post Flashpoint universe. The book perfectly ends setting up for the follow up of VOL 2, and hits at further characters, and the inclusion of some might be villains. The art is fantastic, like much of the new 52, and the story is developed, with well rounded characters, and each of the major players having their own part to play. the one thing i would have liked to see more of was the new Aquaman, who unlike the rest seems to show up in the middle of the climax, with no backstory beyond one line of why he is there in the first place. All in all this is a book i would recommend to both newcomers, and fans of the JLA like myself, who have been reading since the time of Infinite Crisis, and the original Secret Origins. i for one will stay tuned for what is to come in this possible flagship series of DC's new 52 universe.

The New 52 is well known (or I hope so at this point) as a reboot and a renumbering of the DC universe. It was intended to draw in new readers and invite old readers back. I for one absolutely love the new universe. It is accessible to everyone regardless which issue or volume you pick up (though it is advised that you follow some of the early issues). Justice League was among the first to introduce this new universe. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jim Lee, Justice League is a entertaining journey chronicling the conception of the team of superheroes. I haven't really read anything by Geoff Johns before this (I know I've probably sinned) but he is a very good writer, I have heard nothing but praise from his Green Lantern run. His story is masterfully brought to life by Jim Lee, I've always loved his art since Batman: Hush which is still one of my favorite Batman stories ever. The interaction among these characters is written beautifully with some characters taking sides with others in the midst of arguments or confrontations. Johns really shows that these people really shouldn't be together (in a fashion similar to the Avengers) but they ultimately have to put their petty differences aside and join together to face this overwhelming foe. We are all familiar with Batman and the heavy hitters of the Justice League but Johns introduces a character that for the most part is affiliated with sidekicks such as (Teen Titans) I am of course referring to Cyborg. Victor Stone is a great character surprisingly, but he doesn't have enough time to really grow on you as he should. One second he is having problems with his father, surprisingly good scenes but they are short-lived as the next second he is making his transformation into Cyborg. But he is definitely one of the defining moments of the story, he escalated quickly in my eyes as (to me) he is always a B or C list superhero. He can definitely run with the big dogs now. Now the book does have it's problems as many will point out as well. The overwhelming problem to me is the villain Darkseid...this character is the epitome of evil in the DC universe. He is hands down my favorite villain in the entire DC universe and I absolutely love the Joker, so that says something about Darkseid! He is presented her as a brute...he has less than ten lines of dialogue in the entire book. His motive is extremely questionable as to why he would even invade the earth in the first place. It seems out of character when it is hinted at. I felt horrible just seeing as how my favorite villain was just a cheap knock off. I hope and pray that DC doesn't try to replicate this as their film interpretation of the Justice League because I will literally not watch as Darkseid is just thrown out there as an undeveloped character and just serves to bring the Justice League together and then he goes away. His action scenes are beautiful but his characterization is sloppy at best. Though I spoke highly of the interaction between characters the moments that really annoyed me real fast was the Green Lantern/Batman moments. I know Geoff Johns wrote a fantastic run on Green Lantern, so granted he knows this character but Lantern seemed to take the place of the wisecracking Flash. He relentlessly teases Batman for not having any superpowers, I being a Batman fan laughed maybe the first time, but then it continued to happen and it really lost it's charm. Though it leads to a very interesting payoff of somewhat mutual respect between Lantern and Batman I just grew bored of it. Of course as I mentioned before I am an immense Batman fan so there may be some bias here. Overall I enjoyed the book, the problems I noted could have been solved (in my opinion) in a larger graphic novel similar to the Ultimates, something that gives the writer time to flesh out these characters even more, establish relationships and create an interesting and complex villains. But it still wasn't a bad start to the New 52.

Before we get into anything else first, let's just talk about the COVER. The art on this hardcover is stunning, and each super-hero stands out, and yet at the same time none of them are too over-bearing. I will not reveal spoilers about this collection of issues #1-6, because it's actually nothing like I expected it. So, : 1). The plot is like a decent Hollywood action movie. (I say this in a good way). Everything is dramatic, and there are pauses in action sequences that a movie would have. 2). It reads pretty quickly, but it's very enjoyable. 3). Some characters will annoy you. The members of the Justice League don't even really like each other. 4). Just like the cover, Jim Lee has drawn a wonderful story. 5). I, (personally), feel like Cyborg was just kind of thrown in there. He definitely deserves a spot, (really liked him in the Teen Titans), but they did incorporate him in an adequate way. Overall, I would honestly give this book a 4.5, but since you can't do that, I just gave it a 5. Definitely should pick-up if you really liked the JLA.

First of all great read, really loved seeing the league come together for the very first time. That being said I had not read any of the characters origin stories, In fact I wanted to read Justice League first, and than see which characters story lines i wanted to follow. Even though I hadn't read their origin stories, it wasn't hard to figure out from context. For example, Green Lantern and The Flash had worked together before. Easy, simple to figure out, without having to read the entire story behind each character :) BE WARNED. If you do want to get into the Justice League story line (and I highly recommend you do), just be aware there are a few cross over events (Buying comics from JLA as well), and especially when purchasing the volumes, it becomes a challenge following the story. For example a volume is 4 issues. The cross over event happens after the 3rd issue, but you already read the 4th so the timeline is fudged for a second. Really though if you have any questions, I have pretty much asked them all on Yahoo Answers, and some very nice people happily directed me to the next comic in the story progression :) Oh and, they arrived nicely packaged, and actually the box that they bundled them in works nicely as a stand to store them in :)

One word comes to mind after reading this comic: amazing. This origin seemed like a Green Lantern centered start. He had the most dialogue and seemed the most troubled throughout. Always taking on the tasks others weren't diving head first into. His constant jabs at Batman for being a "superpower-less superhero" which were hilarious at times, were always a great form of entertaining comedic relief . Batman's suit artwork was incredible, and it's the most aesthetic I've seen in all the comics I've read with him in them. The overall artwork and colors are very bright and intriguing and it leaves you with a "happy and uplifted" feeling which New 52 isn't known to do. I don't know a whole lot about Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg, but they definitely did not skimp out on letting us know what their powers were, and I loved learning Cyborg's backstory and how he came to be. Very wonderful origin story for Justice League and having them face one of the comic universes most strongest villains to start out with let's me know these authors aren't messing around with getting down to business with this arc. I can't wait to dive into volume 2, which is right next to me as I type this. See you guys on its review. Until then, enjoy volume 1.

DC could have freshened up the DC universe without messing with continuity so much, in my humble opinion. That being said I wanted not to like this... but I couldn't. Jim Lee's art was sensational(like always!)! Also Geoff Johns did a good job weaving in 7 heroes joining together nicely, if a bit rushed, but it is understandable with how much he had to fit it. The banter between the heroes was spot on, except for Batman! Johns view of Batman is more of a highly intelligent, wise, leader as apposed to the more sullen roguish Dark knight. He portrayed him the same way when Batman was in some of Johns "The Flash" about 5 years back. I guess everyone has different takes on different characters. Also I was surprised at the lack of focus Johns put on the villain of the story, which was Darkseid. Johns has a reputation of putting you in the mind of his villains, which can add so much to the story! I won't hold that against him in this collection since he had a lot to do (re)introducing 7 heroes. If DC was going to hit the reset button on us with the Justice league, they were very wise to have Johns/Lee/Williams do it! I would give the story a 4 and the art a 5. Since there isn't a 4.5 I can choose I'll round this up to a 5!

Whether one entered the new DC universe through the original magazines or is just coming through the door, so to speak, with the collections, Justice League is the starting point for either journey. Expectations for the book were high - not only was it our first taste of the new status quo of the rebooted DC Universe, it also was written by fan favorite (and DC Creative Director) Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee, arguably the world's most popular living comic book artist. Now that the first six issues are here in this beautiful hardcover, the question is - how is it? Judging it on pure storytelling, Justice League compares to the first Transformers film - a fun ride with some great set pieces, well executed and great to look at, but shallow enough that the characters don't really leave much of an impression. The basic plot involves Batman and Green Lantern pursuing a Parademon - minions of legendary supervillian Darkseid - while bickering with each other in a manner that is supposed to be funny but mostly falls flat (I think the effect was supposed to recall the kind of "bromance" bickering as seen between Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J in NCIS: LA or Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan in Hawaii 5-0. It doesn't quite work). Eventually the pair encounters Superman and - after that - the other Justice League heroes, and the "banter" and bickering continues. *spoilers ahead* The biggest problem with the story itself is that it's just really a series of battles with more and more Parademons, until the team is assembled and Darkseid finally shows up and there's yet again another big fight to defeat the big bad. None of the characters really are given a "moment" to shine, and even though Darkseid is supposed to be threatening the very fate of the world, there is never any sense of dread or worry about the outcome. Darkseid himself is well-drawn in a great redesign by Jim Lee, but all he really does is shoot his Omega Beams at the heroes before he is dispatched in an act of bravery by one of the most unlikely team members (an act, incidently, that is telegraphed early in the story). Even Cyborg, who has the most opportunity for some genuine character moments, is given an origin story that is pure cliched comic book in both concept and execution, and he never is given much personality than "I hate my dad!" and "Whoa, I can't control my powers, until I can to save the day but still don't belong with you guys!" The classic characters fare little better; indeed, Johns - strangely - seems to be relying on previous knowledge of them while only giving them the most basic of personalities (Batman the serious leader, Green Lantern the hothead jokster, Flash the studious policemen-cum-superhero). Superman and Wonder Woman end up with less personality than the robot Transformers in the Michael Bay movies. *end spoilers* Jim Lee's art is well-suited to the scope that the story attempts, and - as usual - his figure work is overall excellent. I was surprised by how much I liked the redesigns - even Batman and Superman, whose armored "upgraded" looks made me skeptical - and even Darkseid looks suitably fierce in a clever design that incorporates the omega symbol into his armor. The one point of complaint, which surprises me, is Wonder Woman - I prefer her with the pants that she sports in her new solo book, and Lee draws her breasts as sticking strangely further out of her armor than I would imagine is practical (this sticks out to me because DC has been careful in recent years to try and draw Diana's bust a bit less salaciously). On the flipside, Lee's backgrounds are disappointing - if the writing didn't tell us we were visiting Metropolis or Gotham City, we'd have no idea. It obviously wouldn't be until Batman and Superman's individual books that fans would get a good look at the architecture and landmarks of these famous fictional cities. Also, his military equipment looks a bit more sci fi than present day, which is strange because this story is set 5 years before most of the current New 52 books. I don't want anyone to think that this is not a worthwhile read; indeed, it is an important read, as it does give us our first glimpses of the New 52 heroes in action and shows us how they came together to form the team that is the backbone of the DC Universe. Also, while Johns story does lack depth, those looking for a good, fun mindless action read will find much to like here. Johns and Lee gives us a couple good set pieces - especially when Aquaman first arrives and when Batman and Green Lantern first encounter Superman. I just am coming into this story having just watched Joss Whedon's excellent Avengers film; in the space of two hours and twenty minutes Joss managed to give us an alien invasion story not unlike the scope of the one presented here that serves as the backdrop of Earth's mighiest heroes coming together for the first time, despite their differences, to fight a huge threat. Yet, despite having to follow a diverse number of characters of diverse origins, Joss manages to give them all a "moment" and presents an alien threat that feels much deadlier than the one Johns presents here. Actually, I present Joss' wonderful run on Marvel's Astonishing X-Men as a prime example how to reintroduce a cast of classic comic book characters to an audience that loves them and has followed them a long time, yet make it accessable for even the least informed first time readers. I'd give this story a solid B-; if you're looking for a good, shallow action read it's a solid B. But, adjust your expectations accordingly - this is definitely not on the level of Grant Morrison's memorable JLA run or even Brad Meltzer's mid-2000s reintroduction, both of which features much better character work. Reservedly recommended.