DCnU Review: Justice League #1

Hi, this is Justice League #1, the first issue of the DC's New 52.

    At first glance it may look like the new book starring the Justice League. After all, that's what the title certainly implies. But guess what, it's not. No, this book certainly stars some of the League's core members, but it is far from being a book about the team at this point. Rather, Justice League #1 is this: an introduction to the DC Universe.

     If you are a long time comic book reader, you might have felt a nagging feeling of familiarity with Justice League #1. In spirit the first issue of the brand new series bears a closer resemblance to DC's classic Brave and the Bold series than any of the past Justice League relaunches. A re-imagining of the Justice League's origin, the majority of the issue revolves around just two of the future roster (unsurprisingly Batman and Green Lantern). While a couple of other heroes eventually show up, neither are given much page-time. Superman and Vic Stone both make appearances but the former is only on one page while the latter is still in his pre-Cyborg form. The result is that Justice League #1 feels more like a Batman/Green Lantern team-up than anything else.

     If issue one is any indication, the series will act as a mixture of origin and crash-course of who's-who in the DCU. The team's formation will be explored with the gradual addition of characters. Each character will be given time to shine and a moment to exhibit their characterization beats. From a comic book geek's perspective, this is a funny choice. The last decade and a half has seen at least two revamps to the Justice League's origin story and, while we expected relaunch-inspired tweaks, few of us guessed how much emphasis would be placed on the new origins.

     This leads to a very important distinction: Justice League #1 is not for us. Comic book junkies were going to buy it anyways. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee were enough to spark the interest of anyone already comfortable within the realm of comic books. No, Justice League #1 and its plotting, art, dialogue, characters, and characterizations was designed specifically for the much coveted new reader audience. So, when the story begins with Batman (DC's most popular character) and adds Green Lantern (DC's hottest character, failed summer blockbuster aside), it is obvious what they are doing. They are taking the characters that the general public is most familiar with and using them to open the door for new readers. The months that follow will surely see superheroes added in ways that act like introductions to the individual characters for the uninitiated reader.

     While this may seem remedial to long-time collectors, it is an absolutely essential part of DC's plan. The fact that Justice League is the first (and only) book being released in the first week of the relaunch should tell you that it will be the engine that powers the DCnU. If that's the case, then the book needs to be at its most new reader friendly. Perhaps later story-arcs will take a more traditional tone but, if the first issue is any indication, Justice League #1 looks like it will read more like an introduction than anything else.

     Even the apparent villain of the first story-arc will be something of an introduction for new readers. Johns is not messing around with lesser baddies. While other Justice League origins have not usually included any of DC's “big bads”, this new retelling certainly goes for the gusto with one of the company's biggest. As non-traditional comic book fans read Justice League they will be shown who one of the real evil forces in the DCU is.

     Overall, it was a somewhat disappointing first issue. I'm never a fan of re-telling origins, not immediately at least. Yet, on an academic level, I understand why they are doing what they are doing. New readers are the goal and this book is DC 101. That's fine. Hopefully, once the newbies are hooked and all the pieces are in place, old and new readers alike can get the stories Johns is capable of. For now, though, we will just have to wait and see how things develop.