Justice League #11

When reading Geoff Johns Justice League set 5 years after their formation I can’t help but feel that the “5 years later” / present day setting of the series is a mishap seeing how the characters interact with one and other and how much they know about one and other. But before I get to that let’s catch up on what’s been going on with earths greatest heroes in Justice League #11.

Continuing from where we left off the Justice League finds themselves incapacitated on their watchtower after graves attack. After watching his parents get shot again (again, again, again and again… again) Batman pulls himself together first moving to Superman to help him out as Clark is forced to relive Pa Kents’ Heart attack. As the rest of the team comes back to their senses (all of them having had to relive moments of great misery in their lives) Cyborg accesses the watchtower teleport log to find out that Graves teleported himself to the house of Tracy Trevors’, Steve’s sister. Down in the house of Tracy Trevors Graves talks civilly to a terrified Tracy, giving us more information about the Ashura and the nature of his powers and his feelings for his families. The conversation is abruptly ended as the League Boom Tubes their way into the home of Tracy Trevors only to find a distraught Tracy and no sing of Graves.

If I had to compare the sensation of reading this issue (or this storyline) it would be that this issue feels like a big action blockbuster movie. We’ve got a lot of action, some nice visuals and enough story to move the plot forward. Jim Lee’s art gets to flourish here with a beautifully kick-ass 2 page spread that I’m sure will be posted and reposted time and time again (note, it’s not the one with green lantern) and it’s great to see how complex and detailed he can get with it, especially seeing as how this is the flagship series of the DCU. Now Geoffs writing here is good the plot moves along quite well and for a moment I almost felt sympathetic to graves (the couch scene). Now if there is one thing that I have a problem with it’s pretty much the idea that this league story is meant to be set in the present day and not, say, 1 year after their battle with Darkseid. The team cohesion doesn’t seem as tight as it probably should be after 5 years with all the members not knowing much about each other (and their secret identities, though I think that at this moment only 2 of the league members don’t know who batman is under that mask) especially considering their lack of trust for letting other heroes into the league (bit hypocritical I think), not to mention how the team defused Diana. This incarnation of the league feels more like a league that should exist 1 year after the first storyline, still not fully trusting one and other with each other’s secrets yet slowly getting there.

As for the SHAZAM second feature I’m slowly starting to get more invested and interested in it with each instalment. With the last instalment ending with the reintroduction of Black Adam I couldn’t wait to read this instalment. The reimagining of Billy Batson from the super-boyscout of the previous DCU to the little punk with a heart of gold has redeemed him more to me in the past 3 chapters with the threats being staked up again. I cannot wait to read the 6 chapter in this Marvellous second feature.

All in all I give Justice League #11 a 4/5. When reading it it’s a fun ride that you won’t regret, yet it’s only after you finish reading and start thinking over it that you start to realize any flaws. So once again, Justice League #11

4/5.