Justice League: Cry for Justice # 1 - The Beginning; The Origin Of Congorilla

First off, I like miniseries. Unlike continued comic series, with miniseries you always feel there is going to be a definate conclusion at the end. So while this issue by itself may not have been fantastic, as an introduction to this miniseries i think it was superb. From what i can gather the series appears to be character driven, which i love! It reminds me very much of Identity Crisis where characters, their emotional journey and thought process all took center stage and this was something which i realy liked. I really think that this miniseries is taking the same direction and I look forward to seeing if it does.
Iv always been a fan of Green Lantern, Green Arrow, my first exposure to him being Identity Crisis, and their relationship and i think it was superbly captured in the opening pages. The dialougue between them really captured the intensity of their relationship but was not over burdened thanks to the witty exchanges and often comic dialougue between the two.
Its nice to see Ray Palmer back! Identity Crisis was again my first exposure to this character and this series seems to be carrying on the emotional intensity that was created in that arc. The dialougue between the two atoms was excellent again it really captured the essence of the relationship, the new Atom, in awe and the original Atom, inspried by the new.
Characters like Congorilla and Starman are completly new to me. I dont however find that this hinders the story or comic as a whole. From their introductions they seem as real and complex as the more mainstream heroes and i am very much looking forward to seeing how their journey unfold.
The illistration was incredable. I find Casciolis style to be very like that of Alex Ross except less user intensive and in my opinion, better. He creates innovations in the simple things like the representation of Green Lanterns bubble. In other words, its never looked so cool.
Something else i really liked was the little wrap up text by the Robinson at the end, Iv always been a fan of looking at the process of producing the comic and I felt this really added depth to the comic.
Highlights, Hal talking down Superman and the League, that was a riveting speech, the illistration,and Green Arrows "you and me, old times, new times, ALL the time." love that line.

Lowlights, the lack of plot, while i like the characters development i dont know if it was a waste not including some hint as to the story or plot and am afraid that other characters that are introduced along the way may suffer from no having the same tome taken to introduce them.
With all this said, for crying out loud, i think we need more comics like this! 4 stars. Essential reading.

James Robinson has always made unique choices. While others were scurrying about Earth-One, he made Earth-Two interesting. He picked a small, unused, overlooked corner of the DC Universe and created something amazing. He actually resolved a character's storyline, wrapped things up nice and neat and sent Jack Knight off into the sunset. His Tales of Times Past and Talking With David are my favorite issues of Starman. Along with his resolutions of every single Starman from the Golden Age to the 30th Century and well beyond. He managed to create a not just a Starman family - like say a Flash, Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman family - but very nearly a dynasty.  
 
It's unfortnate that some of his current work pales - blanches - in comparison. I've not read his Superman stuff. Superman and New Krypton just don't appeal to me. 
 
The only thing about this iteration of an angry, pro-active Justice League is Mikaal Tomas/Michael Thomas. This is as close as we may see him come to Starman. He said somewhere that he's been gone from The Opal too long now, and wouldn't be able to find his voice for Jack any more. Pity. I guess Jack and Sadie will just have to enjoy the sunshine. 
 
I think it's kind of an odd choice, another angry Justice League, though. Batman's righteous indignation rang so much more powerful than Hal's. It was more final too. Batman left the League and formed The Outsiders and was gone for a good long while. We all pretty much know that Hal and Ollie will be back even just from looking at the cover of Cry For Justice. The Outsiders; Justice League: Task Force; Extreme Justice League; Justice League Elite; JL; JLI; JLE; Justice League Antarctica. There was even a Justice League that Nash bested before coming back to The Opal one last time, I think. The one with Blue Devil and Firestorm. So, we have the "Hard-Travellin'-Heroes", a new "World's Finest", Ray Palmer, Congorilla, Freddie Freeman and Michael Thomas. All out for blood. This is their definition of "Justice". 
 
Mauro Cascioli's art is well worth the wait. Robinson's script is much different than I'm used to from The Opal. I would have preferred his Jack Knight/Starman/Opal voice here. Showing ain't telling. I'd rather see Hal realize that he needs to step out of Kal's, J'onn's, Bruce's and Diana's shadow. But then, I've never really seen him there. Maybe his ring is as powerful - or more poweful - than Kal, J'onn or Diana; but his personality was much more like Barry. A space-cop fighting street crime with the most powerful weapon in the universe. That's like Arthur Curry realizing that he commands two-thirds of the earth surface and deciding he's going to do something about it. This first issue is all about people we're familiar with doing things we just can't see them doing. Hal Jordan, Ray Palmer and Michael Thomas all doing their best Batman impersonation. Which is odd considering his disdain for the Dark Knight compared to Alan Scott in Starman. Only Congorilla seems interesting, or compelling, here. This seems like his story, but it's buried behind the colorful costumes. I'm more interesting in him seeing justice than anyone else.   
 
The highlight really is Robinson pulling back the curtain and giving a look into the process that made up his choices. And the two-page Len Wein origin of Congorilla.     

the premise of this team is idiotic. while hal and ollie are a-list heros with alt of expirience fighting evil. the rest of the team are relativley new to superheroing(supergirl,batwoman) or have very unknown or unrecognized careers congo bill for example. also James said Ray palmer dosen't have a personality this is untrue read JLA around 27 or 37. he's a good natured, good humored professor who I doubt would use techinquethat jean used to kill sue as a means of torture.