Justice League: Generation Lost

The
Most recent issue of Generation Lost. 
 
The Story :The team has been cornered by Checkmate.Red Rocket stalls by telling Taleb that Checkmate doesnt respect communist beliefs.Skeets is searching for Max but he can't find him.When they try to escape they attach a bomb to Rocket Red,he gets hurt and Fire gets pissed off and uses her powers so BB and Ice uses to there powers to escape.Than Skeets calls Captain Atom to help them escape.Taleb wants to pursue them but Alton Janus the White King tells him it would be pointless because Beetle Cap Atom and Fire can fight while fighting.Ice whines a tiny and says she wants to go home.Then we see Gavril and Beatriz talking.After Fire walks into a different room she gets confronted by Max Lord.

 

The Good :

When Gavril was talking in the beginning of this issue was simply hilarious for me and seeing Talib's reactions was also priceless.The art by Aaron Lopresti is simply amazing,he does characters very but his backgrounds aren't that outstanding but if you look at the backgrounds more than the actual story and characters than your reading it wrong.Also the scene between Beatriz and Gavril is very nice and i think Winick might be trying to have a relationship between the 2 and that is only my opinion.  
 

The Bad :

The pacing is a bit slowed down by having them escape for the majority of the issue but we had good character development.Also i know Max has made the world forgot about him but how did he escape Checkmate base and get to the JLI embassy ?I don't think he's an escape artist and im pretty sure he had to run into some Checkmate soldiers along the way.But this is a nit-pick. 
 

The Verdict :

If you ever were a fan of the old JLI series i think your already buying or you might be a Booster fan and you started buying this like me.But this series is a great Brightest Day tie-in and i am wondering what Max mission actually means.If your not buying this and you are a fan of any of these characters you should buy this series.

This has consistantly been my favorite book from DC, and this issue is no departure from the norm.  Judd Winick really nails these characters bi-week in and bi-week out.  With that said lets look at this issue a little closer. 
  
Synopsis:   

Good:  The writing on this book is just great, Winick takes these characters makes them shine.  Lopresti is easily the best of the artists on this book, and you can tell that without Giffen doing the breakdowns that he is getting a chance to spread his wings a little. 
 
Bad: Not much to really say here..............ummmm......more cowbell maybe 
 
In Conclusion: Great Book, Great Series, Go buy it................4.5/5

This wonderful comic continues, starting right in the depths of checkmate, albeit in disguise. What follows is, in my opinion, an intense, gripping escape scenario, with great pacing, that pulls you in to the end. There is plenty of character interaction here, with Rocket Red providing humor which lightens the tone slightly, but of course without detracting from dire peril the team is under. 
 

Good Points

 
Aaron Lopresti's art is perfect for this book, the characters are colorful and broad, and help set the tone that the vastly-improved Judd Winick has set with this book. I thought the character development element at the end of the book was very strong and believable, lets not forget these guys have no one else to turn to but themselves and that is portrayed well here. Finally, i loved the ending, my mind was wondering was one character was going to do next, then boom, that feeling of 'Got to have next issue' now kicked in.   

Bad Points

 
The book is scheduled to last 26 issues, and with that comes pace-setting. The pace here is fine, however the escape scenario took up almost all the book, so the recovery scenes felt a little too fast in the end, considering the emotion involved.  
 

Overall

 
I love this book, and certainly have no intention to quit reading it anytime soon, it has all the elements of Booster Gold which i love, and Maxwell Lord is a truly menacing antagonist. This is issue was one of the best so far, bring on #9!!!

Story: Our Justice Leaguers are cornered by Checkmate's soldiers. Skeet scans the building for any signs of Max but he isn't there. The black king gives them to the count of three to surrender and get on the floor but we know these guys so they make a hasty run for it. Checkmate's soldiers go after them and our heroes don't want to blow their cover by using their powers. Gavril uses his powers from his suit but is quickly shut down by the soldiers. Fire loses her temper and flames up. They are out in the open now and Captain Atom comes to break them out. When they get back to their hideout Tora's insecurities come out in full swing. She doesn't want to do this anymore and she wants to go home. Gavril is under some intesive care but he will be okay. Fire is talking to him and they get closer. Fire talks to Booster for a little and Fire is alone trying to get the comms back on. Maxwell Lord was hiding in their and says he wants to talk.
Writing: I thought this was a pretty good issue. There is definitely a lot of character development going on. I am loving the action and just seeing where this is going.
Characters: I really do like these characters. I thought they worked very well together in this issue. I am loving the connection between Gavril and Fire. Tora's issue has been pretty clear throughout this series and she finally is just saying it like it is. She doesn't want to do this. I really liked that. Finally Maxwell Lord has come face to face with one of our Justice League members.
Dialogue: Gavril's dialogue is so funny. I love references to Communism and stuff like that. His words feel so innocent and that he wants to be like all the others and wants to fit in. Tora's dialogue was pretty good to.
 
Art: Good and solid.
Cover: The covers have been awesome and I hope they continue to be awesome!
Penciling: It looks very good and I love it.
Coloring: The background coloring does blend in a lot but the character coloring is really good.
 
My favorite scene!
For me it was when Tora is telling everyone that she wants to go home and that what they are doing is hopeless. Seeing the anxiety on Tora is great because that is how I would feel if I were one of them. When she lashes out at Booster and Captain Atom says that Booster took one for the team, I thought that was really cool because his character has developed a lot.
 
Reasons to and not to pick up.
Reasons to pick up: The characters in this series are second tier DC characters and I love reading about them. I never really read anything with them but this series has opened my eyes to them. The story is great and the art is great too. The character development is awesome!
Reasons not to pick up: None!
Verdict: PICK IT UP!!!! 5 OUT OF 5!!!

The Good: Rocket Red. 
Rocket Red 
And Rocket Red. He's proven himself to be an excellent character. Not only is he the greatest source of comedic relief, he's proven his worth as a fighter, and even a powerful emotional force. He represents some of the best attributes of the entire rest of the team put together. The heavy heart hidden under a complete joke of Booster Gold, the unshakable devotion to his mother country of Captain Atom, the flame of battle and recklessness of Fire, the battle suit of Blue Beetle, and…. ok I can't think of something for Ice. 
Seriously though, Rocket Red really came out as a character. His devotion to the team, taking one for the team, and his heart-to-heart with Fire were all excellent scenes. 
Fire too, she warmed up completely to Rocket Red (Pun seriously not intended). And she's not having the bullshit continuing to pretend to be unimpressed slow coming around character development characters like her usually get, she's already impressed by him 100%. This series does an excellent job of shoving the threat of horrible cliches at you, and then blatantly, brilliantly avoids them. It's so excellently paced and written, I love this series so much. 
This issue especially, it had my favorite of the 3 artists rotating on this series, so bonus for me. 
The first page had a really nice scene where they show everyone out of costume, then points out that they're in costume. It makes no sense here but is really cool in context. 
The scene between Fire and Booster is also really touching. 
The end reveal is fucking awesome-tastic. 
 
The Bad: Ice. I mean, she was upset at the end and mad at Booster for thinking he'd be ok because he didn't take his costume off, but neither did she! Why is she throwing a hissy fit at Booster? 
 
In Conclusion: 5/5 
What more can I say to praise this series? It's such a great read every other week, and the rotating artist schedule rarely seems awkward, each artist compliments the others fairly well. Plus, I love long story arcs, and this is shaping up to be a doozy, but a well paced doozy that goes through several phases. At this point in the series, you should all be reading it by now, It's just great. 
 
On a side note, why the hell is Keith Griffin not writing for this series anymore? This is like, his golden baby egg of DC. And weirdly, even though he's gone, you can't feel his touch missing from the title. Judd keeps up the same sense of humor without losing the epic seriousness he brings to all his works. But still, I miss knowing he's working on it, because this is really his team.

First a bit of background. This series features characters from the long cancelled Justice League International team. Except it is only the second rate characters. No Batman, no Martian Manhunter, not even a Green Lantern. The other piece of back story you need to know is about Maxwell Lord. Max Lord financed the original Justice League in order to develop his master plan of world domination that led to the OMAC Project storyline.

Now after that piece of info I'm sure you would be thinking so what? Why would I want to read a series about characters i dont care about? Well you should read it because not only is it part of the Brightest Day crossover, but its pretty good!
DC comics have of late, been able to bring second and third rate characters to the forefront of the DC universe by using weekly or in this series case, bi-weekly comics. Coupled with usually great writing and art, I cant get enough of the characters who i know only a little about and havent been tied down by years of conitinuity.

As for this issue, The newly re-formed JLI are just starting to find the groove as a team again which is evidenced by them breaking into Checkmate headquaters trying to locate Max Lord. By now we know that the only people that remember Max are the members of this team and even they dont know why they do or what Max's plans are.
Although I have enjoyed the series so far, this particular issue does move a little slow with not much advancement in the story until the last page which works well as a cliffhanger.

The characters themselves are great, Captain Atom works well as the "superman" of the team, Booster Gold is thriving as a leader of a team making the hard decisions and the addition of a new member Rocket Red provides humor with his staunch communist views. I would like to see a bit more of Booster and Blue Beetles friendship but hopefully that will come in further issues.

So overall, a great series hidden amongst all the other Brightest Day comics.