Way to capitalize on Generation Lost DC
The new Justice League International opens up with an issue that is solid on its own but makes a grave mistake as far as continuity is concerned that really hurts the book, but does not quite ruin it either. At the end of the day, it is a solid intro to the JLI and probably a slightly better first issue then Justice League was.
A good first part of the issue involves an introduction of all the members, as the UN (or something similar) decides which of a number of superheroes they are shown makes sense for the team, and who do not. Now, the cover kind of spoils whose going to be on the team right off the bat, but I it is a solid means of getting the whole team together quickly. There is also an amusing bit where they reject Plastic Man almost immediately. There is one problem though, and its that Green Arrow’s design is confusing. He looks a lot like Connor Hawke, but I don’t think Connor has a role in the DCnU yet, so that means that its Ollie, in which case DC has dropped the ball on his redesign. Its simply too confusing.
Booster Gold is indeed the leader here, and its worth mentioning something that I wouldn’t have known otherwise had a fellow comic fan not told me: the thing with Booster Gold is that the series he had for a time is the only portrayal of the character you will ever get that is not one of a jackass from the future. Now, its too early to cast judgment here, but this portrayal of Booster does seem to be a little more of the same. At the same time though, it is nice to see that Booster does have some credibility, as even Batman is standing up for the guy. As for the costume, I say this: Not enough Gold. Come on, when you’re called Booster Gold, you can’t have over three quarters of your costume be blue. Ah well.
The rest of the team looks pretty good. Rocket Red has grown on me already, and I already like Fire and Ice. I’ll skip the easy hot jokes here. The art here is pretty solid, but not perfect. For example, Mr. Andre looks like he has pupil-less eyes in the first panel. The coloring is quite good though, and for every what I call “lazy drawing” there’s several that impress, including the cliffhanger page at the end (even though the character that appears looks way too much like the Iron Giant for my tastes)
But, as solid a first-issue as this, and definitely more fast-paced then its non-international counterpart, it is not without a few problems. For one, this really seems to be this DCU’s first incarnation of the JLI. That really hurts the book, because if this is the first JLI, that means no Maxwell Lord, who is probably the best villain the JLI ever had, and it also means that the excellent Justice League: Generation Lost is now rendered meaningless. And that in of itself is really, really disappointing.
Despite that serious error in judgment on DC’s part though, the new JLI looks to be off to a good start with its first issue. Though it is frustrating to see what is happening with the JLI’s revised history here, it is still a solid interpretation. Here’s hoping Batman doesn’t end up overshadowing Booster Gold though.
