Justice League of America # 38 - Out of the Ashes

I've been secretly following this series since its inception and one thing it can be proud of is its wonderful use of unused superheroine, Vixen. Mari Jiwe McCabe has developed into such a great character in Justice League of America and it seemed was fleshing out to become a staunch leader of the team. That is, until now. Despite her most recent efforts to rebuild the faltering team, and a special promise to Superman to keep the light on in their satellite HQ, Vixen appears here ready to throw in the towel after an unseen and unpublished defeat at the hands of Prometheus. It's almost understandable when looking at the sad state of the few remaining members, but despite injuries, members like Vixen, Dr. Light, and Red Tornado are three of the most powerful heroes of the League and it was a shameful scene when a surprise attack by mega powerful Despero left them so disillusioned and unorganized. Writer, James Robinson, seems to be breaking Vixen and the whole team down to revitalize all from the ground up, and while it's been heavily publicized that a new lineup is coming, I hope Mari doesn't get left in the cold for loosing hope in this their darkest hour. 
 
I enjoyed Mark Bagley and Rob Hunter's work with the visuals, they even made Blue Jay look cool, but it still seems Bagley's best work was done years ago on books like, The New Warriors, Thunderbolts, and Ultimate Spider-Man. I'll withhold a final opinion until I see a few more issues of the League under Bagely's belt, but this is by no means his worst stuff. Um, but could someone remind the artist that Dr. Light is Asian?
 
I am perfectly happy with the current lineup of unused characters with lots of untapped potential, but it seems these Leaguers will have to wait even longer than expected before they get the full attention that they deserve.Though with surprise appearances of the before mentioned, Blue Jay, and even obscure heroine, Gypsy, I trust Robinson to send off these heroes with the respect that belongs to them, and hopefully they'll be back to bask in the limelight sooner than later again. 
 
~ Hype

as many know, JLA is going through some changes from the story to the actual people creating it. 
 
So this issue was a bit of a test, and to be honest, it wasn't a bad issue for never having any of the main 3 in it 
(I'm talking about Wonder woman, superman and batman, regardless of what the cover shows) 
 
this whole issue is setting the place for a new story line, which has happened a few times over JLA 
They all wake up and realize that the league isn't going so great and try to rebuilt it. 
Now don't get me wrong, there are some great fight scenes in this book, and the art looks nice 
Just really read this treating it as if it were a first issue. 
 
Its doing well for what its setting up, just not the most entertaining comic on my list this week

 

Maybe Robinson is taking all the abuse he took in Cry for Freedom to heart because I can’t imagine why he recycled the 3 JLA members from the days when Martian Manhunter revamped the JLA and moved them to Detroit. With the big three (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) out of the house, its up to the reserves Zatanna and Gypsy to bail out the only active member standing Vixen from Despero.

Unfortunately for Cry for Justice haters, you need to read that limited series to understand what is going on in this issue. Why Despero attacked the League seems ambigious and not in any way well crafted. It’s more or less a random threat dropped in for what seems to be a filler issue for what is the Blackest Night cross-over.

While I do have faith in Robinson to finally get JLA back on track, I think he has to wait for Blackest Night to resolve itself before he has the handle to do what he wants with the characters.

Rating: Skip it.