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Justice League #20 - Prologue to Trinity War, Chapter Two: Secrets; Shazam! Chapter 12

4

After seeing the new members join the team and the theft of the Kryptonite Ring, things are only going to get messier for the Justice League. Plus, find out who the traitor is!

The Good

I've mentioned it before, we are seeing the next chapter of JUSTICE LEAGUE. Now that the team is established and we have an idea where they stand with each other and the world in general, they've decided to open their ranks. This comes at the best and worst time. With other problems to deal with, we've seen Batman's secret Batcave in the Batcave get infiltrated which lead to someone stealing the Kryptonite Ring and giving it to Despero.

The attack on the Watchtower allows us to see the new recruits in action. Can they act as a team? Can they survive against Despero? The issue also delivers more on the team's past, including the temporary membership of another certain character along with more on who the traitor is, or at least one of the traitors.

The action gets pretty crazy and is spread over different locations. We're definitely moving towards a different direction as you get the feeling some dark times are coming up for the team.

We are also nearing the end of Billy Batson and Black Adam's story in the back up by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. You might think you know the whole story on them but you'll find some interesting developments.

We also find out Big Belly Burgers still exists in the New 52.

The Bad

Even though the action is heating up, there's a couple minor points that are questionable. Besides the motive behind Despero's attack (more so in who helped him), it's a little unclear why no one was at the Watchtower to meet the new recruits for their 'induction ceremony.' Batman might be busy with Cyborg in talking to Superman and Wonder Woman but you would think they wouldn't want the new recruits up there alone this early in their membership. And where was Aquaman during most of this time?

The art gets a little inconsistent at times. Zander Cannon does the layouts but we also have Gene Ha, Andres Guinaldo and Joe Prado doing the pencils. That's what adds to the feeling.

There's no way Element Woman's $54.82 order at Big Belly Burger (including nine shakes) would fit in two bags.

The Verdict

Geoff Johns is evolving the JUSTICE LEAGUE comic. We're seeing new members, secrets, attacks and developments among the members. While there was something about seeing the core seven members keep a tight nit group, we now have more opportunities that can be fleshed out. The main problem is there were moments the art felt inconsistent. We had a few different pencilers so that adds to the art being a little hectic. We're approaching the end of the Billy Batson/Shazam! story which is great but also sad (that it's coming to an end). You will want to see the revelations that come out of this issue. You can feel Johns has big plans for the title and they are just beginning.

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nrgb2814

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Edited By nrgb2814

I'm sorry, but I hate Gene Ha's art... Loved the story, though!

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JohnnyGat

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I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

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manwithoutshame

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Why did Batman have a "vulnerability box" for himself? He's not immortal, I'm sure Superman could take care of him if he had to.

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UltimateSMfan

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@manwithoutshame: maybe its something to take him down without necessarily killing him,otherwise Supes could do that no problem,but thats not really what he does.

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Hawkguy

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J'onn is awesome when he doesn't have to hold back. I really wish he had an ongoing, the back-ups in JLA featuring him have been fantastic, he really deserves it

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johnqestion

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This is definitely hitting its stride. Lots of great mysteries being set up here. I'm thinking though Superman being Wonder Woman's protocol is really interesting given they are a couple but seems to me being who they are...that should not stop them from dating (come on Bruce, don't be a douche) and evn doing their duty. I'd expect them, Diana especially to say bring it. She would understand I think and back in old canon, she did not hesitate to go after a mind controlled Supes who she cared for a lot. The JLA , except J'onn, is pissing me off. I hope the League kicks their ass. I hope J'onn is the binding tie.

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JV

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Edited By JV

@outlawrenegade: It is a business first and foremost. I would hope that DC would create and promote books based upon demographic analysis. I do not find Cyborg that interesting personally, I do find MMH interesting, but not interesting enough to read anything he is in. I would not expect DC to cater to anything but the $$$

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The Human Stain

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People are still complaining about the ratings here? Comicvine reviews like five or so issues from a publisher out of what, 30? I've been gone from the Vine for a while and was hoping that whining would stop.

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detective38

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Edited By detective38

@illo_29: Hardcore anti-psychotic medication, maybe it won't kill him but it might make him sane ha jk

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bigboi100000

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he new "Atom" is the mole for the JLA?

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SmashBrawler

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@akbogert: I liked her in Flashpoint and was looking forward to seeing her in Justice League, but then I saw where Johns was going with this story and... yeah. I'm personally waiting until this whole Trinity War thingamabob is over to start caring about any of these characters since we don't know if who'll make it out of it alive.

Firestorm's a cool character but he tends to get crappy writers and overall crappy treatment. His latest series was poo-poo.

And Aquaman would so eat that fish sandwich.

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akbogert

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SmashBrawler

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Vaeternus

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MMH is a badass...I don't think there's nobody's mind he can't read or do harm to in the new 52 lol.

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the_stegman

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the_stegman  Moderator

This was one of the best Justice League issues in a while, so much to talk about.

1. How adorable is Element Woman? Her going to the fast food place was so funny. I hope she stays around, she can be the much needed comic relief.

2. Martian Manhunter is a badass. I love how he just shows up whenever someone is talking or thinking about him. Also him just disappearing after fighting Despero without even trying to help Atom come up with a cover story as to how she beat him was such a d*ck move lol.

3. I'm interested as to what's in Batman's fail safe box, though it's probably something like a picture of his parents, so if he ever goes rogue he can remember who he is.

4. I believe Amanda Waller is now like the Nick Fury of the DC Universe, she has her hands in EVERYTHING, seriously.

Overall great issue, though once again, Firestorm was fairly useless.

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Mucklefluga

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@illo_29 said:

Fun issue, anyone have any ideas on what is in Batman's little box?

Joe Chill's gun? An owl? :P

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Nazab

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Edited By Nazab

The first thing that comes to my mind after reading this issue...

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SPM1M

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Edited By SPM1M

wat bugs me is the inconsistentcies that already plagues the new 52 the abysmal amount of kryptonite on the ring drops superman so bad he has to go recharge to the sun do writers even communicate on these type of things anyways great issue MMH is over the top

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tomlikesfries

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The Shazam backup story was incredible! Such a shame it'll be ending in the next issue..

DC really needs to give Billy his own ongoing. Written by Johns preferably.

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KnightRise

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Edited By KnightRise

I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

Really? I haven't seen that yet. I guessed Captain Atom would be the one to counter out Firestorm.

@spm1m said:

wat bugs me is the inconsistentcies that already plagues the new 52 the abysmal amount of kryptonite on the ring drops superman so bad he has to go recharge to the sun do writers even communicate on these type of things anyways great issue MMH is over the top

In my head its a super concentrated compound

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JohnnyGat

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@johnnygat said:

I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

Really? I haven't seen that yet. I guessed Captain Atom would be the one to counter out Firestorm.

Atom is the counter for Element Woman according to the end of the issue.

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KnightRise

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@knightrise said:

@johnnygat said:

I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

Really? I haven't seen that yet. I guessed Captain Atom would be the one to counter out Firestorm.

Atom is the counter for Element Woman according to the end of the issue.

Captian Atom, not the new female Atom. Also, do you have an image of the preview showing Dr Light?

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ptigrusmagus

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Edited By ptigrusmagus

Where do we read prologue to trinity war chapter 1???

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Zeeguy91

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@mucklefluga: why would he have Joe Chill's gun in the box. It's not like 10-year-old Bruce tackled him to the ground after he shot his parents.

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Voltes

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@illo_29: yeah Geoff Johns fanboy exactly what I thought......you cry at his last issue fanboy. Yeah thought so.

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ILLO_29

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Edited By ILLO_29

@g_man I was listening to the podcast on my way to my local comic books store (imagine that), when I had an epiphany. I think I know who broke into the bat cave's bat cave and it's pretty obvious when you think about it.

Vibe broke into the bat cave. Vibe appears blurry when on camera because he's always a little out of phase. In JL #19 Cyborg reveals that whoever broke into the cave appeared out of focus on the security camera. I think the suit is used to help him get past other defenses but the camera scrambling is all vibe.

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tec79

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@illo_29: Good theory, I was thinking the Operative from Aquaman.

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Mucklefluga

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@zeeguy91 said:

@mucklefluga: why would he have Joe Chill's gun in the box. It's not like 10-year-old Bruce tackled him to the ground after he shot his parents.

The gun would be there to bring back the memories of the horrific day.

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Signs

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Edited By Signs

I'll just be the first to say it , I think captain atom will be the one to join the jla and take on firestorm both books are going so well and with mmh gl an cm the jla are now a power player .

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Zeeguy91

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@inkink said:

DC is in such a weird place with me I mean the new 52 has not been my ideal situation for most of the characters I love. So that has been tricky balancing the stories I still enjoy with the stuff I hate.

Marvel has done a good job IMO. I will not read Avengers Arena because I think its stupid I mean everything about that book screams extreme image days to me so I will pass. Some of there lesser books are great Captain Marvel,Hawkeye,Journey.

Okay, and.....why are you posting this here? This thread is to discuss Justice League #20, not complain about the New 52.

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Zeeguy91

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@mucklefluga: That doesn't work out for a few reasons:

  1. Again, how would Bruce have the gun? I don't think he tracks down Chill after 20 years.

  2. Superman doesn't NEED a gun to kill Bruce if need be
  3. Having it be the gun makes Bruce seem one dimensional and psychologically immature. Yeah, its hard to get over a tragedy like that, but to have that be the one and only "key" to taking out Batman is just stupid.
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Mucklefluga

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@zeeguy91 said:

@mucklefluga: That doesn't work out for a few reasons:

  1. Again, how would Bruce have the gun? I don't think he tracks down Chill after 20 years.

  2. Superman doesn't NEED a gun to kill Bruce if need be
  3. Having it be the gun makes Bruce seem one dimensional and psychologically immature. Yeah, its hard to get over a tragedy like that, but to have that be the one and only "key" to taking out Batman is just stupid.

1) He went after Chill for revenge.

2) It's not there to kill him it's there to mentally break him down.

3) What do you think is in there?

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the_stegman

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the_stegman  Moderator

@zeeguy91 said:

@mucklefluga: That doesn't work out for a few reasons:

  1. Again, how would Bruce have the gun? I don't think he tracks down Chill after 20 years.

  2. Superman doesn't NEED a gun to kill Bruce if need be
  3. Having it be the gun makes Bruce seem one dimensional and psychologically immature. Yeah, its hard to get over a tragedy like that, but to have that be the one and only "key" to taking out Batman is just stupid.

1) He went after Chill for revenge.

2) It's not there to kill him it's there to mentally break him down.

3) What do you think is in there?

I think some people are taking this "Stop Batman Box" too literally. Batman himself doesn't want to kill the League, he just has to stop them in case they go rogue, and he hopes they do the same to him. Batman knows how smart he is, and if he goes rogue, he knows he will be able to take the League down if he put his mind to it. The best way to stop Batman without killing him is to show him the error of his ways and get him to remember who he is and why he does the things he does.

Having said that, I believe that what's in his box is the note that Thomas Wayne gave to Barry Allen during Flashpoint. If Bruce ever goes evil, or is mind controlled, that is the perfect thing to give him a wake up call.

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Mr_Winchester

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@hawkguy said:

J'onn is awesome when he doesn't have to hold back. I really wish he had an ongoing, the back-ups in JLA featuring him have been fantastic, he really deserves it

Agreed.

@spm1m said:

wat bugs me is the inconsistentcies that already plagues the new 52 the abysmal amount of kryptonite on the ring drops superman so bad he has to go recharge to the sun do writers even communicate on these type of things anyways great issue MMH is over the top

Well in this reboot we have seen an amped up Superman's strength (benching the earths weight for 3 days) maybe they've also increased his sensitivity to kryptonite in this reboot as well. That recharge time did seem pretty long tho.

And I am absolutely loving the direction they're taking with MMH. My favorite part in the comic was when he speaks to Despero and says something like "You mistake me for the like of Green Lantern and Superman. You mistake me for someone sentimental" That line alone sets the tone for the type of MMH we are dealing with, a MMH who is going to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

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SPM1M

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@mr_winchester: i would make since for the reboot but the reason i say its vastly inconsistent is due to grant morrisons run on AC. superman faced the anti superman army who all had kryptonite enhanced powers and not only was kal weaker then than in JL but he fought vastly powerful opponents and he still came out on top. he also faced kryptonite man not to mention he also had kryptonite shards explode inside his brain but nnnooooo the silly ring is wat is shown to do the worst and this is all after the reboot..... oh well

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InkInk

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@zeeguy91 said:

@inkink said:

DC is in such a weird place with me I mean the new 52 has not been my ideal situation for most of the characters I love. So that has been tricky balancing the stories I still enjoy with the stuff I hate.

Marvel has done a good job IMO. I will not read Avengers Arena because I think its stupid I mean everything about that book screams extreme image days to me so I will pass. Some of there lesser books are great Captain Marvel,Hawkeye,Journey.

Okay, and.....why are you posting this here? This thread is to discuss Justice League #20, not complain about the New 52.

Hmmm well Justice League is in the new 52. Actually re reading my post I simply posted it in the wrong thread the dangers of having multiple windows and trying to reply on my phone.

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FiveLetters

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For a second there I thought they'd really killed off MMH again...thank god I was wrong, that fight was badass.

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JohnnyGat

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@johnnygat said:

@knightrise said:

@johnnygat said:

I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

Really? I haven't seen that yet. I guessed Captain Atom would be the one to counter out Firestorm.

Atom is the counter for Element Woman according to the end of the issue.

Captian Atom, not the new female Atom. Also, do you have an image of the preview showing Dr Light?

It's not really a preview but a cover actually (just google jl trinity war, it's the one where the JL, JLA and JL Dark are fighting each other, Dr. Light is fighting Madam Xanadu) but the fact that he is featured in that cover in a somewhat noticeable enough exposure while not stealing any of the limelight leads me to assume combined with the lack of a counter to Firestorm that he will be the counter to Firestorm. It would explain why he's on the cover that seems dedicated to the battle between Justice Leagues and the Trinity of Sin..

Also do we still need to keep up this spoiler text block I mean it's been quite a while since the issue came out.

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JohnnyGat

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@knightrise said:

@johnnygat said:

@knightrise said:

@johnnygat said:

I assume regarding the preview covers showing Dr Light in the Trinity War he'll be signed on to the JLA to be Firestorms counter?

Really? I haven't seen that yet. I guessed Captain Atom would be the one to counter out Firestorm.

Atom is the counter for Element Woman according to the end of the issue.

Captian Atom, not the new female Atom. Also, do you have an image of the preview showing Dr Light?

It's not really a preview but a cover actually (just google jl trinity war, it's the one where the JL, JLA and JL Dark are fighting each other, Dr. Light is fighting Madam Xanadu) but the fact that he is featured in that cover in a somewhat noticeable enough exposure while not stealing any of the limelight leads me to assume combined with the lack of a counter to Firestorm that he will be the counter to Firestorm. It would explain why he's on the cover that seems dedicated to the battle between Justice Leagues and the Trinity of Sin..

Also do we still need to keep up this spoiler text block I mean it's been quite a while since the issue came out.

JLA 4 confirms my suspicions of who's working with the JLA.

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tim_mik

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Edited By tim_mik

I really liked this issue, but the art changing so much was really annoying.

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