For my review this week I am taking a look at the Justice League of America 12 issue series Justice. A big thank you to David for providing the reading material for this review.
The Justice League is the ultimate DC team book containing some of arguably the best super heroes in comics comprising, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Aquaman and The Flash to name a few. Justice was not my first visit to the Justice League. A few years ago I picked up a collection of the original Justice League comics. Although it was interesting to read the original issues like so many things from the past they have not aged well (for example, there is a kid constantly clicking his fingers). Thankfully Justice is from 2005 so it is far more modern.
Justice is written by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger. The story in Justice is fairly complicated and hard to explain in a paragraph but the best way to explain what a reader is in for is by looking at the splash pages at the end of the book which tells you that this book is going to be a super hero vs super villain showdown of epic proportions, which is an exciting proposition.
I did enjoy reading Justice but I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had more knowledge of the DC Universe. Although I did recognise many of the heroes and villains, there were many characters I was not aware of. I believe I will be able to appreciate Justice more after doing more Justice League reading. This is by no means a slight on the writers.
On the other side of the equation the artwork in Justice is stunning. Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite have done an exceptional job in drawing this book. In my year or so of reading comics on a regular basis I have noticed that I pay more attention to story then art but Justice is one title where from the first page the art had the majority of my attention. Words cannot do justice (terrible pun I know) to the artwork. There were some emotional moments throughout the book and the facial expressions captured the emotion beautifully. Although it is a different style, the artwork is on par to Finding Gossamyr (reviewed in Free Comic Book Day reviews).
I give Justice 3 Lukes. In time after doing more reading I believe the rating would go up. If you are completely new to the DC Universe I do not think this is the best place to start but if you are well versed in all things DC give it a go.
I would love to hear your feedback about Justice and suggestions on other Justice League of America stories I should read. Please comment below or you can contact me via Twitter @bennykane1983
Quick Fire
If you are not reading East of West written by Jonathan Hickman published by Image Comics you should be.
For my next review I will be taking my first step into digital comics by looking at Collateral – Dear John by Matt Nicholls and Lee Taylor.
Benny
