| Justice League #13 |
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| Posted by Kris Bather |
10:28 AM Wednesday, 03 October 2007 |
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 Dwayne McDuffie must love the Justice League more than I do. As a writer for the animated awesomeness that was Justice League Unlimited to his new arc on the print version, his love affair with these timeless characters shines through. Following from novelist Brad Meltzer's arc from this volume's first twelve issues was always going to be a tough ask of any writer. But whereas Meltzer focused on the heroes and re-instated previous members like Vixen and Red Tornado, McDuffie does the opposite. This arc will be all about the bad guys as the new Injustice League finally start working together and by the end of this ish, appear to be successful in their endeavours.What was great about the JLU cartoon is what's great about this issue. The writers get the characters. Batman has always been the easiest to portray faithfully, but some writers can go out of their way to make him seem too cool, too good and almost too heroic. Here we have a great introduction as Batman struggles out of a straight jacket with painful focus. It's a great way to start a story and shows how the Dark Knight is able to stand side by side with super powered beings and not feel out of place. He never says die. He manages to free himself, sees Wonder Woman and gives us another spot on insight, calling the original warrior princess, "the best melee fighter in the world." However, just when you think he's about to rescue the JLA yet again, he is foiled by Lex Luthor in his hulking war suit, flanked by three of his main comrades in the animated version, the Joker, a scary looking Gorilla Grodd, Cheetah and Dr. Light. Again, like the toon, the relationships between the various Leaguers are on display, such as Green Arrow and Black Canary and the friendship between Green Lantern John Stewart and Hawkgirl. With so many characters to choose from it's no wonder the ranks of the Justice League is in constant flux, but here McDuffie chooses wisely with both heroic and evil players. It's the interaction that makes all the difference, such as when Stewart jokes about Black Lightning's new bald look, or when Superman acts as the father figure of the DCU by encouraging Vixen to be honest with her team-mates. It's also great to see Green Lantern huntress Fatality back, along with Poison Ivy, away from the Bat books. She shows a rather resourceful, and painful, way of using her plant based powers by inflicting damage on John Stewart in a creative manner. A cameo by Superman villain Parasite was also a nice surprise. Two covers are available for this new story arc, both showcasing the new Injustice League. Joe Benitez's art reminds me somewhat of Ian Churchill's (Supergirl) but more clearly refined. The layouts are great and fight scenes well paced, though I'm inclined to think that Luthor's new war suit is just too cumbersome. No doubt, as this arc continues, someone in the Injustice League will make a daring grab for power, but it will be a joy finding out how it happens. As actors always say, "the bad guys get all the best lines," and I'm betting that will continue to be the case here. Comments (0) |
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