Justice League: Trinity War (The New 52) Review

Justice League: Trinity War (The New 52)

All the things that the book isn't named
for.

Writers: Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes

Artists: Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Mikel Janin

Collects: Justice League #22-23, Justice League Dark #22-23, Justice League of America #6-7, Pandora #1-3, Constantine #5, Phantom Stranger #11 and Free Comic Book Day Special 2012.

Background Information:

Since the beginning of the New 52, DC has been teasing an event centring on the character of Pandora. She's appeared in the background of every New 52 first issue in 2012 (in classic Where's Wally/Waldo style) and was the focus of DC's FCBD offering. Since then, the Justice League-titled books have been building up to something. The Justice League formed, the Justice League of America formed because they don't trust the Justice League and the Justice League dark formed because John Constantine is a cruel, petty-minded man.

Review:

I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

Is he talking about the DCCU?

Being a trade-waiter, a paperback waiter in particular, I got this story a lot later than everyone else. I got to read some of the reviews going around about it. In short, the response wasn't good. When I hear reviews that say something is the best or the worst of something, I go in with certain expectations. In the case of Trinity War, I expected to have cancer immediately after reading. I was expecting my IQ to drop several thousand, I expected to suddenly be in favour of capital punishment for comic writers. Then I read the book, and none of that happened, I actually found myself pleasantly surprised.

I had the opposite experience with The Avengers movie.

But let's get to the story; A run-in between the Justice League and the Justice League of America result in Superman unwittingly killing Dr. Light. This causes disruption throughout all three Justice Leagues and they each go out to look for the real reason someone like Superman could ever kill someone.

Okay, so let's get the bad stuff out of the way, because no doubt it's there. The book commits the unforgivable sin of being an event whose only purpose is to introduce the next event. It also suffers from making it completely unclear why it's called Trinity War; at first you think it's because of the Trinity of Sin... but it's not. Then you think it's because of DC's Justice League trinity... but it's not. Then you think it's because of the focus on DC's trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman... but it's not. When the answer finally comes, it feels like a last-minute thought at best, a betrayal at worst. It does hurt the story, and it hurts the story badly.

That said, the story itself feels solid otherwise. Kudos to Johns and team for, for the most part, keeping off making this DC's answer to Civil War. Only in the end do the hero teams fight each other. For the most part, this is a pretty finely-crafted mystery. Team politics find their way into the book continually, and no character here feels under-utilised.

Right... this is awkward...

This book also made me realise that I really want a DCU where the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman lead their own Justice Leagues. Somehow, Batman working with Deadman and Katana works. Wonder Woman working with John Constantine works. Superman working with Steve Trevor works. I really wish that this became the new status quo for the New 52, because it made the teams feel fresher than they've ever been.

Good moments sprinkle this book as well. My favourite has to be the issue featuring Constantine and Shazam. It's simply funny seeing both characters switch powers momentarily, and fitting with the new Constantine's personality. Equally funny is Shazam's reaction to punching out Superman, there's this look of disbelieving pride that comes over his face when it happens, and I couldn't help but smile.

Is Trinity War perfect? Not by a longshot. But between a compelling mystery and a status quo that I can only blame for being short-lived, it gets a three and a half out of five Where's Wally/Waldo books.

*** 1/2

+ Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman leading their own teams.
+ Shazam switching powers with Constantine
+ Not DC's Civil War
- Exists solely to introduce another event.
- The reason for the title? Don't ask.

Alternate Option: Marvel's Civil War

If you're that desperate for a heroes vs heroes story, here's what you get.

Justice League Volume 4: The Grid (The New 52) Review

Justice League Volume 4: The Grid (The New 52)

The guy with the Mohawk is dangerous...
Man, remember the 80s?

Writers: Geoff Johns

Artists: Ivan Reis and Jose Prado

Collects: Justice League #18-20 and 22-23

Background Information:

Since their first volume, the Justice League has lost a couple of key members. Green Lantern has decided that he needs to leave the team and Aquaman has left for the sea, leaving the league short a couple of guys.

What’s more, or what’s more important, is the history of Pandora. Every issue one that came out at the New 52’s launch has featured the strange woman in the background somewhere. Reading each issue #1 became akin to a game of Where’s Wally/Waldo (depending on where you live), and this volume will deal with who she is directly.

Review:

All these guys... and they got Element Woman.

Some writers I just don’t “get”.

I mean, Geoff Johns writes a mean Aquaman, an character-defining Green Lantern and I’m chomping at the bit to read his Superman run. His Justice League run though? Spasmodic is the highest praise I can give it. Origin was fair, Villain’s Journey was disappointing, but Throne of Atlantis was excellent. The Grid represents probably the lowest point in Johns’ run. Only five issues long, with mostly filler material before launching into Trinity War, and to be honest, it’s filler I could do without.

Okay, if you really want to know the story, the League has decided that it’s time to open membership to other members. Enter a female version of the Atom (cool), Firestorm (also cool), Zatana (very cool) and… Element Woman (the hey!?).

Let’s start with Element Woman, shall we. I can appreciate DC trying lighten their tone- they’ve been rather dark and grim in the early parts of the New 52- but Element Woman, a purple-haired, blue skin, clowny-kinda girl who’s skin has a rather “rusty” texture, seems a little too much in the other direction and doesn’t really fit. More to the point, I’m not really sure what her powers are, I know she can change the elements in her body, but I’m not really sure what that means. Johns definitely doesn’t give her much opportunity to use her powers. What is more baffling is that the league picked her over Blue Devil, Black Lightning, Black Canary and Vixen- all better choices.

Not to be outdone, Element Woman then becomes the narrator of a whole issue, and isn’t effective in doing so. This is partly because, until now, Justice League never really had a narrator, at least not a superhero as one. The whole thing comes off as Johns trying to force Element Woman down our throats.

This. This is why they shut down MSN messenger.

There is, thankfully, one positive to this volume. Johns takes some time to add some extra drama to Superman/Wonder Woman’s relationship- there’s now a legitimate reason to be concerned about these two together. I won’t spoil it, but it paints Wonder Woman as something more that an ornament for Superman, which I liked. It doesn’t, however, justify the whole volume.

The volume ends with two issues from the Trinity War crossover that I wish wasn’t there. Some of the Villains Month issues would have been far wiser, or maybe, heaven forbid, issue 21!? Instead, the tie-in issues spoil the crossover, giving the beginning and ending of the whole thing.

This is one to skip in favour of getting the Trinity War collection (which in itself, has its flaws, so get the paperback). It gets one and half out of five Element Women- Seriously, why?

* ½

+ Wonder Woman/Superman’s relationship made into interesting drama.

- Element Woman.

- Trinity War issues spoil the actual event.

- Mostly filler-content.

Alternate Option: Justice League: Trinity War

By no means perfect, but better than this mess.

Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark (The New 52) Review

Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark (The New 52)

Nobody has any idea what is
happening in this cover art.

Writer: Peter Milligan

Artist: Mikel Janin

Collects: Justice League #1-6

Background Information:

This is a version of the Justice League that, to my knowledge, hasn’t existed before. It’s also one of the only New 52 Justice League launch title that doesn’t feature Batman as part of the lineup.

Instead, the Justice League Dark is made up of magic-based characters who haven’t really been in DC’s spotlight. Most of them are characters that formerly belonged to DC’s Vertigo imprint; the magical detective/conman John Constantine, the reality-bending alien Shade. Others have been a marginal part of the DC universe for years, though; the magician Zantanna and the body-possessing ghost Deadman. It’s a group of heroes that have a bit of a cult following, no pun intended.

Review:

For a DC title that features some lesser-known characters, Justice League Dark has been more successful than the big wigs at DC seem to think it should be. The series is still going strong with no signs of being cancelled in the near future. That’s because, unlike other Justice League titles that have failed to have the same sticking power (Here’s looking at you, Justice League International), Justice League Dark’s writer, Peter Milligan actually seems to love the characters he’s writing.

"This isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to us..."

In the Dark comes as part of DC’s horror subset, placing it alongside titles such as Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Resurrection Man. As such, the plot predictably runs the “grotesque stuff happens, heroes need to stop it” line. I’d be doing the plot a disservice if I left it at that though; an evil sorceress known only as the Enchantress is seeking her other half, that means sending clones of this other half running all over the world raising hell. A clairvoyant named Madame Xanadu decides that the only way to save the world is to bring together the most power magical heroes in the world.

That sounds like a run-of-the-mill style plot, but Milligan peppers it with some great moments of characterisation. The stand-out here has to be Shade, whose can create whole people with his reality-bending ability. The way he uses these abilities more often than not serve an emotional need more than anything, but the result is these fantastic glimpses into the psyche of a man (alien?) who is deeply troubled, but wants to do the right thing.

Another great one here, appropriately, is John Constantine. There were points when I was wondering if he had any real magical ability at all- he mostly steals spell from other sorcerers to use to cheat people out of money. His magical knowledge, though is fantastic. This all gets wrapped up in an irreverent, cockney ego that is heaps of fun to read.

My problem with In the Dark is that it uses quite a bit of sexual innuendo, and even some sexualisation of its female characters. If you thought Zatanna looked a little trampy before reading this collection, you’re in for a surprise. She shows a lot more skin here and is even seen after a one-night-stand with Constantine (though, to be fair, it’s more subtle here than it was in books like Catwoman). As for sexual innuendo, it gets a little overused by Deadman; who tries to use his possession of others for some pretty creepy reasons. What bothers me about all of this is that Milligan has written some really great characters here. They didn’t need to use sexualisation of anything to make this team work as well as it does and the result is that these moments feel juvenile.

And oddly, Deadman's the only character in this book with
a girlfriend. Let it sink in that you're officially less attractive
than a dead guy.

DC’s horror subset of books has had some excellent art in other titles that I've read, and here is no different. Weirdly-shaped panels combine with deft use of light and shadow to create something really special here. All the scary parts look scary, and that is the best praise I can afford it.

In the Dark is an excellent entry-point for those wanting to look at DC’s horror collection. It gets a four out of five grotesque things.

****

+ Milligan writes some great characters

+ Art is scary when it should be

- So much sexualisation

Alternate Option: Swamp Thing: Raise Them Bones

A great introduction to Swamp Thing and an excellent horror title in its own right.

Justice League Vol. 2: Villain's Journey (The New 52)

Justice League Vol. 2: Villain’s Journey (The New 52)

When face with a threat, The Flash makes
stupid faces!

Writer: Geoff Johns

Artists: Jim Lee and Scott Williams

Collects: Justice League  #7-12

Background Information:

It’s the fourth and final in our Geoff Johns week!

The last volume of Justice League saw the league form no so much out of a desire for justice, but in order to stop the public from hating them. For those not in the know, this iteration of the team consists of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. Last time we saw them, they took on the galactic evil-dude known as Darkseid and won, earning the world’s trust, even though they don’t really trust each other.

Review:

The last volume, Origin, was fun, but in the end, it was mostly popcorn-munching stuff. Hardly a deep story, I compared it pretty heavily to Marvel’s Avengers film back from 2012. In Villain’s Jorney, Geoff Johns offers much of the same, but unfortunately, as readers, we’re ready for something meatier.

By now, the Justice League is adored by the whole world. There are many civilians calling for them to lead the US government. They believe that the League could put on a united front and fix every political problem in the world. The League, however, are at best overvalued in reality. They still do not trust each other, even though they work together better than they used to. And they haven’t yet become actual good guys. And now, a man by the name of David Graves is out to show the world just how unheroic these heroes really are.

I’m pretty sure every superhero franchise ever created has had a story like this. I can think of two Batman movies and a Spider-Man videogame that have had the “make the public hate the hero” storyline. The difference here, though, is that Graves isn’t trying to lie to the public; the league are not yet united and they aren’t able to fix everything.

It sounds like the story is going to offer plenty of depth, but don’t be fooled. This is another fairly shallow plot in reality. That was fine in a book like Origin, where we were just getting used to the team and were probably more interested in what the team was capable of than in complex storytelling, but the status quo in Justice League has already been established. Johns should have offered something a little deeper for this second story, and as such, the whole book feels pretty dismissible.

And that’s even considering the Wonder Woman/Superman kiss at the end of the trade (I’d give a spoiler warning, but it was advertised like crazy when it happened- that isn’t a spoiler). I’m not too concerned that there was little substance given to the moment- even though Superman and Wonder Woman barely exchange a word before they meet on the rooftop and then make out. I’m not even that keen on a Wonder Woman/Batman relationship. To me, the only person in the DCU that could be considered “Alpha Male” enough for Wonder Woman would be Superman, so the relationship makes perfect sense. But that’s the part that bothered me. There was nothing that seemed adventurous about the kiss; nothing that seemed like it would be a defining moment because I’m pretty convinced most new reads thought it was happening anyway. As such, it’s hard to really care about the kiss at all. I was actually more interested in what happened to Green Lantern at the end of this collection.

The art is just as good here. Jim Lee now shares writing duties with Scott Williams, but honestly, I couldn’t see any drop in quality. There are all of those trademark “big moments” that the last volume did so well. It’s great to look at and Johns gives Lee and Williams plenty of awesome things to draw.

By the time you start reading Villains Journey, you realise that you are done with stories of this calibre. The third volume in this series is supposed to be spectacular, but this one only gets three out of five over-advertised kisses.

 ***

+ Story is a clever idea

+ Art is still really good

- It’s still too shallow- we need depth by the second volume

Alternate Option: Teen Titans: Its our Right to Fight

Okay, so it’s hard to really recommend this, but if you want another team book, this one also has some big-name heroes. They’re just younger.

Justice League International vol. 2: Breakdown

Justice League International vol 2: Breakdown (The New 52)

HULK SMA-- wait, wrong book.

Writer: Dan Jurgens

Artist: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Background:

The JLI, or Justice League International is, in essence, a UN-sanctioned Justice League. Don’t, however, make the mistake of thinking that this means Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are going to be travelling the world. This is a whole-new team made up of second-string characters who, while they wouldn’t really work well in their own books, make for a fairly likable team.

The team is dual led by Batman and Booster Gold. Batman doesn’t make much of an appearance in Breakdown, however, and the role of leader usually lands in Booster Gold’s lap. Booster Gold is, essentially, from the future. What makes his character interesting, though, is that he’s no hero, really. His goal is make money by performing superheroics with technology that doesn’t exist yet.

Next there’s Guy Gardner- the rogue Green Lantern. To be honest, Guy has always been my least favourite lantern. He’s brash, boorish and is a borderline bully. In the Red Lanterns series, Guy actually ends up on the Lantern team fuelled not by willpower, but rage.

I know precious little about the character Godiva. What I can tell from Breakdown, though is that she’s British, and can use her hair like Doctor Octopus can use his tentacles.

The book also features OMAC, a man trapped in the body of a monster that really came into focus with the DC event Final Crisis, as well as the August General in Irons- a Chinese warrior forever encased in Iron armour. Finally, Batwing, an African Batman, is part of this team, fleshing it out to a complete seven characters.

Review:

Not all cancelled New 52 books have made it as far as a second volume. Both Static Shock and Mr Terrific disappeared after their first collections, and Savage Hawkman was, apparently, too awful to let live. Along with the likes of Lesgion of Superheroes, Legion Lost, and Blue Beetle, Justice League International deserves credit for lasting as long as it did. A team of B-list characters was always more likely to get cut than other titles, but the fact that it wasn’t canned after volume one says that the series at least started out strong. The problem though, is that Breakdown reads like writer Dan Jurgens knew that the book wouldn’t last, and therefore decided to hurry up and put all of his ideas into six issues while somehow tying the story up. One gets the feeling that the entire story would have been better had they just cut it off suddenly without scrambling to give readers closure.

Breakdown throws is into the middle of the action straight from the start. A UN event where the United Nations presents the JLI to the world is simultaneously bombed and attack by  strange energy creatures. It leaves many of the JLI severely wounded and some even dead. As a result, the JLI are immediately disowned by the UN and the team is left to hunt down the ones responsible for the bombing. Each issue is told from a different character’s point of view. I suppose that’s to break up the idea of there being a single “hero” in the book.  That’s a great idea when you’re working with teams like the original Justice League, or even the Teen Titans. But the JLI is made up of characters that new readers, in particular, know very little about. I would have liked to see one of the characters narrate the entire story, that way, readers would be able to learn more about one character. The way Jurgens writes, we are left knowing just as little about each character after their turn at narration as we did before.

The volume is named after the book’s central villain; Breakdown. Creepy and skeletal-looking, Breakdown is able to take anything and break it down into its basic elements. He’s a villain with a great look, but Jurgens makes the mistake of not only putting him in broad daylight most of the time, thereby dumbing down the horror that the character could have portrayed, but also of giving him associates that look plain ridiculous.

That is not to say that the story is awful. The plot itself is clever, but not executed to its fullest extent. It sets itself up as the last adventure for the JLI, yet by the end of the volume, it seems that the team still exists. What’s more, Jurgens squeezes this pointless tie in to The Fury of Firestorm halfway through the arc, disjointing it and disorientating the reader as to what the story is actually about.

I’ll say this for Jurgens; he can write some great moments into the book. One of my personal favourites was seeing Guy Gardner use his Green Lantern power to give him self an “Iron Man-esque” suit of armour, which he uses to take on OMAC. OMAC himself has some great “Hulk Smash” style moments. Sure it bespeaks Marvel more than DC, but they’re great moments regardless.

The art, at its very worst, does the story justice. Everything you see in this book is functional. It isn’t by any means dazzling, but between the efforts of Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan, the essence of each character is captured fairly well.

Breakdown suffers a lot from its being a rushed ending to a series that had more potential. It gets a two and a half out of five tentacle-hairs.

** ½

+ Great moments.

+ Breakdown is scary as hell.

- Story is disjointed.

- Breakdown’s companions look stupid.

- Spotlight is shared around characters that are underutilised.

Alternate Option: 52, Volume 1

It’s a much better use of second-tier characters. But what else would you expect when it’s written by the likes of Mark Waid, Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns?