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Summary: Batman is looking to put together a new Justice League, one that is not populated with just gods, and godlike aliens; he wants one populated mostly with humans to give humanity hope when the darkness he senses comes. He starts with the rehabilitated Killer Frost and quickly gains a varied cast to join his new League: Black Canary, Lobo, The Atom (Ryan Choi), The Ray, and Vixen. But can this team of big personalities, and, in some come cases, even bigger egos, come together to be the team that humanity needs to be the light in the darkness to come?
Thoughts: Steve Orlando pens this "getting-the-band-together" tale in "Justice League of America: Rebirth" #1. While Ivan Reis' art is as gorgeous as ever, Orlando's story is a bit lackluster, slow, and almost wholly uninteresting as Batman gathers up a League full of second-stringers, divas, and ego-maniacs. Batman goes on and on about how humans need heroes they can know, not gods to inspire them, and then he puts Lobo on the team. That is not Batman-like logic, like, at all.
Summary: Batman's new team is trying to work out the kinks by getting to work doing heroic acts all over the globe. But before they can even settle in as a team, a powerful alien threat appears that catches the team unready - and one of them just might have to pay for this lack of readiness...With his life.
Thoughts: Steve Orlando is at it again with this ungodly mess of a first issue of an ongoing series. My dislike for this issue bubbled over for several reasons. This team doesn't seem like a JLA-level team capable of defending a planet. It seemed more like a contrived Suicide Squad/JLA hybrid that was quite awful. Orlando tries setting up a JLA with a bunch of bickering members à la Marvel's Avengers, possibly thinking that it would bring drama and a more down-to-earth human element to the team; however, all it did for me was annoy and frustrate me in numerous ways. The JLA is not The Avengers, nor should anyone try to make it be. And yes, I have heard that Superman and other greatly powered superheroes are losing ground because people now desire more human, more fallible, more relatable, more flawed heroes. Maybe there was a time when we looked to deities to save us, now we want to do it ourselves, take part in our own collective destiny. Hence, a near-omnipotent savior-like hero is passé. Well, anyone who has read Superman comics in the last 30 years knows that Superman is all for humans creating their own destiny - if he weren't he would have taken over Earth in mainstream DC continuity long ago (Just read Alan Moore's Miracleman). If this was the idea that Orlando was banking on, it crumbled when Lobo, another nearly indestructible alien, replaced Superman on the JLA.
But wait, there's more.
As if on cue, enter the main antagonist of the issue, Lord Havok, come to save humans from the FREEDOM that destroyed his beloved planet. He comes with his super-powered goons, spouting hokey, heavy-handed, clunky diatribes on the fallacy of democracy, and how measures must be taken to stop Earth from decimating itself like his world did. His solution? To subjugate Earth, going through this new, inept JLA to do so. If it weren't for Ivan Reis' always amazing art, and the great work of the inkers and colorist, this book would have been a total waste of my time.
I am all for change when it comes to comics, but this isn't change. This is a travesty. I feel like I was PUNK'D.
RATING: 5 out of 10. Batman, Black Canary, and Vixen are JLA material, but the rest of these guys need to hit the showers.
If you agree, disagree, or have anything that might give me another perspective on these books, use the comments section to let me read your thoughts. Happy trails.
If you agree, disagree, or have anything that might give me another perspective on these books, use the comments section to let me read your thoughts. Happy trails.
If you like this article, please hit the +1 button below and share with your friends and followers. Help me win one million readers over to the awesome world of comics!
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