DC COMICS
WRITER: Geoff Johns
PENCILS: Jim Lee
INKS: Scott Williams
COLORS: Alex Sinclair with Gabe Eltaeb
LETTERS: Patrick Brosseau
COVER: Jim Lee and Scott Williams, with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVER: Eric Basaldua with Nei Ruffino
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.
The subject of this comic book review is Justice League, the flagship title of “The New 52,” DC Comics’ re-launch of its superhero comic book line, which began August 2011. As I’ve done in previous reviews of this new Justice League series, I come in praise of it.
In the previous issue, Darkseid was revealed as the villain behind the worldwide invasion of earth by alien/extra-dimensional forces. As Justice League #5 (“Part Five”) opens, Superman and Flash are taking their shots at Darkseid – to no avail. Batman and Green Lantern agree to a truce in their petty rivalry as The Dark Knight hatches a plan for a rescue mission. Meanwhile, Green Lantern leads the charge of the heroes still standing.
As I learn to enjoy Geoff Johns, at least while I’m reading Justice League, I also realize that he has stretched this story beyond reason. After five issues, Johns has written what would have been about a single issue’s worth of story for Stan Lee back in the 1960s. Of course, Lee’s frequent collaborator, artist Jack Kirby, would have squeezed the action into smaller panels than the ones drawn by Johns’ Justice League collaborator, artist Jim Lee.
Honestly, I would not still be reading this if not for Jim Lee. (I love you, Jim Lee!) As long as he is drawing it, I’m down. Well, I didn’t read his Superman arc with writer Brian Azzarello, because reading it bored me severely.
For extras, there are two pages of Wonder Woman sketches by Cliff Chiang, two of Aquaman by Ivan Reis, and two pages of Cyborg by Jim Lee. There is also a two-page sneak peek of Suicide Squad #6-7, with art by Clayton Henry.
B+
