Justice League #1: OK, I'm a fan. I felt like Johns captured both Batman and Green Lantern perfectly here, giving us a calculating Bruce and an arrogant Hal. By using them at the center of the book, he lets us know that, despite all the change, somethings stay certain: Bruce is smart and Hal is obnoxious. But, he did more than just assert them as their usual stand-alone archetypes. He used their interactions to actually show these traits. I loved the moment where Bruce slipped the ring off Hal's finger. Brilliant. Seriously, Johns shows so much in that scene, displaying that Bruce's ability to have sussed out Hal's powers in the few minutes they've been together IS his super-power and that Hal's need to constantly assert control over a situation despite not understanding all the nuances is his Achilles' heel. Johns also gives us a slightly different take on Superman (in the one panel in which he appears) giving him almost an edge (perish the thought). Lee, meanwhile, is on fire throughout the book. The scene where Batman shoots the grapple through the alien's leg conveys the "all-new, all-gritty" feel of the book and, um, seriously, he can draw Superman whenever he wants. (Badabing!) Beyond all else, though, the attention to detail that he displays in drawing Green Lantern's constructs is amazing. (The guys with the shields protecting him and Batman? Awesome.)
Having read the book, the relaunch of "Justice League" seems the perfect way to usher in the New 52. Moreover, setting it five years in the past, at least for the initial arc, was a great decision, since we need some help fleshing out the details of the DCnU. (I hope they don't go too far, though. I mean, do we really need another "Batman: Year One?") Seeing Hal badger Bruce over his powers (after initially expressing shock that he was "real") and Bruce telling Hal that Gotham was his were just great moments, exactly how you'd think the first meeting between Bruce and Hal would go. Except, it probably didn't go that way. The genius of this enterprise is that, in all likelihood, the initial meeting of Bruce and Hal probably happened in the '60s when everything was a bit...hokier. Bringing a modern sensibility to the reboot (and the personality traits that these characters have developed since they all first met, whenever the Justice League was originally assembled) is what promises to make this series spectacular and why starting it five years in the past makes sense. It gives us the excitement of seeing the characters we know now meet, as opposed to when they originally met, decades ago, when their personalities were still being defined. The decision to bring Darkseid into play so quickly just makes it all the better. One of the biggest questions for me in this whole enterprise is: did Bruce still die? I'm hoping, by addressing the Darkseid issue first, we'll get to that answer quickly.
The Justice League is the touchstone of superheroes for any child of the '80s. Do I admit, when I heard that "Justice League" would be put squarely in the center of the DCnU, that I felt a childlike flutter of excitement? Yes, yes, I did. Johns and Lee, thankfully, gave me a reason to be excited. I feel like they really accomplished what they intended to do here, give old fans a reason to be excited and new fans a reason to be hooked. Was "Flashpoint" disappointing? Yes, yes, it was. But, just like "One More Day" before "Brand New Day," it's in the past. I can forgive the bumpy transition if the new reality is as awesome as this book presages.
Secret Avengers #16: This issue is beautiful. I'm not familiar with McKelvie, but he can pencil any comic he wants in my book. He has the amazing combination of a great eye for both dynamic landscapes -- such as the awesome two-page splash of the underground city -- and small details -- such as showing Steve's hair blow in the wind when he stands in the atomic Cadillac. The problem? This book is DULL. It's essentially Beast narrating the action with long, drawn-out explanations of the scientific principles behind the main threat, a Doom Platform set to make Cincinnati disappear. I don't know how you make that boring, but Ellis manages to accomplish it. In addition, I have to say, for as much as I hate "Fear Itself," I'm confused about where this story falls in continuity. It seems to be before "Fear Itself," since Steve isn't Captain America yet (and Natasha is a little chatty for someone who just lost her boyfriend), but that makes no sense given that the last few issues of this title were "Fear Itself" cross-overs. So, it happened but then it didn't? Overall, this issue was a forgettable miss for me.
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