I feel like it's been forever since I've read an issue of "Justice League," so this issue was actually a good re-introduction. Johns moves the plot at a pretty brisk pace and accomplishes some real character work in the process.
We see Aquaman get the chance to lead that he's wanted and it's a successful outing, after he develops a plan that successfully traps Cheetah. Trying to make Wonder Woman feel less bad about trusting people after it's revealed that Barbara Minerva was a serial criminal, Superman reveals some of his past to Diana, making it clear that Johns plans on addressing one of the main weaknesses of this series, the fact that the characters all felt like strangers to one another. He's particularly found a good starting point for that process for Clark and Diana, focusing on the fact that they're both alien to the human world as a place to build common ground.
I only had two real quibbles with this story. First, it seemed weird that Barbara Minerva was allegedly some master criminal. Do master criminals really get jobs at the Smithsonian? I get that having that job would give her access to items that she might want to steal, but I have to question how she had the qualifications to get it in the first place. Second, I was disappointed with the revelation that Bruce is spying on Superman and Wonder Woman as they share a moment in Smallville. I'm not really sure where Johns is going with this approach. We know that Bruce isn't a bad guy, so I'm not sure how much mileage he's going to be able to get from the idea of him manipulating everyone behind the scenes like he's Scott Summers. I prefer Bruce more as a confident leader than a Machiavellian prick.
Beyond the character work, Johns also finally begins to move the series beyond just the isolated arcs that we've so far had by creating a looming threat, implying that the Legion of Doom is forming around the Justice League. Cheetah uses some sort of communication device to confirm to someone that she's in Belle Reve, implying that she manipulated events to be placed there. She then confirms that she's waiting for Black Manta, which seems to connect nicely to the upcoming "Throne of Atlantis" cross-over event. I actually hadn't noticed how isolated the arcs have been until this reveal. A lot of the other other authors of the "New 52" books almost immediately introduced a lurking threat that they have yet to spring on their characters. Johns hasn't and I'm realized that it may be why this book hasn't really clicked. In the DCU, almost every character had decades of history, which meant that they had all sorts of archenemies who might appear at any moment. It's this sort of unpredictability that creates the tension that you need to keep readers reading from month to month. "Justice League" has lacked that, but, with the possibility of the Legion of Doom appearing at any moment, I can say that I'm a lot more interested in this title than I've been.
The Shazam story continues to be interesting, though, I have to say, I think it's time for every comic-book author to agree to put the Occupy movement behind them. Seriously. I get that Johns uses it here to get us to question whether Black Adam really is a bad guy, since he's concerned with "freeing" the "slaves" from the "pharaoh." But, it still made me roll my eyes. I'm also not sure why the Sins would be Black Adam's enemies, since it's not like they're Shazam's allies. I guess we'll see. It's also probably time for something to happen, because seeing Billy and Freddy spending money really can only be entertaining for so long.
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