Justice League #1

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jim Lee, Scott Williams

Well, it's finally here. The first title to debut from DC's much talked-about line-wide relaunch is now here with Justice League #1. And since it's out, it has gained a lot of attention. I have friends talking about it, wanting to reserve a copy in the local comic book store. Was it able to live up to the hype? Will new readers want this? Is it a good introduction into the new world of DCU?

With the first issue, Geoff Johns decided to start with the origin story of how the league got the together. And since this is a set-up story, the whole league doesn't appear in this issue. Instead, Johns decided to focus with Batman and Green Lantern, with a litte pre-Cyborg Vic Stone thrown in the mix.

The whole issue revolves around the interaction between Green Lantern and Batman, with only a mention of the main villain for this first arc. Johns' decision to use Batman and Green Lantern as the main characters in this first issue is a wise choice. With the recent release of the Green Lantern movie (it sucked) and the audience's familiarity with Batman (Nolan's Batman movies), it's easy to identify and familiarize with the characters. However, that's all we get in the first issue.

There's a lot of dialogue exchange between the two, but it doesn't help the plot move forward. And the main villain doesn't even appear in this issue. I think it would've worked more if this have been a double-sized issue, so Johns could get more characters from the Justice League in the book, even just short teases introducing the readers to each member.

There's so little happening in this issue that it makes me think this story would read better in collected form, which is not good considering this is priced at $3.99. Granted, the ending cliffhanger intrigued me into looking forward to #2.

The art of Jim Lee has not changed since the last comic book I read that he drew. It looks great to be honest, but it's too busy to really focus on what's really intended for the reader to look at. Also, some of the poses the characters are in look awkward, as with Jim Lee's main problem with his art.

I'll take a look into #2 when it comes out, and hopefully we could see more characters and the pacing of the story improves from there on.

Rating: 3/5