Let me begin by saying, I’m sorry this week’s review is so late but that’s what happens when there is a holiday at the beginning of the week. The release day for new comics gets pushed back a day then everything else just gets pushed back right along with it. As it turns out, I really didn’t have to wait for the new books to hit the shelves to do this week’s review. Since, there was nothing new that struck my fancy I went and chose an issue from a couple months ago to review.
Despite the fact that Justice League of America is one of DC’s premiere titles it hasn’t always featured a roster of DC’s premiere characters. Sometimes the League has been reduced to a roster of second and even third tier characters and that was one of the problems the series has had recently. I mean seriously, a League starring the likes of Vixen and Dr. Light just will not cut it. The storyline “Team History” seems aimed at addressing that problem and returning the series its former glory. This issue is the second in the storyline and the first time we see almost all of the new leaguers together.
SPOILER WARNING The League is faced with the problem of stopping a group of villains from collecting the pieces of an unknown alien artifact. These are not your run of the mill villains either they are armed with technology from New Genesis which they use to roll right over the Power Company when that group of heroes tries to stop them. These villains also have an edge over the League since they seem to know where all the pieces of this artifact are located. I enjoyed writer James Robinson’s little bit of showing when each of the pieces where first discovered over the years. This allowed him to work in characters like the Metal Men, the Blackhawks and Plastic Man to name just a few. The issue ends, at a crucial moment, just as the League is about to face off against two of the villains on Blackhawk Island. At the same time the new Leagues final recruit, Green Arrow, walks in on three other villains searching the Watchtower for yet another of the mysterious artifacts. END SPOILER WARNING The first two parts of this storyline are a vast improvement over what readers have been getting recently in the pages of Justice League of America. If you have never tried Justice League of America or if you gave up on it, during its recent rough patch, then this storyline is a good place to jump on and give the series a try.
Keith Forney