Justice League of America #2 Review

After last month’s stellar issue, Justice League of America jumped to the top of my pull list and became a book I got excited over. After reading the second issue in the series my excitement has only increased.

This issue sees the team finally come together in a group setting and it begins to flesh out the relationships between some of the characters. And if it wasn’t clear before, it’s definitely clear now: the enemy here is the Secret Society, and Amanda Waller feels that this is the best opportunity to test the strengths of the new League. She feels that if they can take down a group of super villains then they can go toe-to-toe with big blue and the Justice League. Steve Trevor begs to differ.

While it’s nice to see the Secret Society making their presence in the New 52, the real enjoyment is found in the many conversations between members of the JLA. When reading comics I don’t usually laugh-out-loud. I may smirk, but there is a moment between Hawkman and Vibe that I actually laughed aloud at. So kudos to Geoff.

There are many other fantastic moments: Catwoman and Steve and even Green Arrow and Steve. While Steve is involved in many of these moments, he still suffers from any real characterization. And this issue in some instances suffers from some very forced and cheesy dialogue. I understand it’s a superhero comic and most of it is forgivable but I’ve been a Geoff Johns fan for years and it seemed really out of place for him to write dialogue this bad. I had to flip to the cover to make sure there wasn’t another writer. Keep in mind, the bad dialogue is only a few instances in a span of two pages, the rest of the book reads very naturally.

David Finch’s art, as I stated in my review of the pervious issue, is a mixed bag. There are great action pieces and some very bland faces, this still holds true. However, the very first page took my breath away. Its no surprise that Finch’s artstyle is best served when he’s drawing characters in costume because it’s when you see characters like Steve Trevor and Green Arrow on the same page together they share pretty much the same face, the only identifier between the two is Green Arrow has a tiny mask over his eyes. Having said that, there is still a fair amount of detail in Finch’s art. Stargirl genuinely looks young and this is primarily due to her braces and there is probably the best drawing I’ve ever seen of Obama in this book…. I understand these are really weird compliments.

The backup story here is written by Matt Kindt and pencilled by Scott Clark, and wow if it isn’t completely awesome. The story focuses on Martian Manhunter and gives a little more insight into the story of not only the character but the JLA. Kindt does a terrific job of progressing the overall narrative while making Martian Manhunter stand out as a major player in the DCU.

Justice League of America #2 is a great issue and proves that you don’t need characters like Batman to tell a successful story. I’m very interested to see the ultimate confrontation between the two Leagues.