Justice League #1 - Hobo Booth's Review

What follows is a recap of Justice League #1. Don't blink or you'll miss it.

BATMAN: "Green Lantern, I've heard of you. You are a superhero from Coast City."

GREEN LANTERN: "Batman. You are nothing to me. I am a cosmic policeman with a ring that lets me make anything I can imagine. And I am also a dick. A huge dick."

BATMAN: "I am just a man in a bat suit but I am smart and serious. I have heard of a guy called Superman in Metropolis. I hear he's super."

GREEN LANTERN: "Super. Do you want to go see him together for no particular reason and even though we hate each other?"

BATMAN: "I don't see why not. . . Also this thing planted a bomb and said "Darkseid."

Now I know that is a little unfair. But only a little.

When DC announced that they were starting the Universe over, I didn't think they meant in 1970, or 1975 or 1980 -- because this story is of the same formulaic and lazy nature from which the "reboot" was supposed to depart. There were too many panels relying exclusively on explosions, forcing the remaining panels to rely on exposition to move the story and character development along. Explosions and exposition.

Let's take DC at its word. Pretend this was not a superhero story published by DC but rather by an unknown independent publisher. Treat this comic as if it did not contain familiar beloved icons from our society's collective childhood but rather characters that you wouldn't know from the Yellow Kid. Would you find the story compelling? Of course, the artwork of Jim Lee, Scott Williamson and Alex Sinclair was mind blowing as expected, but would you want to read the next issue? It's ironic, DC wanted a rebirth of the Universe so that the characters and stories would not be beset by the weight of their history. However, it is that very history and familiarity on which they are now relying to bring readers back for a second issue.

It wasn't a terrible story. I may have been happier if it were -- if Geoff Johns shot for the stars and missed.

But there was nothing. Justice League is the flagship title of the new universe. It was the lack of originality at the origin that bothered me. Even the character building football scene was pulling on heartstrings that were broken years ago by the same cliche. It makes me think of a phrase that I heard from many teachers during my life: "I'm not angry. I'm disappointed."