Geoff Johns &
Ivan Reis “Justice League, Vol. 3:
Throne of Atlantis” (DC Comics, 2013)
Even though I still had some bad taste in my mouth from that
Wonder Woman fiasco, I decided to give this Justice League collection a
try. They’re the flagship, right? I had always enjoyed the Justice League when
I was a kid. While some of the heroes
seemed a bit stiff on their own, they seemed to do much better with each other
(Yes, I am talking about you, Barry and Hal.)
The first couple of issues are fairly Wonder Woman centric,
focusing on the Cheetah & the developing romance between Wonder Woman and
Superman. Setting some small things
aside (cheetahs live in the savannah, not the jungle!), these are solid
stories. I like the JLA Wonder Woman
much better than the Wonder Woman in her own title. Regardless of my feelings about how Johns
handles big events or the overall shape of comics, he has a nice touch with
small personal moments. I enjoyed the “off
duty” scenes of Superman and Wonder Woman getting to know each other.
The meat of this collection is a crossover with the Aquaman
book. Atlantis declares war on the
surface world, and launches attacks that only the Justice League can stop. (Is Atlantis ever mentioned without either
declaring war or threatening to declare war?)
It’s all solid enough for this sort of story that quite frankly you’ve
probably already ready 15 or 20 times in the past. The new 52 twist on the story is that the
Justice League is just as happy to fight each other as to fight the Atlanteans.
While for the most part the art was functional if
uninspired, the battle sequences were a mess.
More emphasis and thought seemed to be given to the pinup nature of the
illustration rather than how much sense it actually made. As a result, these pages tended to be muddled
and confusing.
Overall, the third Justice League collection is fine, if a
bit disappointing. It’s disappointing
primarily because I expect and want one of the flagship titles to be so much
better.
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