Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Justice League #6

writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Jim Lee

The most incredible thing about the conclusion to the first arc of this series is that Geoff Johns does not succumb to the same impulse as every other writer of the past thirty years to try and explain the whole Fourth World story, much less the significance of Darkseid, instead keeping the focus on the budding eponymous team.

I mean, seriously, what intrigues you more, the mystery of the villain or having his whole story recounted every time he appears? For readers who know who he is and where he came from, Darkseid's appearance makes sense as a threat big enough to warrant the birth of the Justice League, and is maybe only a little frustrating (but then, the New Gods have never actually been popular); to new readers it's just another hook, as in, when are we going to see that again?

But again, Johns keeps the focus on the team, allowing the reader to experience them as they experience each other, and the reaction from the outside world. (No offense to the thousands of fans eager for the Avengers movie, but are those heroes really in the same league?)

And on top of that, we get some teases about future threats, including Pandora, as well as a glimpse at Geoff's vision for the Phantom Stranger, and how he's going to weave yet another epic mythology out of someone else's existing sandbox, what he's been doing with Green Lantern for the past half dozen years.

Do I really need to keep explaining how awesome this book is?

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