With a plan to take to down the giants underway, the JLI may have something far bigger to deal with.

What They Say:
With the appearance of four giant, alien Signalmen, the JLI must split up to investigate the mysterious cavern beneath each one. Will the individual teams be able to handle what hides in the dark? Or will it be too late by the time the next phase comes into play?

The Review:
To recap, we have four iron giants scattered across the globe shooting beams into space. We have the JLI outmatched and under a retreat order from leader Booster Gold. But, as we all know, the mission simply cannot end there. In this issue the JLI has begun movement on a Booster’s plan to follow the giants underground tunnels to learn more about them and how to stop them. That is 90% of this book and it feels just right.

The JLI has split into four teams of two, one for each giant. Approximately equal time is spent with each team as they put the plan into action. Not only is this a good lead up to the main action but the writers have interjected a few pieces of information sorely needed in the series. As we look at each team we are given some character development. We don’t get to become familiar with who the members are or anything of that sort; instead we learn a bit more about their powers, motivations, and personality. These tidbits of information allow readers to know the characters and distinguish between them without actually knowing their back-stories. Since providing back-story is not an obvious objective in this series, being able to identify and know the characters is almost just as good. This is what I have been waiting for with JLI. The book pulls it off wonderfully and even leaves additional information that can be disseminated later in the series.

In the meantime, the story continues along with it base plot line. There aren’t a whole lot of developments aside from some little nasties found living underground where the giants were sleeping and a larger threat looming. To note on the larger threat, it may seem extremely trite and predictable that “of course” there is something larger the team will have to fight, but here it makes sense; that was part of the issue with the last two books. The iron giants could’ve been some really cool enemy as a starter mission, but they didn’t do anything. They didn’t pose a larger threat and it was obvious to both readers and the JLI that they were simply pawns in a greater scheme. By writing the story in that manner, introducing the larger threat not only makes sense but is very welcome. The only question is if the main baddie will be worth our time and provide a satisfactory conclusion to this arc. That aside, the main cast is shaping up nicely and will at least provide a good story with character interactions that will be worth our time even if the baddie turns out to be a dud.

In Summary:
JLI is shaping up to be a nice read that I enjoy each month. It is just taking its sweet time in setting up the cast and story. That is really the only lasting negative comment I have on the series. By keeping the action to a minimum, limitations in the artists ability to fully display action is removed; by giving us more character development the writers are giving us more reasons to care, and by elevating the plot to bigger things we are provided with a reason to continue reading. JLI is still not essential reading but the job is being done. The job is being done adequately enough that I don’t mind spend $2.99 a month, nor to I mind taking 15 minutes of my day to follow in these exploits. It is a solid, ensemble based comic that keeps moving up, and hopefully will become essential reading.

Grade: B

Readers Rating: [ratings]