The craziness continues.
Creative Staff:
Story: JM DeMatteis, Keith Giffen
Art: Howard Porter
What They Say:
It’s the Super-Buddies versus Giant Turtle Olsen starring in…Who the hell cares what it’s called? It’s Giant Turtle Olsen! You are so welcome. Oh, and the Justice League will show up too. I mean, it being their book and all…And hey, did we mention Giant Turtle Olsen?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After feeling like I was maybe sorta kinda getting the hang of this book in the second issue, the third installment of Justice League 3001 reminds me that I haven’t a clue. I know part of it is that I didn’t read the 3000 series so that’s my fault but there’s just this sense of trying to wrap my head around the world design that’s leaving me stumped. Thankfully, there are moments where even Batman talks about how weird all of this is and that nothing makes sense, allowing me to feel like I’m not the only one. I’m still somewhat convinced that everything going on here is some elaborate dream sequence that’s playing out and that will allow me to kind of just ride with the way it gets to do what it wants to, to good effect.
The opening arc largely comes to a close here with the team returning to Camelot having essentially screwed up badly enough on Wodin. Guy’s attempts at forcing the issue lead to things going in a disastrous way, made weirdly worse by the arrival of Supergirl in a move that just makes the book even more chaotic, and a few other reveals. In particular, this installment wants to reinforce to the group that this is most definitely not the 21st century. There are very different ways of doing things here – though some question the enslaved aspect as being legal – and the team is struggling with their own moral compass in a world where morality has changed significantly. This is an area that I like that they’re exploring because it has the Starro entity, for example, talking about how the problems of this time period require different solutions than the solutions of the 21st century.
Amid all these events we also get a few other things going on. Bruce is starting to figure out that Ariel isn’t right, though Clarkie seems to think it’s because she dumped Bruce. Ariel, for her part, is struggling with the inability to eliminate them quickly which leads to the amusing nod by Ronald that her subconscious may be pleased by this fact – an idea that only sends her into more of a fury. She’s definitely a character I’m having a very hard time reading, but that comes from the lack of the first series context. She’s kind of all over the map but it fits with the whole layered personalities thing that’s going on and the problems that arise from it. There are some seriously crazy vibes coming off of her and I’m hoping to see her really get blatant in her attempts to take down the team. Because they fully need to be taken down. They’re a world class level hot mess.
In Summary:
This installment totally threw me for a loop with a segment involving Booster and Beetle, as well as a different Flash and Green Lantern, dealing with a Turtle-based Jimmy Olsen. Again, owing to not reading the previous incarnation, I had no idea these characters existed in this time frame along with Fire and Ice. It left me confused as hell, though I enjoyed the banter between the characters. Which pretty much sums up the series so far in general. It’s silly and I like parts of it but I feel like I’m completely outside of the joke itself and looking in trying to figure it out. And it’s a joke I desperately want to get, which makes it all the more frustrating. It continues to be a really detailed and beautiful book in the artwork and color design and the writing side totally has the vibe and tone down when it comes to the dialogue and banter. But it’s like I’m missing a huge chunk of what makes it work.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 26th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
