With the setup complete, it’s time to start moving forward.
Creative Staff:
Story: Steve Orlando
Art: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert
Colors: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
Batman, Black Canary, Killer Frost, the Ray, Vixen, the Atom, and…Lobo?! Spinning directly out of the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD, join the sensational team of writer Steve Orlando and artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado and discover how Batman assembled the roughest, toughest Justice League of all time!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though I’ve read a lot of Justice League material over the years, the JLA is one that in comics form I tended to struggle with, at least when it wasn’t the comedy run from Giffen and DeMatteis back in the day. The appeal of the group for me in its original sense was more toward the animated series and in recent years I’ve done my best to avoid the “mainstream” books that were crowded with crossovers and connections that I didn’t have the interest in following. With the Rebirth installment of Justice League of America, my interest was sparked with the four one-shots that preceded it to introduce the cast of characters that I really enjoyed years ago from a different time and I liked the overall approach being put into it, which is fleshed out well here in a kind of top level well. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Steve Orlando comes across as really having a plan here and being given the time to run with it as it’s a twice-monthly title, and it kicks off with some great Ivan Reis artwork.
Coming into this without reading the Justice League Vs Suicide Squad event, I’m still not sure what Killer Frost did to save the world but it’s what has inspired Batman to put together a new JLA team in the old Happy Harbor mountain facility (oh, Young Justice, when!) as a way to drive forward the idea of redemption and second chances. Caitlin is the inspiration and through that he’s putting together a solid team of people that are more “human” than gods so that your average citizen can get behind them in a way that’s hard with others in the main Justice League world. That works for almost all of the characters here, with Lobo as the odd (main) man out, and there’s appeal in it after seeing the stories in the one-shots for Vixen, the Ray, the Atom and Killer Frost herself. Bringing Black Canary in to try and provide some glue to this while Batman serves as the background boss man, the leadership focus is falling to Vixen and she’s going to have quite the crew to wrangle.
And that’s what a lot of this issue is about, bringing everyone together and getting them on the same page. It’s mostly about two pages for each and then some solid together time at the end that combines with getting a clue in on most of their powers and personalities. Orlando has a lot to get done here but as a Rebirth issue it’s well-served by it because it’s that kind of launching/introductory point where you expect it to almost be bullet points. What makes me really interested is that we have Batman talking about something that’s coming that will require a true community of heroes to deal with this and these are the people that he thinks can help inspire in a way that your Superman and Wonder Woman types won’t be able to. It’s certainly a ragtag group and I hope they don’t fall on the Caitlin as a villain schtick too much, but the right ideas are here with people that want to prove themselves and those that are looking to define themselves anew in this day and age.
In Summary:
I’ve been intrigued by the Justice League of America Rebirth project based on both the people involved and the one-shots that set things up because it spoke not just of taking care to ensure we know these characters but giving these characters a real shot at standing out. I’ve been a fan of most of them since their runs in the 80’s and 90’s so there’s a lot of appeal in what Rebirth is doing with them and Steve Orlando has captured their voice well. It’s tough to work a team book in general, especially when you have Batman running the show, but the dynamic we have here and the opportunities to do something different than the main Justice League book are enticing. This issue has a lot to like, especially with Reis’ artwork and layouts that I hope we get a good bit of considering the bi-weekly schedule, and what we’ve had so far encourages me to put this on my digital subscription list.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 8th, 2017
MSRP: $2.99
