Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #1

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JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #1
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Howard Porter and HiFi
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: June 24, 2015

It’s one year later and the Justice League is officially the heroes of the universe again! Too bad they just won’t die! With a long lost enemy having infiltrated their ranks, the DNA-spliced replicants of the 20th Century’s greatest heroes are going to have their hands full. Plus, the Super-Buddies are back protecting Earth and will likely give the Justice League a run for their money. Probably. Maybe. Oh well, there’s always Starro.

If only one thing in this life is certain, it’s that Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis certainly know how to make a world feel rich and expansive.

With the arrival of the relaunched Justice League 3001, the writing pair have outdone themselves in providing what looks to be a complete mayhem in casting and environment that drew me in like very few comics (not written by them) have been able to. Sure, knowing that the classic cast of the Justice League International having a place in this book (with this issue featuring Ice and Fire prominently) is plenty to get me going. But in reality, I’ve grown so fond of so many of these characters, new and old (and some that are both) that I can’t imagine this book without a single one of them.

With multiple teams that skew heavily female, we’re getting one of the most balanced casts in any Justice League book ever. The Flash’s precociousness, Wonder Woman’s brash demeanor, Fire and Ice’s familiarity and friendship — all are combining to make a really robust book of female relationships, while the men — well, they end up being a little on the slow side. Save for Batman, of course. Always Batman.

The addition of a female version of Guy Gardner is inspired, given his history of butch bravado, although I’ll admit that some of the banter between Superman and his colleagues about her gender identity verges on uncomfortable in terms of transgender representation. I’m hoping we see a better validation of Guy’s identity — or at least for the jokes to fade away. There’s a huge opportunity to explore being transgender in the 31st Century, however, and how Guy herself reacts when confronted by Superman’s transphobia is what I am waiting to see.

The art by series penciller Howard Porter, though, is nothing short of unbelievably gorgeous. If there was a book you bought only for the art this week (month, maybe year), this is the one. Porter’s scenes are some of the most detailed you can imagine, and perfect in illustrating worlds like Camelot Nine and Takron-Galtos (atchoo — Earth — atchoo) that we have no preexisting expectations about. Every single page is a masterpiece of line and texture, where even the pattern of the stars in the sky adds to the overall feel of this title.

Faces are rendered with gorgeous warmth and fullness, as the expressions you desperately want to see correspond with Giffen and DeMatteis’ quirky and endearing dialogue are there across the board. Hi-Fi’s handling of color, particularly in rendering out close-ups on Fire and Ice’s faces during their heart-to-heart, are just spectacular, and give the entire landscape of Porter’s pencils and inks a solid finishing layer.

Justice League 3001 #1 isn’t exactly the clean break I’d anticipated for a first issue, but it does showcase the cast of characters so well, and give us an enormous amount of fun along the way, that I still give it a huge recommendation to any of the following: fans of the original Justice League International, fans of the previous 14 issues, fans of super-heroes that are just plain funny, and pretty much anyone breathing. It’s a wild ride, and you don’t want to miss your chance to get onboard.

The Verdict: 9.0/10

P.S. Careful viewers will notice the final fates of some very, very famous denizens of the DC Universe future in the initial pages of this comic. Those costumes! Ha!

 

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