Justice League: No Justice

Back at the beginning of December, when my birthday hit, I was gifted with a number of comic trades to sink my teeth into including the previously mentioned Batman: White Knight, Avengers Forever, the 3rd Volume of the New 52 Action Comics and Justice League: No Justice.

I recall when No Justice was first solicited I thought it a real temptation, and almost made my pull list until the realisation that it was a weekly event and not monthly. Therefore, it turned out to be a format that I could ill afford on my dwindling finances (not helped by the fact the weekly Star Trek: TNG: Through the Mirror mini-series had dropped the month before)

And so, when questions were asked by my family as to what I want for my birthday, I figured 'why not this. It looks cool.'

Thankfully, this moment of self-recommendation seems to have paid off as I did enjoy Justice League: No Justice.

The plot is relatively straightforward; in the aftermath of the Dark Nights: Metal storyline, the Justice League has broken the source wall (effectively the edge of the universe). As a result, four Titans (think DC's answer to Galactus) have been released with the sole intention of eating planets based on which of the four universal energies (Mystery, Wonder, Wisdom and Entropy) dominate it. Their first stop: Colu, the home of Brainiac. Therefore, Superman's villain recruit many of Earth's Finest and Worst to save first Colu and then the universe. Of course (in a nice George and Tony homage I noticed on Longbox Review), hilarity ensues.

Justice League: No Justice (in a
very bad photo by me), which
makes me think of the Battle for
Bludhaven Infinite Crisis tie-in.

Now, as I started this trade I did find myself a little concerned that this would be a book I'd be quickly reselling as it felt rather slow to get the ball rolling. In fact, I think the best way to describe the opening of No Justice is to say that it was missing an introduction or some sort of prologue which lead us to the point the story opens. In fairness, given how much it is referred to, I suspect that Dark Nights: Metal is actually that prologue. However, while the synopsis on the back makes mention of DN:M as having changed the galaxy, I hadn't expected a literal follow through and so I was a little annoyed that I needed to read that first (spoiler: I haven't read DN:M yet!)

However, as the story moved forward and I got more into it, I really started to get.....well, more into it! Justice League: No Justice then became this all action, epic movie-like event that I would expect from a JLA title (or even their counterparts at the House of Ideas) which really had me hooked more and more with each page turn.

I really enjoyed (almost) all the characters who appeared in this story (Damien Wayne still doesn't endear himself to me), with characters I love feeling like how I always view them in my head and some characters who do grate on me actually feeling likeable. What I loved most about the characters though were those who found themselves in kind of lead roles as both Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow both came across as the most pivotal to the story in my opinion, a decision which (if the case) I'm more than happy with.

That said, I was a little annoyed that the villains who took part in this 'adventure' weren't more villainous. E.g. Why did Lobo, the most mercenary of all the villains not ask for payment to be a 'hero?' I have to admit I thought it strange but, then again, many a movie has been ruined by thinking about a characters actions in a 'logical' manner. However, if this view had been included, Starro's presence would have allowed for a really awesome character arc. Oh well.

I love Francis Manapul's art (it was, admittedly, the sole reason I started picking up Trinity back when it came out) and really enjoyed his work on three of the four issues. His art had a very unique style this time around which I think was thanks to some more retro colours, giving the whole title a much more cosmic look. I missed this look when Riley Rossomo took over on issue 3, but his work was cool too and it wasn't a change which made or broke my feelings.

I've got to admit, while the ending hints at new, different stories to come in the DCU, reading this made me think that we reached that place already. This read completely different to any DC event I've read previously, but that's no bad thing.

So, although it went a bit slow to begin with for me, I still think it was worth the effort and makes me both excited and interested in the new Justice League and Justice League Dark (respectively) as well as a lot of other DC books.

Hopefully, I'll get access to some of them soon, somehow.