I'll admit it. When I picked up my copy of Justice League of America #44 back in April, I was one of the first to cast a stone or two at the newly formed Justice League. I mean, at first glance, it really looks like a team of misfits. Allow me to break down the team for you:
- Batman, as played by Dick Grayson
- Donna Troy, who I do love, but can only really be described in layman's terms as a B-List Wonder Woman
- A shirtless, blue alien guy going by the name of Star Man, and isn't there already a Star Man that is neither blue or shirtless?
- and last, but certainly not least, a giant gorilla man, seriously, I'm not making this up
I mean, as much as I want to like this team, its hard to deny that it looks like someone just scooped these heroes out of the bargain bin. Needless to say, I was pretty skeptical. Even Etrigan couldn't take them seriously, and I mean, let's face it, he's kinda bargain bin-y himself. However, following the battle with said rhyming demon, the "Justice League" discovered Jade, the recently alive daughter of the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott,
that innately has Green Lantern-like powers. They were almost immediately joined by the Justice Society of America and I am then led into a JLA/JSA crossover arc, with a JLA team that I'm not entirely sure I'm feeling yet.I'm not the hugest fan of team crossover comics in the first place, but two pretty lackluster teams made it ever less appealing. With that said, I'm not entirely sure why I stuck with this comic for the ride, but I did.
The next issues featured a pretty epic fight
between Power Girl and, a very welcome addition to the Justice Leauge, Supergirl. Adding an "S" to the group definitely gives it at least an appearance of legitimacy. But then again, it is Supergirl, not the big guy, I think you all know the one I'm talking about. Finally, after much Green Lanterny-ness, the arc came to a close. On the last couple pages Batman offered Jesse Quick of the JSA an invitation to the League, which she quickly accepted. I'm not entirely sure if Jesse Quick was always a cool character or if they just made her seem that way just before her League debut, but either way, I approve of the speedster.
At the end of a pretty satisfying cross-over, we had the final rooster for this incarnation of the Justice League of America. Let me break it down for you one more time, now with my fresh perspective:
- Batman, still Dick Grayson, apparently that's not changing
- Donna Troy, now kinda the only Wonder Woman, what with Diana going through God knows what in her own comic
- The new Star Man, who I still don't know too much about, but after wiki-ing him up, it could be cool to have an openly gay member of the JLA
- Congorilla, who I'm still not entirely sold on, but he does sorta fit the magical character slot
- Supergirl, personally, my favorite member of the Super family
- Jade, a green skinned hottie that packs a mighty punch, with a giant green energy fist, of course
- and Jesse Quick, she may not be anywhere close to the most high-profile speedster, but she does seem like she'll be a pretty great addition to the team
After I saw the full rooster of this Justice League, I finally realized what bugged me so much about it in the first place. This doesn't at all feel like the Justice League, it feels like The Outsiders. No, not that current batch of losers, my Outsiders, the Outsiders with Nightwing at the helm. That was a comic that I really loved. Which brings me to my final verdict.
At the end of the day, this is actually a pretty well-rounded team. They have their bat, their Wonder, their Super, their Lantern, their speedster, their magic person and their random Hero thrown in for flavor. As long as I can accept that this will never be the Justice League I read that involved the big three, I think I'll really dig this comic. This has the makings to be very similar to the Outsiders comics I read a couple years back, which could actually be pretty amazing. I'm really glad I didn't jump off this ride before it even really got started.
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