Re: Justice League (The New 52 Version) Spoilers
Just read #1.
Not bad. But it feels ludicrously dated. It feels like ULTIMATE JUSTICE LEAGUE #1. I mean it's fine, and it might get better, but it's really lacking in any depth. It was cute that Lantern is so cocky, but it's really very samey.
The problem with a reboot is that you can't just redo the "how they met" story and keep it all the same. You need some level of insight into the franchise to sustain the new take. Now, it's possible there will be one and we've not seen it, but it should've been there in #1 (which, by the way, feels more like #2). For example, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN decompressed Spidey's origin to really suck the marrow out of it, much like BATMAN BEGINS did in the cinema, allowing for a little bit more insight into the Parker family before Ben dies, and indeed, the Spidey-verse (Harry, Midtown, MJ, etc) before Spidey shows up. It's not much, but it's enough to give the series something sustainable. In THE ULTIMATES, the deceptively slow pace, sense of secret mystery, and attention to media celebrity and military functionality separated it completely from not only THE AVENGERS, but THE AUTHORITY, X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, and every other teambook out there. Very original work.
This new JUSTICE LEAGUE reads like ULTIMATE X-MEN. It's not bad, but the first arc's entire purpose is "look how crazy this new world is; Superman's an *******, everyone hates superheroes" and so on, but by the end of the arc, it will be exactly as it was before the reboot. Superheroes will be friends (though with some problems, no doubt), people will love them for saving the world (but with some trepidations as the writer wishes)... just like how Wolverine was introduced as Magneto's number 1 assassin and after the first arc just reverted back to being regular Wolverine.
It's not bad, it just feels like fanfiction in that it is superficial changes that create new novelty scenes that really won't go anywhere. And, unfortunately, while that was true of ULTIMATE X-MEN, that at least was only one book in a small line, thus it felt more special, it was the first really brazen reboot, and it was side-by-side with ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and THE ULTIMATES which were very good back then. JUSTICE LEAGUE is swamped with a number of reboots in the same universe causing continuity headaches out of the gate, it's a decade too late; the Ultimate universe has pretty much died, and the All-Star line completely failed, and it lacks anything substantively new that's also true to the property (that's the difficulty of a reboot; it's new but more true to the property than the original). In fact, this series purposely betrays its premise in order to feel 'new': it's rather inconceivable that the DCU, with characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, would be scared of superheroes. I know JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED went there, but to do so, it first had to have Superman brainwashed by Darkseid, and then had to have them create a Justice League of dozens of heroes. And the shadow government was funded by Luthor. This was also a similar premise in JLA: THE NAIL. The idea that the government and populace would spontaneously rally against bright, beloved icons of justice, truth, and liberty as those I mention, is really rather idiotic, as both the titles I mentioned had to go to great lengths to explain why people would distrust someone like Superman or Wonder Woman. That's why it feels like fanfiction; it betrays the core elements of the series in order to give it novelty value.
It might get better, certainly ULTIMATE X-MEN got much better as it went along; even the first arc had a fantastic climax. This gives me the vibe of ULTIMATE X-MEN because of the whole "hated and feared" angle (which, is central to the X-Men franchise) and it's pacing, so it's possible it will pick up soon and actually work.
I was really pessimistic about this, but the first issue, while not good, has a level of energy that makes me wonder if it might end up working. It would be nice if it did.
