Justice League: Cry For Justice

I was kind of hesitant to talk about this issue, because I bagged on James Robinson pretty hard at the start of his run on the Superman titles. He has since gone on to do much better work.

Justice League: Cry For Justice is not that better work. Reading Jamie Trecker's similar feelings about the issue encouraged me to express my thoughts about it.

This first issue is so formulaic and mechanical. I have a feeling it may have been written before Robinson got his comic book legs back under him. With the painted art and how long ago this project was announced, Robinson may have written this before he had shaken all the dust and cobwebs off.

The way he starts introducing the team's characters would fit better in an 80s book, not just an ongoing series as some have noted. It's, dare I say, hack. I mean, to have all of the characters come around to saying something about justice is just really bad paint-by-numbers stuff. The concept of being proactive (as this Justice League was billed as being when the project was announced) and wanting to focus on meeting out punishment on the criminals and villais of the world doesn't have to be summed up as JUSTICE! by everyone. It feels a bit lazy to do that...and a little too "on the nose" for the book.

The dialogue is really rough, too. I think, to some extent, James forced himself into this situation with some bad choices. He to quickly differentiate the members of this new league being more EXTREME! than the members they were ditching. Green Lantern's tirade seems to, continuity-wise, come from no where. I'm referring to his level of anger with his teammates. It, also, stems from a false premise. That he brings up finding Libra and his gang for what they did to J'Onn does NOT ring true as something that the rest of the league would be against.

It, also, is not "being proactive". In fact, none of the setups show heroes taking the initiative. They're ALL responding to somewhat fresh crimes. This is, of course, not something that makes the story bad. It is a neutral element by itself. But when compared to what the series was advertised to be and how we're to believe the main team wouldn't support going after these people, it stands out in a negative way.

All the heroes seem to be demonstrating is that they're going to be like a 90s "extreme" team. In fact, you might as well have named this Extreme Justice II: Electric Boogaloo. It would make more sense than "Justice League", when you have the leader of the team ridiculing the "League" and "Society" part of team names.

Look, I'm not saying this is how Robinson is going to write the whole mini. I do have some concerns, like others, that the pacing here is off for a seven issue mini. Two issues out of a seven to just introduce the team? Ugh. But if the meat of the story was written or updated after James Robinson got back into the swing of things, I'm virtually certain that the rest of the series will be much better.

These first issues might read better when they're part of a trade, but it won't improve the tactics Robinson has chosen to use. Hopefully, there will be something to demonstrate a believable reason as to why the same bad guys everyone else is going after would want to slaughter Congorilla's tribe...and that it won't just mimic what Gail Simone did with Catman for the Villains United mini.

The artwork is neither great or terrible to me. It is more than servicable to the story. Aside from maybe one panel of Superman, there's no point during the reading where I sit up and take notice. So...all you get about it is the preceding three sentences.

If I wasn't starved for some kind of Justice League story allowed to breathe better than they've let McDuffie or hadn't seen improvement from Robinson on other titles, this issue would NOT lead me to purchase the next. In all honesty, I still might not buy the next issue, but just wait for the trade. If the second issue is like the first, I can just see myself not enjoying it and then looking at $8 paid for misery, all in an act of faith that #3-#7 will be much better.

If You're Smart, You'll Pay The Man $6!

Tony Fleecs has been doing sketches for a few bucks for awhile now. I got in when the prices were lower, but I'm definitely considering paying to get some more done at the $6 price.


I had Vixen, Blue Devil & Martian Manhunter done. They were a little damaged in the mail due to it being a rainy day when they were delivered, but just barely. They still looked great.


Tony scanned in the Vixen and Martian Manhunter over on his blog. I'd suggest going over there, being incredibly impressed by many of his other examples and promptly commissioning some work from the man.

DJ Coffman Helps Me Voice A Complaint

How J'Onn Could Work: Condition #1

I'd really love to do a "Why I Should Be Writing Martian Manhunter", like that blogger did about the Legion of Super Heroes and, if you believe the interwebz, almost got a job out of it. But I know that Grant has to have a way to bring him back all plotted out, so there is even less reason for a barely published writer to try to pitch.

So, instead, I'll be giving you how he could work as a character to build damn entertaining stories around.

Condition #1: He doesn't have to always be written as a poor man's Spock. Having the perspective of an alien who survived his whole race fading from existence is great, but it doesn't mean he has to be written as devoid of emotion all of the time.

The Spock approach worked well in Justice League/Justice League International because he was part of a large ensemble cast where he had great value as a straight man and filling a two dimensional role. But this is not how he has always been written. It has gotten to the point that no one remembers that the character has great emotion at times (one of which is shown above, from JL: A Midsummer's Nightmare, a mini that preceded Morrison's run on JLA).

It would seem that the Giffen/DeMatteis work had the unfortunate side effect of sapping all passion out of the character. Any perfectly acceptable emotion had to be a warning sign (Joe Kelly's great arc where J'Onn was transformed into a nigh unbeatable villain) or a lingering negative side effect (the craptacular AJ Lieberman mini where his emotions were from his WWIII exposure to Black Adam).

Readers have a hard time identifying with an emotionless character that studies the human race like a science experiment. If you absolutely MUST do something like that, then you need a regular cast member that serves as the reader's entry point.

But this shouldn't be necessary, since J'Onn is capable of demonstrating feelings and should show this a helluva lot more often than he has in the last decade or more.

He's not Spock, dammit...and even Spock demonstrated some emotion about once a film (translates to once an arc?).

How J'Onn Could Work: Condition #1: He needs to go back to showing just enough emotion to be able to have readers identify with him more. Maybe a little more, but never a little less.

SCHWAPP!!!: J'Onn J'Onzz: Failure Of Conventional Wisdom

Part One: Reflecting on the squandering of the sales potential for Martian Manhunter solo projects during the JL/JLI/JLE era of the character:



Part Two: Reflecting on the squandering of the sales potential for Martian Manhunter during the Grant Morrison JLA era of the character (with a bonus from Mr. Morrison at the end):

J'Onn Is Dead? Long Live J'Onn!

So...apparently J'Onn is all but confirmed as the hero dying in Final Crisis. He's getting a one-shot from Tomasi and Mahnke to commemorate the event (damn good creative team to pick, btw).

But does anyone think he'll stay dead? We're talking about a death orchestrated by Grant Morrison with a character that has a spiritual connection with fire (H'Ronmeer, God of Death & Fire, I believe). I feel confident that this is part of a plan to reimagine J'Onn to some extent.

If not...don't be surprised if you see me ape the guy who listed reasons why he should write the Legion of Super Heroes and start up my own campaign regarding J'Onn. So much untapped potential in that character.