From one event to another. DC is going to bang us over the head with huge stories until our brains melt from the pressure. But alas, it won’t be from the pain. As Justice League: No Justice features high profile talent on all ends of the creative side, I look forward to seeing whether the result is a fantastic event or a middling gap filler until the next “real” event comes along. Well, issue one is here so lets find out how things got started shall we? Spoilers ahoy!
When I say Francis you say AWESOME. FRANCIS! I’ll pretend you said it because if you’ve read this issue then you will know what most comic fans already knew. Artist Francis Manapul is unbelievably awesome at almost everything. The skill shown in his storytelling has always been good but never great. There were times during his Flash run where he chose style over substance far too often. Here, that isn’t the case at all. There is not one single wasted panel. That’s incredibly impressive. My favorite moment in the issue is when the Justice League frees themselves from the clutches of Brainiac’s vice like grip to rejoin Superman in the fight, only to be squashed from above in an excellent display of storytelling by Manapul. It was Frank Quitely like. It was awesome. It was pretty (shout out to Hi-Fi on the colors). It was pretty awesome
Manapul can’t get all the praise for my favorite moment. One of those three writers (Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson) had to actually think of that great scene. Unfortunately, great moments are few and far between in this issue. Justice League: No Justice #1 features a lot of setup (which is fine) but its mostly setup we’ve seen before. This isn’t the first time heroes and villains have teamed up (it certainly won’t be the last) but even the characters involved don’t truly make a big deal about it (excluding a moment with Sinestro and Starfire that had some awesome dialogue). It all feels like we’ve been here before…like last week. It feels that fresh. These kind of teamups should be huge deals and none of it comes off as so.
That being said, the three writers did a great job of providing dialogue for each character. Every character who talked, felt right. None of the scenes felt disjointed. I think you would have a ridiculously hard time trying to distinguish which writer wrote what scene. It flows very smoothly. Someone should definitely let me know who decided Beast Boy gets so much attention. And while I saw the ending coming, its still a pretty good cliffhanger and a beautifully drawn moment. Brainiac’s pitch to split our favorite characters into a mixed bag of groups is mildly interesting, but putting that mixed bag with no plan and a big task is what makes this issue above the average. This miniseries (mini-event?) will rely heavy on the character interactions (like all random teamups do) but it will be anchored by the incredible artwork of Francis Manapul.
Justice League: No Justice #1 earns 3.5/5