This week in Justice League of America, the JLA has armor made of light! Why? I don’t know! As far as I can tell, it serves no purpose. It doesn’t appear to be actual armor, and it doesn’t seem to have any offensive benefits either, so I’m not quite sure what the point is. I mean, it doesn’t even look cool… It looks stupid… This is stupid!
I dread reading Justice League of America and Batgirl & the Birds of Prey because they literally put me in a terrible mood. Both of these books are more grating than the Kardashians. The %&#$@!% Kardashians! I hate the Kardashians! I want to go to my local comic shop and throw good books at people that attempt to pick up either of these titles, and yell things like, “Don’t waste your money!” “It’s crap!” “You get cooties if you buy that book!” “Every time someone buys JLA, a puppy dies!” I’m not joking. I’m serious. Stop laughing.
One of the biggest issues plaguing Justice League of America – other than the terrible writing, lifeless stories, and poor characterization – is that there is no point. There is no reason for this team to be together, nor is there any reason for them to do half of what they’re doing. Unfortunately, without purpose, there’s also no reason for me to feel invested. The intrigue is void. We’re six issues in, we’ve had two stories, and every single issue has been underwhelming. There’s no growth or development. There’s not even a direction. I feel like I’m reading one filler issue after another. And I’m not talking about a semi-enjoyable filler issue to allow a breather for readers and the creative team… Oh no. I’m talking about a “we’re rebooting our entire line! Find people to create comics for the next four months so we can pull our good people and start strong!” type of filler.
What’s even more frustrating, is that on paper these ideas should be good. The story with Havok could have been strong. The same goes for this arc. In theory, the idea that a community/ country/ city would bring in an arms dealer – knowing it will result in terrible things not only for them, but the rest of the world – just for the sake of being able to earn an income and live… That sounds like a fascinating story! But when you don’t get any meat or depth in your narrative, it’s just a hollow idea.
I made this argument before, but I don’t feel as though we’re getting actual stories from Orlando with Justice League of America. I feel like we’re getting outlines of stories. I want to care about these characters and these stories. I’m intrigued by the idea of Vixen, Ray, Killer Frost, and Atom, but the execution (or lack thereof) leaves me wanting more. I want to see Batman develop them, shape them. I want to see Batman give these group of people a purpose, and subsequently find a purpose for himself as well. I want to read a story that I can proclaim is either captivating or a ton of fun… Unfortunately, we’re not getting any of that.
This issue wraps up the current story, and I find myself not caring. I don’t care about the team, the people they helped, or what’s next. They (Orlando, team, or the JLA) don’t give me any reason to. The only character I find remotely enjoyable at the moment is Lobo, and I only enjoy him for his one-liners. Granted, this chapter does provide a really nice moment between Lobo and Ryan. That moment can’t save this mess of a book though. In fact, I don’t foresee anything changing the current trend, so I’m just going to buckle up and prepare to be put in a bad mood every other week. *sigh*
The Art:
DC, do yourself a favor… Fire Andy MacDonald. Pull a Donald Trump and Comey his ass (too soon?) because his work is awful! What’s up with all of these white panels with part of a character in them? They’re weird. They’re drawn terribly, too. They’re weird, and drawn terribly. What’s up with that? It looks lazy.
On top of it, there’s no life to MacDonald’s characters… at all. They’re just there. They’re like lifeless bodies that fill the panels. And… And their proportions are crap. They look like kids. It’s like we’re reading a book that should be titled Jr. JLA. I mean, come on… You’re pulling a Marvel on us with this. You claim to care about the art, but between release schedules, deadlines, and the number of artists jumping from book to book or issue to issue, your actions say otherwise. I know we can’t have outstanding art with every book, but people deserve decent art at the very least…
Breakdowns for this issue can be found in the spoiler tag.
The Good:
Lobo & Ryan. The one good thing about this issue is Lobo’s dolphin speech to Ryan. Lobo isn’t an upstanding guy, but he does have a heart somewhere in that body of his. It’s nice to see him stick up for the little guy. If we could get more moments like this, then I’d enjoy this book more. Unfortunately, when stories are being churned out at two to four issues per story, then that’s not going to happen as frequently as it is needed.
The Bad:
The rest of the book.
Recommended If:
- You like bad/absurd comics from the 80’s and 90’s.
- You like dolphins.
- You’re a glutton for punishment.
Overall: Justice League of America continues to spiral into oblivion, and all I can think about is how much I despise writing reviews every other week, and this title is 50% of the reason I feel that way. If you want to waste your time and money, Justice League of America is the book for you.
SCORE: 2.5/10
