Review of DC Comics’ New 52: Justice League International

Public confidence in every level of authority is at an all-time low. It’s time for the United Nations to assemble their own team of superheroes! This Justice League International has no connection to the original team of DC’s ultimate superheroes in that other comic I reviewed. Instead, Justice League International, or JLI, is a team of misfit superheroes from all the big nations. Of course, that doesn’t stop Batman from sneaking on the team without the consent of the UN.

It's time for the UN to assemble its own team!

Perfect starting point
Starting at the very beginning of the story, Justice League International is the perfect introduction to DC’s reboot. Since this Justice team consists almost entirely of lesser known superheroes, there doesn’t seem to be much timeline overlap with comics to confuse new readers like myself. This first issue starts with the formation of the team, introducing each character one by one and providing the perfect starting point.

Flirting Brits and inarticulate Russians
It is, however, a slow start. And, unfortunately, the less familiar superheroes aren’t as engaging as their more well-known counterparts — not so much because they are unknown, but because their characters aren’t as well fleshed out. For example, Rocket Red’s only “character” trait seems to be his poor English—he’s a Russian superhero, after all. And he isn’t the only shallow character. Godiva, for example, does nothing other than hit on Booster.

Yet when the action finally breaks loose in full, Justice League International develops into a decent comic. The art by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan is pretty in its simplicity, only adding to the fact that this seems to be the perfect first issue for a rookie comic fan.

Will I buy the second issue?
I think I may. While I feel like I won’t miss out on anything if I don’t, this league of superhero misfits has me intrigued.

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