Justice League #3 (DC) | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
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Justice League #3

DC

Written by Geoff Johns; Pencils by Jim Lee; Inks by Scott Williams; Colors by Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi, Gabe Eltaeb; Letters by Patrick Brosseau; Cover by Lee Williams, & Sinclair

Nov 22, 2011 Web Exclusive

After an alright debut issue and an action-packed second installment, Justice League takes one step forward and two steps back as a marquee series this month. The cast of characters are almost assembled and Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams hit their story and art beats with precision most of the time.

This issue features the Justice League premiere of Wonder Woman, and unlike Cliff Chiang’s present-day iteration, the flashback version Diana of Themyscira is more naïve as she wanders about Washington D.C. eating ice cream for the first time and interacting with various citizens.

Cyborg’s tale is grim so far and separated from the rest of the team. Aquaman shows up towards the end of the comic and spots a cocky one-liner, too. The elements are certainly here for an exceptional, must-buy comic. The reality is that Johns and Lee are kicking up a lot of dust, only to obscure these well-drawn chracters. Lee’s background visuals get all fuzzy here and there, too.

Darkseid’s Parademons are still attacking various cities and that’s fairly interesting. Issue #4 needs to either up the stakes more or add some poignant character moments. The drama centering on Cyborg’s origin and its connection to the forthcoming threat is meaty enough.

Lee and Williams turn in some truly eye-popping panels this month. One of my favorites is Wonder Woman’s “Back to Hades” action shot. Her motion and anger are rendered so well. The streets of D.C. are captured fairly well, too. Per usual, Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi, & Gabe Eltaeb’s colors are breaktaking.

Justice League has the potential for true greatness, it just needs to reach out and grab it. The title’s creators possess that caliber of talent. True execution will eventually arrive once Cyborg and Aquaman join the fledgling team for good, in about two issues. (www.geoffjohns.com / www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=7 / www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 7/10



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john
November 29th 2011
2:31pm

I agree that the first issue was just okay, but I thought this issue was the best one so far. I loved the intro of Wonder Woman, and the arrival of Aquaman. I’m not sure what you mean by the series taking “two steps back.”

Irene
December 7th 2011
1:30pm

This piece was cogent, well-wtrietn, and pithy.