Justice #1 (October 2005)

It's that time again! It's time to spend a year looking at a twelve-issue miniseries! Last year, we followed the Avengers as they engaged in the Destiny War. Now, this year, we join their DC counterparts, the Justice League of America, as they engage in their own epic battle! 

After doing Kingdom Come, legendary comic painter/creator Alex Ross wanted to do something a little different. This led him to doing the book Truth and Justice with Paul Dini. These were a series of tabloid-sized books that celebrated the then-60th Anniversaries of various DC characters like Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman. In 2005, Ross would team-up with artist Doug Braithwaite and frequent collaborator/writer Jim Krueger for a new project called simply Justice. Unlike Kingdom Come, which featured a conflict between generations of DC heroes in a possible future, Justice would be set in a more "classic" DCU, focusing on a big conflict between the Justice League of America, and their villainous counterparts, the Legion of Doom. 

So, how does this epic battle start? Let's find out in Justice #1!

The cover is naturally an Alex Ross piece. And it's really cool. It depicts the Justice League flying into action, with lightning flashing behind them. This piece really shows one of Ross's big strengths as an artist in my opinion: His ability to make heroes look larger than life, yet plausible and realistic.

"Chapter One"
Writers: Jim Krueger and Alex Ross
Pencilers: Doug Braithwaite and Alex Ross
Inker: Alex Ross
Colorist: Alex Ross
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editors: Joey Cavalieri, Rachel Gluckstern
Executive Editor: Dan Didio

The story begins with a view of various places, ending at Metropolis. All the while, a narrator talks about how humanity has let itself become complacent and lazy. Why? Because humanity let itself bow to strange beings with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. as the narrator, well, narrates, missiles hit various cities. We focus in on Superman rescuing his love, Lois Lane. She was in her apartment, when she heard the missile go off.

Superman tries to help, but more missiles come and cause more destruction and death, too fast for even him to stop. He tries to call his compatriots in the Justice League to help, but they're occupied by crises of their own. Wonder Woman is doing what she can in Rome, but she notices cracks appearing in her legs, like they were stone columns about to collapse.

Page 6, Panels 3-4.

The Barry Allen Flash manages to put out the flames covering Central City by using his speed to create some whirlwinds to suck up the air the flames need to keep burning. Barry, being the Fastest Man Alive, did it in less than a minute. But despite that awesome showing of his superpower...there were no survivors. J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, is in Tokyo. And he's not doing so well.

Page 8, Panel 2

Yeah, he's toast. Fire is the Kryptonite of the Last Martian, after all. The Hal Jordan Green Lantern is rescuing all he can in Hawaii, but even his formidable willpower has limits. Around the world, the World's Greatest Heroes seem to fail. The Katar and Shayera Hol Hawkman and Hawkwoman go down in flames, falling like Icarus. The Arthur Curry Aquaman implores people to stay away from the seas...as they have boiled away. The Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance Green Arrow and Black Canary try to evacuate people. Atom shrinks down to practically nothing. The Bruce Wayne Batman tries to bring some children to the Batcave. The Earth explodes, leaving only Superman. The Last Son of Krypton, now also the Last Son of Earth. 

Various supervillains wake up. It was a dream.

(phew)

In Atlantis, Aquaman has trouble sleeping. Something isn't quite right in the realm, and he wants to check it out. A shark comes by, telling the King of the Seas that something big is nearby. He plays with his son Arthur Jr. a bit, gives Mera a kiss, saddles up his seahorse, and heads off.

In a city, a man is looking at a watch, thinking a man named "Leonard" should be arriving now. This "Leonard" is Leonard Snart, aka Flash villain Captain Cold. He's driving in a dune buggy through a desert. Presumably the Sahara. He whips out his Cold Gun and creates a giant mountain of ice.

Page 21, Panel 4

He tells his guide to let everyone know about the ice mountain. And maybe he'll finally get some sleep tonight.

Back under the seas! Aquaman sees a giant black dome under the water. He then gets ambushed and attacked by Black Manta. Manta raves that he'll be a king to his people and that he will be there when Arthur will not. A confused Aquaman is attacked by sea creatures, and then overcome. Manta then takes Aquaman's body to a strange location. The coat and hat-wearing figure from earlier asks how Manta is sleeping. Manta reports that the dreams are getting more painful every night.

The figure removes his hat, revealing that he is Lex Luthor, Superman's #1 arch-nemesis. He tells Manta that the dreams are an omen. The Justice League will not be able to save the world...but the Legion of Doom will.

I enjoyed this issue. There's an intriguing mystery here. And the beginning was quite a surprise, with the JLA seemingly failing to save the world. The twist with the supervillains being the ones driven by a dream to help the world is an interesting twist. What would drive them to do good, and why? What's interesting is the take on Lex Luthor (He's the one narrating the issue). This story is clearly using a JLA and Legion of Doom inspired by the Silver Age/Satellite Era and the Superfriends cartoon, but Lex's characterization is very much Modern Age Lex, the human angered at the powered beings having power he believes they do not deserve. 

Ross doesn't do the actual pencils, British artist Doug Braithwaite takes care of that. And his pencil art is stunning to look at. He does such a good job embodying that "realistic-yet-heroic" style of Ross that I had actually thought that Alex Ross himself had painted the interiors. It's beautiful to look at. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback Justice. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccination! See you next time!