Wes Serafine
Equinox Staff
The Justice League, the best of the best. As those outside of the realm of comics tend to regard the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg as inspiring characters, within their own world, that’s not always the case.
These heroes operate outside the government and usually outside the law, causing several civilians and government organizations not to trust them.
So, when this happens, the American government needs a Justice League of its own.
Pretend for a minute that you’re a resident of the DC Comics universe.
Your self-appointed protectors are these: An alien demigod with unlimited power, the monarch of a violent and xenophobic undersea kingdom, a teenager augmented by alien technology, a woman from a society of man-hating warrior amazons, a guy with a magic ring from a fascist organization of space cops, a man who moves too fast to comprehend and a borderline sociopath in a bat-suit, and then you learn that none of them answer to any branch of any government and consider themselves above our laws.
Odds are, you would not feel safe.
Fortunately, the fictional U.S. government had the same idea and has decided to recruit a Justice league that they can trust and if necessary, one that can keep the other Justice League in check.
There is no story to the comic, strictly speaking. What we have here is more of an introduction to the members of this new team through the eyes of their recruiters, Amanda Waller, longtime mainstay of the DCU known for being a part of many shady deals, and Steve Trevor, a soldier and former love interest of Wonder Woman. Waller gives Trevor the dossiers of each of their new recruits.
First up, Hawkman, a police officer from the planet Thanagar.
He’s a violent fellow, but he gets the job done and respects the law and will aid the team in exchange for diplomatic immunity.
Next up Katana, a member of the hero team known as The Birds of Prey.
Katana is a skilled swordswoman with a lust for vengeance, and will do anything to accomplish that end, including join this new team.
Then there’s Vibe, a meta-human with the ability to sense vibrational frequencies.
A small time hero wanting to be part of something bigger.
Star Girl, a young heroine already popular in the public eye, the team’s perfect poster child. Simon Baz, who you may remember from our first review as the newest Green Lantern.
A suspected terrorist, seeking to clear his name.
The next to be recruited is Catwoman, master thief and longtime enemy of The Batman.
Trevor recruits her in a scene that’s stolen wholesale from the end credits of the Iron Man movie–unoriginal, but classic all the same.
Finally, there’s the Martian Manhunter, a former member of the Justice League who was drummed out for being hard to work with.
The Martian is skeptical, but he trusts Trevor and thinks he needs all the help he can get.
It would seem that the team is all set, until one of Trevor’s covert operatives reports in, heavily wounded and reveals himself to be the final member of the team, Green Arrow.
How will this team function as a unit? Will they be able to counteract the Justice League, or will personal ego’s and histories get in the way?
Only time will tell.
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories where an unlikely team is recruited for a special operation.
Each scene with these characters gives us a little insight into their characters but doesn’t stay on them so long that they hog the spotlight.
Geoff Johns is a solid writer and does well with mainstream characters like the original Justice League.
I will be interested to see how he writes these lesser known characters going forward.
This was a decent story, but not enough action to warrant a full score, but all in all, a good start.
Wes Serafine can be contacted at
wserafine@keene-equinox.com