New 52 Justice League # 3

By Mark Rodriguez

Well by now, Justice League War has already been released, and I'm sure most of you DC fans have seen it by now. I did my review on it and honestly I could have babbled for hours on the differences between the comics and the animated version. In fact, it will be difficult to do this review without saying 'this was in the movie' and 'that part's changed', and we didn't even get to the issue where Aquaman debuts. I kinda regret not getting into this back when the blog was new... but I guess for whatever reason it was interesting to talk about the WTF-ery of Batman The Dark Knight and all the pointless Justice League cameos. LOL Anyways let's continue as this issue throws Wonder Woman into the mix.

Issue 3 opens in Washington DC as Steve Trevor sees some guards watching several TV screen, most of them arguing about how violent Wonder Woman is, or how she dresses. The soldiers tell him she started arguing with the TV screens as if they could hear her and then left when she saw a news report about a winged monster attack people downtown. Trevor asks them why they didn't stop her. They point to the hole in the brick wall she made as she escaped and ask him if he's kidding.

Wonder Woman wanders around downtown looking for a Harpy (which is what she considers the winged monster to be) and asks anyone if they've seen it so she can chop off its head. Everyone is too scared of the warrior woman waving a big sword around. Everyone except a little girl with some ice cream that think she's cool. Wonder Woman never saw ice cream before, and after the girl drops hers, she gets some for both her and the girl. The amazon loves it and tells the ice cream vendor that he should be proud of accomplishing such an achievement.

My favorite scene of the entire issue. Wonder Woman is so adorable here!

Trevor finds her and tells her she should return to the Pentagon. Wonder Woman tells him that she's been treated like a child all her life on Paradise Island, and now that she's no longer there and an adult, she's done with people telling her what to do. Trevor expresses his concerns, when just then they spot the Parademon. Just then a portal opens and lots of them jump up, which leaves Wonder Woman anxious for battle.

Elsewhere the Parademons are appearing in portals all over the world, kidnapping people while the general populus blame the super heroes for this. The scientists at STAR Labs are also worried, but Dr. Stone won't leave his son behind. He said he already saw Victor's mother die, he won't watch him die too.

Superman, Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern are fighting off an army of Parademons. Flash tells the others that this is happening worldwide and they're getting blamed for it. Batman tells Lantern to focus so his constructs don't break so easily. Lantern tells him to worry about himself since he doesn't have any powers. Flash is surprised to hear this and thought Batman was a vampire or something. Batman says there are too many for them to just barrel through, Flash says he should tell that to Superman. Superman takes out several demons by swinging a gas truck around.

This pic was taken seconds before... well.... keep on reading....

Meanwhile, Dr. Stone and his assistant takes what's left of Victor to 'the Red Room' and set him down. Elsewhere the fighting continues as the heroes start to wonder where the demons are taking all the people they're capturing. Just then Wonder Woman shows up to kick some ass (I guess they were close to Washington DC?). Superman is impressed and remarks that she's strong. She says she knows.

lust at first sight?

At the Red Room, Morrow says Victor's vitals are still there but the energy that hit him is eating him from the inside out. Dr. Stone says the room is full of advanced technology they've gathered from around the world, they will save his son somehow. Morrow warns Victor's body might reject the Promethium Skin Graft, but Stone says he already injected him with nanites that should keep that from happening. They activate the nanites and Victor screams.

The Parademons start circling the water and Flash wonders what they're doing. As this happens, Victor sees visions of Darkseid, getting ready for his invasion. A big bolt of energy bursts out of the water, and it also seems to affect Victor. A structure then comes out of the ocean and the heroes wonder what it is. Just then a dead parademon drops down, being impaled by a trident. Aquaman shows up saying he was hoping they'd tell him what was going on since the parademons are in the water too. He asks who's in charge, and he already votes for himself.

My Opinions:
Trying my best to ignore the movie and draw any comparisons here.. this issue was great. The main draw is that it brought Wonder Woman into the story in all her butt-kickin glory. I still wonder why originally they were gonna give her pants but then gave her back her bikini-bottom tights in the last second... but her classic look works. I don't see all that many drastic changes in her costume, just drawn better by modern artists. I did like the scene with her and the ice cream. It brings out a bit of innocence in her that reminds us that even if she's swinging her sword around looking for battle... she still has a warm heart.

I also like the little girl's innocent view that goes beyond adults over-thinking things. While everyone else is worried about Diana's sword, dress code, and even the fact that believes in Zeus.... the girl just sees her as what she really is. A superhero.

I do admit the other heroes take a bit of a backseat, but we already saw most of their characterization in the last two issues. I did like Flash thinking Batman was 'a vampire or something'. Now we're gonna be introduced to The New 52 Aquaman, and we'll soon see what he brings to the table. Again for those that have seen the movie, you already know Shazam took Aquaman's place... so from here on out everything he does is gonna be very different than what happened in the movie.

 I'll try to get back to this story sooner than later. I figure a good way to end this review is to show my review on the movie. Of course this will have spoilers if you haven't seen it yet, or if you haven't read the rest of this storyline yet.

Extra Edit: Oh come on!!! No sooner than when I was through taking pics and put the comic away.... but a page comes off. What the flying @#$%!!! It just came off! Nothing wrong with the staples or anything, it just wore itself off as I had read this one a zillion times... even thought is probably the second or maybe third time I ever touched since I read it waaaay back then when I first bought it. Grrr... Maybe I'll re-buy it off Amazon or something... but it won't be the same book I bought back then at Velvet Underground when the New 52 was still new and exciting. Oh damn it!!!

what is this.... I don't even..... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?????

New 52 Justice League # 2

By Mark Rodriguez

We're already seeing previews for Justice League War, which will be the animated version of the first five issues of the New 52 Justice League. The story will be rather different, especially since the original story amounts to just the heroes meeting up and defeating Darkseid in a few hours. It already looks like the animated version will expand a lot more on that. Not only that, but Aquaman was replaced by Shazam and he'll apparently be Cyborg's buddy in this one. I already covered the first issue back in September, and here's the link.
New 52 Justice League # 1 and let's follow up with issue 2. I'm not sure if I can finish the story before the movie is released, but I'll give it a try. And well, it's kinda too late to consider this spoilers, but depending on how much you're looking forward to seeing the animated version and assuming you never read the comics during the New 52 launch, you might wanna tread lightly if you don't want it spoiled for you, depending on how faithful it is to the comics that is.

The comic opens in Central City with Allen trying to solve a murder case he think he can solve, but everyone is busy wanting to figure out who the Flash is. Of course, this sucks for him since he IS the Flash.

Back to Metropolis, Batman has used sonic grenades, tear gas and tasers, and of course none of them work against the Man of Steel. Superman just walks towards him like the unstoppable juggernaut that he is and tells him that his belt is empty. Superman grabs Batman by the throat and flies him into a wall. He says he was attacked by 'someone with one of the boxes' Batman has that blew himself up and took most of the building with him.

Green Lantern gets up, and people run from him as they notice he's 'one of them', since the world is still afraid of superheroes at this point. Superman chokes Batman and demands he talks before he 'doesn't let him'. Lantern attacks Superman with chained pistons made out of energy and tells him to drop Batman. He then chains up Superman, which doesn't amuse him and he proceeds to break free in a 2-page splash.

Superman is now pissed and Lantern is shocked he was able to shatter his construct. Batman says he's angry due to fighting someone else before they showed up. Lantern says he knows someone faster than Superman and calls the Flash as they try to escape in an energy bubble. Flash is surprised to find out Lantern met Batman and they're both in a fight against Superman. He's reluctant to help since the last they hung out, they defeated a talking gorilla (Grodd I assume?) and destroyed a natural history museum in the process, and now there's even a Flash Task Force out to stop him. Lantern says they need his help now since Superman's about to kill them... just as he shatters the energy orb they're in.

Flash appears and holds back Superman's fist and says he'll give his friends some breathing room. He spins Superman around and shoves him into a wall. Superman says he hates being attacked and tries to grab the Flash, but he's too fast for him. Flash says he thinks there's a misunderstanding and tells Superman not to bother trying to catch him since he's never been touched. Supes flicks a finger at him and sends Flash flying into a dumpster, which surprises the speedster that he was actually hit.

Batman tells Superman to stop and says they were also attacked by a monster that blew up and used one of the boxes. They figured since the box seems alien, Superman might know what it is, but he never saw anything like this before. Flash comes back and asks if they're done fighting. Since they are, he cleans up the area.

The military show up, and Superman says Luthor is behind it. Batman isn't a fan of Luthor either, and for now all the heroes have to escape to the underground. Flash complains since he doesn't want more bad publicity. Lantern asks why Batman seems extra serious now, and the Dark Knight says he's worried if there are more of those alien boxes out there.

Meanwhile in STAR labs, some scientists are studying one of the alien boxes they found in the wreckage of Superman's battle that morning. They know it's broadcasting some kind of signal, and the same kind of signal has been found in D.C, Central City and Coast City. One of the scientists tell Dr. Stone his son wants to see him, but he's too busy. He sighs and goes anyway since it sounds urgent. His son, Victor Stone was disappointed his father wasn't there to see him play football since some big time scouts were there and some were even offering full scholarships. His father says he's paying his way through college anyway and he should open his eyes. He says there's a new race of super beings now that make playing football sound like a joke. Victor asks if his dad will ever watch any of his games... and he says no.

Superman leads everyone to an abandoned printing press and tells Batman he doesn't have a base of operations. Batman asks where he hides, since he doesn't wear a mask and seem to have a secret identity to hide. Lantern tells Flash maybe they should ditch Bats and Supes and figure out the box on their own. Flash asks about the aliens behind Lantern's ring, but since the ring can't identify the box, neither can the guardians. Hal suggests Flash can quickly disassemble it to see what's inside, but the Flash doesn't want to chance it since it might be radioactive or toxic inside, and Superman can't see through it either. Flash suggests taking it for analysis for any fingerprints or DNA. Batman says he sounds like a cop, and he admits he is. Lantern warns Barry that he's exposes his identity... and Flash calls hims out for calling him 'Barry' in front of them.

Just then the box that the heroes have, as well as the one in STAR labs start making quick 'Ping' sounds and explode. The explosions bring forth more monsters yelling out 'for Darkseid!!!'. At the labs, the explosions vaporizes some scientists, but it also nearly fries Victor Stone to death.

My Opinions:

Man, does this bring back memories of back then when the New 52 was new and was all the rage. I did like the classic DC Universe, mostly Batman's history with all the Robins and Batgirls, and I remember things like The Death of Superman and such, but the fresh new reboot was exciting and I was excited to 'be there' for the modern re-telling of the formation of the Justice League. I loved this issue now for the same reason I loved it then, mostly the interactions and introductions of the heroes. They're still knowing each other and their abilities, so Batman doesn't know a taser won't affect Superman, nor does he know that he does have a secret identity even if he doesn't wear a mask. Flash and Lantern play off each other well, and it's interesting to see they already knew each other beforehand. Flash is more serious and Lantern just seems to get everybody he knows into trouble.

Of course we all know what will happen to Victor Stone. I wonder how the animated version will fit both his origin story and Shazam's. In this story his is the only origin we see. Everyone else is already established, they just haven't met yet.

I remember people complaining back then about the first issue mostly about Lantern and Batman, but hey, we have to start somewhere, and this issue already brought in Superman, the Flash and pre-Cyborg Victor into the mix. A simple story that brought them together, and I still like it. I also remember complaints against Superman grabbing Batman by the throat saying 'talk before I won't let you!!!' It might have been a 'so that's what that feels like' moment for Batman, but many felt it was OOC for Supes. Well, you have to remember this is New 52 Supes and people were still wrapping their minds around the fact that the guy with the red tights just few months before was now forever gone as they knew him. Plus this is 5 years before and Superman got hit hard by the outside world when he revealed himself as a superhero. And now an alien freak attacked him and blew in his face. As a dude that makes things out of green light picked a fight with him. Kinda had a right to be pissed at this point. Although I do have to admit, this is supposed to be 5 years before the Justice League and Superman 'we know today' but I haven't really read enough of the New 52 Superman to know if he's as wholesome and righteous as the classic one.

I'll try to follow up with issue 3 as soon as I can as we count down the days to Justice League War.

New 52 Justice League # 1

by Mark Rodriguez

I never had the chance to blog about the 52 Justice League's big intro, but now that the newly announced Justice League War animated feature will be based on the first 6 issues, now's a good a time as any. Unlike past animated movies like Under the Red Hood or Justice League Doom, this time I had the chance to read the original story first to notice any differences in the animated version. Right of the bat, the first change I heard about was them replacing Aquaman with Shazam in the upcoming animated issue. It also seems like they want to put some kind of buddy-buddy relationship between him and Cyborg. We'll see how that works out.

Even though it's 6 issues long, you'll soon see that this story wasn't particularly deep. It was mostly the heroes discovering the existence of each other and stopping a random invasion attempt from Darkseid. So that also leaves for a lot of room for extra padding and subplots to make this story long enough to be a feature film. Anyways, let's check out The New 52 Justice League issue 1.

Justice League part 1 opens with Batman chasing some of sort thing, while the Gotham City PD are chasing after him. This takes place 5 years before the present time, and at this time the world didn't know or trust superheroes, so Batman is being hunted by the police. Batman jumps rooftop to rooftop, tossing smoke bombs to cover his tracks from the police helicopters. He tosses a grappling hook right though the escaping person's leg as he jumps across another rooftop. Batman and the person tumble and roll, with Bats pinning him down and asking him what he was doing by the docks.

The man is some sort of monster and he unleashes some sort of explosive blasts that knocks Batman back. The monster starts to punch Batman until suddenly a neon green light fills the area. A fire truck made out of glowing green energy runs by and slams into the monster, almost knocking Batman off the ledge. As Batman climbs back onto the rooftop, he sees the Green Lantern, who is surprised to see that Batman is real. Bats tells him that he's 'too damn bright' and he should turn it down before they're seen.

Just then the police choppers spot them and start to open fire. Lantern makes a force field to protect them. Batman says the world is afraid of them. Lantern says he says that like it's a good thing, and Batman replies with 'it's necessary'. The monster suddenly sprouts wings and smacks Lantern with them. He then shoots out a mouth blast that blows up the helicopters. Before Batman can do anything, Lantern sends green bats to help save the fallen helicopters.

The monster suddenly grows spider-like legs and escapes to the city below. Batman chases after him and tell Green Lantern to 'take his flashlight and go home' since Gotham City belongs to him. Lantern tells him that the whole space sector belongs to him and there are thousands of Green Lanterns out there patrolling across the universe. Batman doesn't care much about his story and tells him that the monster was spotted trying to plant a bomb downtown, and when cops tried to attack it, it would spit fire from its mouth.

Green Lantern says he has the fires covered as green energy fire trucks are putting them out all over town. He then asks Batman what his powers are, if he can fly or have super strength. He is surprised to find out he's 'just a guy in a bat costume'. Batman suddenly reveals he has Green Lantern's ring in his hand and asks him what it does. As Lantern is surprised as how he got it off, Batman determines it must work off his concentration. Lantern gets his ring back and the heroes throw threats at each other until Batman spots the spider-monster fusing something to a wall.

Lantern flies into it, saying that if it's some kind of bombed, the monster just armed it. The monster says 'For Darkseid' and then explodes in a vicious wave of fire. Batman and Green Lantern are safe in a steel safe made of green energy. Batman says he blew itself up on purpose and tried to take them with it. Lantern says whatever the monster came to do, it did it, and he uses his ring to try to identify the bomb. He's surprised the ring can't identify it, and after Batman examines it, he determines it's some kind of alien computer. Lantern says it might be related to 'that guy in Metropolis' since he heard he's an alien. Batman's heard of him and says he's dangerous due to his power levels. Lantern says he won't be problem for him and says he can fill him in on their way to Metropolis.

It is said  his power level reaches that of over 9000.... 

Batman and Green Lantern arrive in front of some sort of Lexcorp facility and Bats complains about how they arrived in Metropolis is glowing green jet, which would have drawn too much attention to themselves. Bats notices the area looks like Superman was in some kind of fight, but Lantern ignores him and says he'll go in and restrain Superman for questioning.

Seconds later. a red and blue blur socks Green Lantern clear across the battlefield. Superman says he can't be handled easily and stands before Batman. He asks him what can he do.

While many complained about the differences from this version of the Justice League with the one before Flashpoint, I saw it a fresh new starting point for me to get to know these characters. Since I was mostly just a Batman fan, and his story wasn't so much as changed, more like streamlined, this was the chance for me to get into the 'whole new series' and see the characters in their new outfits.

A fun little detail I noticed is that back when people were announcing and giving sneak peaks at the epic brand new N52 costumes, they were gonna give Wonder Woman black pants. The original previews for this cover showed her in the black pants. I guess in the end they decided to change her back to her more traditional star-spangled bikini bottom at the very VERY last minute.

Yeah, people complain about the Martian Manhunter not being a core member anymore, and apparently being replaced by Cyborg, who was one of the Teen Titans. For some reason DC has been pushing Cyborg a lot, making him a big part of the Flashpoint storyline, and even adding him in the animated feature Justice League Doom when he wasn't in the original story the movie was based on (JLA Tower of Babel). For whatever reason, Cyborg was upgraded from being one of the Teen Titans to being one of the founding members of the Justice League.

My personal complaint with the New 52 is how they had to get rid of Batman's costumes. He wore a variety of bat-suits throughout the years and he keeps some of them on display in the Batcave. I know they didn't want to confuse the readers with a different Batsuit in this '5 years earlier' storyline than what he would wear in Batman # 1 and Detective # 1 and so forth.... but still... this (as well as flashbacks throughout the New 52 Batman series) totally retcon it so Batman's New 52 outfit is the ONLY outfit he ever wore. I'm sorry... but I'm always gonna treasure the classic blue outfit with the yellow oval as part of his history from back in the day.

As for the story itself, there's not much to say since at this point it's mostly a Batman/Green Lantern team-up. I love theses scenes, especially when Batman snatched his ring and when Lantern discovered Batman is just a guy in a costume, without any actual super powers. I also like how Batman isn't particularly impressed by the guy that can create basically anything out of thin air. Green Lantern goes into detail about the Green Lantern Corps watching over every bit of the galaxy, and he's like 'uh-huh'. And I loved the 'take your green flashlight and go home' line.

As for Hal Jordan, people complain he was too cocky here, but hey, he's young, he's new, and for lack of a better term, he's still pretty green. I'm not up on Green Lantern's comics, so I assume after discovering these awesome powers that just boggle the mind with his ring (he's somehow controlling green fire trucks to put out fires all over town while hanging with Batman) he hasn't really encountered anything that was an actual threat to him... until he runs right smack into the wall known as Superman.

For more Justice League stuff here's my review on Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox

and also my other Justice League related reviews-
My review of Justice League- Doom
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight (my first review co-starring the N52 Superman and Flash)
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight part 2 (more N52 Superman and Flash cameos)