Review: Justice League #1

I hold in my hand — the beginning. The new era at DC has emerged from the pages of Flashpoint #5, and I am torn between a feeling of loss and utter excitement. What we knew has changed with the speed of light, and what we are left with is something strangely familiar yet, curiously odd.

This is the opening salvo of the birth of the new DC; even though it is utterly beautiful – Lee's gifts to the comic world have never looked better – it was lacking that little something that completely draws you into the story. Maybe it is the nostalgia factor that is now lost by the revamping of Batman and Green Lantern's first meeting. Maybe it is the fact that the essence of Ryan Reynolds is now personified through the guise of Hal Jordan in the books, as well as on screen. Whatever "it" was, all the hype in the world will never give a book its special "it" factor.

Though I thought the back and forth between Batman and Green Lantern was done quite well, the book just seemed to resonate that sort of macho fraternity boy attitude on every page. It became grating at times, and I couldn't wait until someone knocked the hell out of Green Lantern just to stop the boasting for half a panel. And when it does happen — well, you just have to see for yourselves!

As I write this review, which seems harsh at times, I can still feel the excitement I felt as I watched Batman be bathed in a hue of green for the first time in the new DCU. No matter how long I've read DC comics, it is still amazing to read a book that is the first footprint of a new era! Though some aspects of current storylines will still come into play, there is an all encompassing aura of childhood euphoria that cannot wait to see all the new dimensions that will transpire within the pages of these books. It is a fresh and exciting time to be a reader of DC comics, and as I slowly slide the shackles of nostalgia from my heart to embrace the changes, I implore you to check out this book. It will annoy some, invigorate others, but it will also, hopefully, open the eyes of fans across the globe to the wonders that await us all in the New 52. 

As I read the final page of this issue, a hero asks this question to another, "So…What can you do?" That is the question that drips from the lips of fanboys across the nation right now. "So DC…What can YOU do?" I think we're all in for a big surprise!