After being delayed for over two months, “Justice League Odyssey” #1 finally arrives. With the news of issues being rewritten and redrawn, is this issue still able to come together, even in the midst of its troubled development? Check out the rest of our review to find out!
Written by Joshua Williamson
Illustrated and Colored by Stjephan Sejic
Spinning out of JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE! When a cosmic menace threatens worlds beyond our own in the Ghost Sector, it falls to a new Justice League team to answer the call to battle! Cyborg, Starfire, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz and an out-of-his-element Azrael head to deep space inside a commandeered Brainiac Skull Ship. But as these wildcard teammates try to stop Despero from slave-trading Coluan refugees, they discover something that nothing in the universe could have prepared them for: Darkseid…who says he’s there to help?!
One of the biggest draws of “Justice League Odyssey,” is Stjepan Sejic’s art. He is an artist that is able to elevate almost any book he is involved in. His work on “Aquaman” brought that series to new heights, his art instilled with a sense of epic drama and stakes, while at the same time paying close attention to the details of characters. One of Sejic’s strengths has always been his character work. He is a master of subtle character expression and body language, which is part of what made his work on his creator own series, “Sunstone,” so successful. He is able to portray characters together in such a convincing way that their body language tells as much of the story as any other part of the issue.
For the most part, these things continue to be true for “Justice League Odyssey” #1, with the added benefit exciting, cosmic shenanigans in the backgrounds. There is something about the way that Sejic portrays the space of the ghost sector, the bright colors, crackling lightning around and ship, multicolored cosmic space clouds that is just inherently appealing. The way he colors his own work, with his soft pencils highlighting his beautiful, vibrant colors, is just wonderful.
However, despite all of that, this is not Sejic’s best work. There are places throughout the issue where some of the details aren’t quite up to par with what he has produced in the past. There are some lines that look a bit sloppy, some details that don’t look quite as well-developed as they could. Part of this is probably from the numerous delays that this issue faced, with Sejic saying that he was forced to redraw much of this and the series second issue.
Which is too bad. All of the based greatness that Sejic’s art entails are here in this issue. Characters still carry themselves and feel alive in a way that is unique to Sejic’s art. The body language and facial expressions still work to tell much of the story all on their own. Yet, “Justice League Odyssey” #1 lacks some of the polish of Sejic’s other work, which is too bad.
Partially, it’s too bad because if this was Sejic operating at the top of his game, the slightly disappointing story for this issue would be much easier to handle. Joshua Williamson seems to have a good handle on who all of the characters he’s writing are. The way that they interact, and the way that Sejic portrays them interacting, bring some parts of the story to life. But, the plot of this first issue itself is kind of disappointing.
The issue feels rushed, plot points happening and moving along without any good explanations for much of the issue. The way that the characters of this team are brought together feels both a bit convoluted and at the same time sort of half-baked. The idea of “Justice League Odyssey” ends up being more interesting than the execution. I was excited to see all of the characters in the line up bounce off one another, going on fantastic comic journeys with one another. But, this issue never makes a compelling case for why all of these characters should be together. I’m not asking for a long, drawn out process of pulling this team together. In fact, I love the idea of starting off a book at a dead sprint. But here, there is too little connective tissue, and too little sense of stakes.
Continued belowYet for all my disappointment in the plot of the issue, there is still something to be said for the action that Sejic draws. It might not be his most polished work, but there are some sequences in this issue, specifically a few pages with some space-based monsters, that are out of this world. Sejic designs one hell of a monster, and he still brings background and planet environments that are beautiful to behold.
“Justice League Odyssey” #1 ends up being a mixed bag of pieces that should work, but none of which are quite at the level you would hope. And for my problems with the plot of the issue, it is still a decent amount of fun for most of its pages. The things that are currently working in this series are mostly coming from Sejic’s artwork, who is a fantastic talent even when not being quite up to his usual standards. The problem is, this series will be losing him as an artist after the second issue. For now, Sejic might be enough of a draw that this issue is worth checking out, but I’m not entirely confident about “Justice League Odyssey” going forward.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – “Justice League Odyssey” #1 never quite comes together, an idea and team that is much more exciting than its execution.
