The “Justice League” team is expanding outwards in a fun and exciting manner, but a few plotting snafus and an invitation to pre-Flashpoint comparisons cause some problems along the way.
Written by Geoff Johns
Illustrated by Gene Ha, Zander Cannon, Andres Guinaldo, and Joe Prado
Backup Illustrated by Gary FrankThe PROLOGUE TO TRINITY WAR continues as a revelation about Batman could destroy Wonder Woman and Superman’s relationship! Plus, in the backup story, the penultimate chapter of the tale of Shazam finds Billy Batson learning the shocking secret of Black Adam!
When we last left our heroes, Geoff John was evoking Mark Waid’s ‘Tower of Babel’ by having Batman’s briefcase full o’ Justice League weaknesses fall into the hands of the enemy, while Despero invades the League’s Watchtower. As a result, we also had several of the recent additions to the League seeing their first action. Firestorm and Rhonda Pineda, our new Atom, try to hold the fort down while the original members of the Justice League try to work out how the Batcave infiltration could have happened. Element Woman shows up to the Despero fight too, once she’s done picking up from chicken strips for the League (Arthur gets a fish sandwich).
The fight with Despero provides readers a unique opportunity to get some quality time with the new recruits and some of the classic B-list backup heroes that the ‘New 52’ is getting around to folding back into the universe. Well, at least versions of those characters. Geoff Johns is his usual reliable self when it comes to giving us a reason to care about the new members and giving each of them an identifiable personality with just a few lines of dialogue. The Firestorm here is more identifiable and streamlined in a few pages than the one that had been floundering in the solo “Firestorm” title. Encapsulating characters is what Geoff Johns is best at and these sequences in this issue feels like his bread and butter. Simultaneously, his take on Despero has weight to it, without having given him a background or any real introduction. By his actions and what it takes to fight him, we get a sense of how formidable he is and what his relationship to the Justice League has been.
But back with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman is where things start to stumble a bit. Johns continues walking on well-tread ground with the Batcave break-in, making it feel like we really are reading the “Ultimate Comics” version of events that have already happened. It’s nice to see the “trinity” of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but we never get a sense that they really know one another in this ‘New 52′ continuity yet. They haven’t formed the kind of bonds or shared the kinds of experiences that characterized DC Comics’ “trinity” in previous incarnations – at least never on-panel. These interactions are handled more superficially. When Batman has a piece of kryptonite on hand in ‘Tower of Babel’, there is an eloquently explained reason for it that is duplicated here, but in more of a superficial presentation. It feels more surface-level, because we haven’t had a sense that Superman and Batman know and respect one another all that much yet. Well, we know they do because they always have, but if this is the ‘New 52′, then DC is trying to have their cake and eat it too.
So too are they trying to have their cake a little bit with the Despero battle. It is said that the Justice League once fought Despero a long time ago, when the Martian Manhunter was still a member. We have neither seen the Manhunter as a member, nor have we seen Despero before. This is Johns’ way of pulling in continuity from the pre-Flashpoint universe, which technically works fine for seasoned comic book readers. As a story that should stand on its own, however, there is a lack of context here. We know nothing about the Martian Manhunter’s relationship to the Justice League after almost 2 years of the ‘New 52’. The mysterious gap between the first meeting of Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, and the current events of the ‘New 52’ haunts readers with exposition in nearly every Justice League story (and to be honest, tons of other times throughout the ‘New 52’) about nebulous events that have happened in that time period. Real continuity nuts must be going insane at this point, while for the rest of us, it’s just not very compelling storytelling. It’s less interesting to read exposition or conversations about all those buddy-buddy missions Hal Jordan and Barry Allen teamed up on than to actually watch them do that sort of stuff.
Continued below“Justice League” #20 is surprisingly consistent to look at all the way through the main story, given the fact that 4 different artists lent pencils to it. Gene Ha’s renderings add a color and a playfulness to the heroics that haven’t been seen since the title relaunched. His work is ultimately the star of the main piece. Ha has a wonderful ability to somehow make the modern seem classic, so much so that the ‘New 52′ costume designs don’t look ugly with his pencils. The pages by Andres Guinaldo are easily identifiable as being his work, but they maintain the feel and scope of what Ha was doing on earlier pages. The layout work from Zander Cannon (a frequent pairing with Gene Ha) appears to have lent a continuity to the main story that was noticably better than most instances where art shifts are present. Despero’s design remains the same as ever, thankfully not succumbing to the silly and unnecessary changes that often come with “modernization.”
Geoff Johns’ and Gary Frank’s “Shazam” backup is as perfectly pleasant as always, however. With this installment in particular, Johns has done one of his favorite things to do in comics, which is updating a classic DC Comics mythology. He updates the mythology surrounding Shazam and Black Adam in a way that respects the original creation (aside from the name change) and also feels like it fits with what they’re doing in the ‘New 52’ (for better or worse). Frank produces 10 beautifully detailed and unique pages a month without missing a beat, getting sloppy, or needing any sort of fill-in. This is a scheduling style that should be tried more often with top-tier artists who tend to take a little longer with their productions. He plays with perspective in a way that teases the audience for the confrontation that is going to conclude the run of backups with next month’s “Justice League” #21.
While the ‘New 52′ feels as though it is actively funneling its properties toward a muddy mediocrity, “Justice League” #20 is starting to show many of the fun and classic characteristics that pre-Flashpoint titles had. It is Geoff Johns’ ability to be a master “continuitist” that makes the updated team roster work. Unfortunately, the plotting itself borrows too much from what came before, with less elegance. And to further the credit toward Johns, the 10-page “Shazam” backup remains the best reason to pick up this title.
Final Verdict: 6.8 – Browse, but no reason to jump off if you’re already buying.
