Justice League #8 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: If Arrows wants in so bad, you should at least give him the honor of hazing him.

The Review: If anything proves that relentless flash and glam can’t make up for ill-conceived, incomprehensible storytelling, it has to be the Garry Marshall-Katherine Fugate series of star-studded, holiday-themed films, Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve.  Despite being veritable cornucopias of tabloid regulars, these easily count as some of the least watchable films of the decade, completely lacking in personality, depth, and novelty.

Justice League may be the Valentine’s Day of comics right now.  Eight months after its explosive premiere, the title may still be selling like hotcakes, but it has failed to establish a consistent tone or agenda for itself.  Somehow, having six of the most iconic heroes of all time (plus Cyborg) in one convenient bunch has resulted in the most pedestrian storylines and the flattest of group dynamics.  True, their image of friendship was intended from the start as a public face, but surely Geoff Johns doesn’t mean to subject us to their bland interaction forever.

Perhaps this issue signals a turn for the better.  If the League as a unit lacks personality, Green Arrow has a dripping surplus, practically enough to make up for his would-be colleagues.  His shameless attempts to impress the Leaguers in hopes of getting an invitation to join them is quite entertaining for his audacity.  After the team defeats Amazo, Arrow doesn’t hesitate to point out his contribution to the battle: a single arrow protruding from the android’s left buttock.

Arrow’s boldness has the effect of bringing out the League’s collective straight man, making them more enjoyable to read than they’ve ever been.  Even Green Lantern’s obnoxiousness rubs a bit better when not directed at his own teammates.  He tells the emerald archer, “If Batman sprains his ankle, we’ll call you.”  He then whispers to Batman, “Totally lying.  We wouldn’t call him.”  Batman replies with an ambiguous “Thanks.”

If the League’s treatment of Green Arrow seems cold, they have good reason—other than Arrow’s incessant persistence (“So what do you say?  Am I in?”  In response, they leave him on a deserted road some miles outside of town.).  Some of them already have bad history with him (read: Aquaman), but all of them share a dark experience of letting in just anybody onto the team, particularly ones who can psychically ferret out all their secrets and ghost it out of there.

Shazam #1 – Review

By: Eric Wallace (writer), Cliff Richards (artist), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Mary Batson, did no one ever tell you making deals with demons is never a good idea?

The Review: Captain Marvel and the rest of his ilk have always seemed a little out of place in the DCU.  Besides the gimmick of their magic word, there’s not much setting them apart from their superhero peers.  It’s even difficult seeing the Big Red Cheese himself as anything other than Superman—with magic (an idea Grant Morrison played with in Final Crisis).  Most writers have difficulty selling the Marvels’ natural goody-goodiness in a world that requires some attitude to succeed.

This is the problem Eric Wallace runs into in his one-shot of the Marvel family.  On the one hand, he deserves a bit of a break; the characters were left in shambles the last time they were written.  Billy and Mary lost their powers, which their underdeveloped civilian personas couldn’t possibly make up for.  Freddy Freeman’s promotion to the red outfit lost the Jr. from his name and added some long hair, but has otherwise done nothing to invigorate the character.  Wallace is working an uphill battle here.

But from another perspective, Wallace had a great opportunity to breathe some new life into the characters, and he mostly squanders it.  The tension between the Batsons and Freddy introduced at the start of the issue turns out to be a blind, which means they never lost trust in each other at all, which also means they avoid any character-building personal conflicts.  This is a big miss, since after all these years, their camaraderie seems based on tradition more than any signs of genuine friendship.

Wallace’s choice to have the Batsons bemoan the loss of their powers and how it’s holding them back comes across shallow and even a little insulting.  After all, when you consider the number of heroes in the DCU alone who play it no-powers style, wistfully regretting your former gods-given abilities seems a trifle narrow-minded, don’t you think?  It feels as if since the Marvels really have no identity beyond their powers, the only stories you can give them have to involve the loss of/earning of/quest for their powers.  Frankly, that’s all getting pretty old.