Last week in Diamond's monthly Previews catalog, I noticed the solicitation for the softcover version of Justice vol. 1. Justice is a 12-part mini-series that was first published from August 2005 through June 2007, with writing and gorgeous painted art by Alex Ross. The story is an epic adventure of the Justice League versus their collected enemies in a 'Legion of Doom'.
Now, I had some interest in getting this series when it first came out as single issues. After all, I've loved Ross' artwork for ages. That was a very strong appeal. Also, what's not to love about a full-length series basically pitting the heroes against their foes? It was very much like a comic version of the Challenge of the Super-Friends cartoons from back in the 70's, a favorite of mine growing up. The downside, though, was it was going to be bi-monthly. That meant two months between each issue - and it would take two years to tell the tale. That' sort of did it for me as I'm just not that patient with things I'm reading. That felt too long for me. So, I saw the issues as they came out in the shop but avoided buying them.
My plan was to wait for them to be collected. Well, DC did that - as three hardcover collections, each holding four issues. I sort of skipped those at first. However, back to last week, when I saw the price of the softcover volume I wondered - can I get the hardcover ones for the same price somewhere? Turns out, I could. Thank you Amazon.com for having nice deep discounts. I immediately ordered all three books, the full story.
And this weekend I started reading.
I have to say, now that I'm a third of the way through I am enjoying it nicely. The story takes a nice twist. The villains, after sharing a common dream of world armageddon and in it seeing the heroes are helpless to save the day, decide they can use their abilities to better the world. And, in the process of doing so, if they can bump off their enemies then so be it! This first volume sets up the arc nicely and has some good battles between arch rivals. There are also nice extras in back - character profiles, sketches, etc.
REAL good series. Good use of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. Good use of the Hawks (I actually cared about the Hawks - cool!). Got a little strange there at the end (like they were trying out for a toy line or something) but overall it's a good series.
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