Justice League #2

The first thought of mine when I heard that Geoff Johns and Jim Lee were doing a series together was "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE," this comic will be continuously "LAAAAATE." And true to form, issue #2 was almost a month late. 6 weeks of comics were published in between Justice League #1 and #2, and it's this kind of delay that frustrates readers and discourages people from reading it.

This delay might be semi-justified though. As creative heads for DC, plus Johns is writing two other books (Green Lantern and Aquaman), they have a lot on their plate. This certainly isn't a David Finch situation, where he's incapable of working at the necessary speed to get a comic out on time.

This does worry me in one sense though: these are the creative bosses at DC. They should set the example of being prompt. If DC wants to refocus on getting comics out on time,  they should be in the forefront of this, getting the flagship title out monthly. 

Looking at the issue itself though, well it's pretty good, but again, not blowing my socks off, which was the whole idea for Justice League as the flagship title: to blow my socks off. This is a case of Geoff Johns' ego getting in the way of good products. While Geoff Johns has written an ongoing with nearly every character in the Justice League (Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg while he did Teen Titans), that doesn't mean he writes them all well (from what I've heard, his run on Wonder Woman was notoriously poor, maybe that's why she hasn't made an appearance yet).

As with my complaint about many Geoff Johns titles, nothing really happens this issue. Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Superman fight a little, then decide to figure out what this alien device is, and then its revealed that this alien invasion is all the work of Darkseid. Lots of chatter about nothing, a stupid line that marginalizes Batman's importance to the Justice League, and finally an agreement between the four to work together. Took you long enough!

About Darkseid, Johns couldn't find a more predictable villain if he tried. This is Johns taking the easy way out -- while the "New 52" focuses mostly on new enemies and adversaries, of course his run-of-the-mill Justice League story uses the same villain as Final Crisis and really, Return of Bruce Wayne. Johns should be either following his own mandate to his staff, or taking a lesser-used villain and expanding his role.

JIM LEE FTW!

For all the writing shortcomings, Jim Lee picks up the slack. This is a gorgeous book, just like the last one. Jim Lee is a master artist, and needs to be worshiped as such. He makes an average book, into a much better one.

What I enjoyed: The dialogue is solid, and the art is award-winning caliber. Also, I'm glad I didn't see Aquaman. I don't like Aquaman.

What I didn't: Geoff Johns needs to live up to his end of the super-team, because right now Jim Lee's kicking his butt.

Conclusion: The art carries this issue, which bothers me. I read comics for the stories, and the images augment them for me. No matter how good the art is, if the story sucks, I'm not interested. Frankly, the story is moving too slow. I can sum up the two issues really simply, and that's not a good thing. 7.9/10 (C+).