Comic Book Review

Review: Justice League VS. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1

Justice League VS. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis

Illustrated by: Scott Godlewski

DC Comics

2022

One thousand years in the future, a Legion of Super-Heroes comes together to dedicate their lives to recapturing the great age of heroes of the 21st century. When the heroes discover that reality is falling to a great darkness in both times simultaneously, the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes must team up to stop it all. But what is the connection between the secrets of the new Gold Lanterns and the coming of the Great Darkness? A monumental DC epic event miniseries!

It’s interesting how much is going on in these pages while nothing happens. We join the two teams just after they wrap up kicking butt, and watch them chat for a bit… and that’s kinda all, really. It doesn’t sound like much, but it does accomplish the goal – we’re introduced to all the important players, we sorta know what’s going on, and we’re wondering what they’re all thinking but not saying. It’s catchy. And boy, does it look good.

The thing is, there’s just not much Versus at all, and that’s a weird thing to leave out, it being right in the title and all. We see some of the greatest powers the DC universe has ever assembled, and all they do is small talk. And that’s not even really all that weighty or exciting. It feels like half the book is spent talking about how cool and awesome each other are.

They barely mention any conflict, and the big problem they do face might not be anything at all. The conflict in this issue isn’t so much a problem to overcome as it is a mystery to solve, but there’s not really anything stopping them from doing that either, we just run out of pages before it happens. It’s not so much a cliffhanger as it is cut off before the good stuff.

Still, there’s solid writing, a huge selection of amazing heroes involved, and some of the best looking pages I’ve seen in a long time. The art style is a perfect blend of cartoon flashy and detailed realism. The characters look great, and everyone stands out on their own in every panel. It’s a thing of comic book beauty. I just hope a little more happens in issue #2.

 

jl vs losh 1 cover
 

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A pretty looking book with lot's of introductions

Issue #1 is little more than twenty pages of character introductions and talking about how cool everyone is, but it's twenty BEAUTIFUL pages. I love the style and artwork, I just wish a little more... anything... happened to get us involved.

8.3
Art:
9
Direction:
8
Story:
8

Brian has been reading comics since January, 1987, when the death of Optimus Prime rocked his young world. Once a regular presenter on The Nerdstravaganza Podcast, Brian now writes for Florida Geek Scene.