Comics! Justice League #4

Justice League #4

Geoff Johns: writer
Jim Lee: penciller
Scott Williams: inker

The Comic
First up: More of Cyborg becoming Cyborg. I predict that he will have a moment in the final battle where his suit starts to do something to help them all and he doesn't know what is going on. If there was more to his character besides being an emo football star with daddy issues, then maybe I would care.

Second focus: Hello hero mis-characterization! You know how bad ass Aquaman was at the end of last issue? Green Lantern made a few cracks about him and wondering if he was really real or a Conan sketch. But after moving on past that, Aquaman pulled the same stunt in his own comic and made a bad ass move that felt like it had more payoff in this comic and more deserving than it did in his own comic. It wasn't the art that made the difference, it was the tremendous sense of confidence that Aquaman has around the League than he does on his own.

And I'm going to go with the idea that Wonder Woman in this book is miles apart and has nothing to do with the main Wonder Woman title and the Wonder Woman that appears in that comic. And if I stick with that, then the characterization that is going on in the previous issue carries on in this one.

Green Lantern comes off as an ass. Which is exactly what he is in his own comic. I find it funny that I can totally hear Ryan Reynolds delivering the same lines that Lantern says in this comic, GL just has the attitude that makes sense with that voice.

And if this is the attitude for the new Superman, I'm digging it. He's not the Boy Scout that he was in the previous universe, but sounds more like Superboy - barely above a teenager with some occasional wisdom but a lot to learn in this new world.

Third focus: Darkseid. I'm glad that much time wasn't spent on the creatures they've been fighting since issue one was causing them much trouble in this issue. Instead, we get the entrance to Darkseid, this arc's Big Bad. By the looks of the size differences of the characters when Darkseid appears, he's going to be about 30 feet tall. If he ends up being less, I'm going with the idea that he can change his size at will as a part of his super powers.

In most stories you would know something about the villain by about midway through the story. You would at least know what they want, or in cases of a mystery story, what they did. This series is going for six issues in its first arc, and in issue 4 is when we get the small intro to the Big Bad. So for the overall story, its kinda late into the game. For this individual comic, we are left with cliffhanger, but one that really felt cut off mid panel.

This comic feels of fluff, with some good character moments. It is taking too long to tell a story in a decompressed fashion that could easily be told in half the time. There are other ways to show off some art while still telling a good story, and Johns can do this, but I'm not seeing it here.

Its still entertaining, even if it is fluff for now.

The Cover
Definitely not a reflection of the story on the inside. This is just a character posing shot. And this is the flagship title? While it looks good, it is clearly not representation of the comic itself. Unless you think of the comic as fluff.

Grades
Words: 7/10
Pictures: 8/10
Recommend: Only for beginners if you have been here since the beginning, or if you plan on buying the next issue. For Jim Lee fans and Johns fans, it will bring some entertainment, but don't read other DC books that aren't written by Johns.
Buy Next Issue: To see the next panel that is missing from this end of this issue, yes.

Previous Issues:
Three Issue Trial
Justice League #3
Justice League #2
Justice League #1