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Is It Good? Justice League United Annual #1 Review

Comic Books

Is It Good? Justice League United Annual #1 Review

The Infinitus Saga begins this month in Justice League United. Is it good?


Justice League United Annual #1 (DC Comics)


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Mon-El from the Legion of Superheroes has crossed time and space to arrive in the present with one goal in mind: Kill Ultra. Seems a bit harsh; the thing is though, Ultra will grow to become this huge Galactus-esque entity in a thousand years that’ll wipe out the future. That being said, Mon-El and the rest of the Legion need to put Ultra down before it’s too late. Meanwhile, the Justice League United Away Team (all of the blondes, as amusingly pointed out by Animal Man) continue their search for Hawkman’s body. The results of their search may prove to be rather surprising.

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You don’t hand a child over to a person grinning like that.

Justice League United Annual #1 is pure, cosmic-level superhero action that’s both enjoyable and interesting. In a medium where we see similarly styled stories of big level cosmic threats that could wipe out of the universe and tons of superheroes getting involved on the action, it’s refreshing to read a comic done like this; that is, a book where, while the characters might be at odds, they are all still willing to work together to solve the problem and their justification for their actions and how they behave makes sense or has some humanity to it (no egotism or stupidity here folks). Sure, this book may not shake the concept up a lot and it does seem familiar in some areas, but sometimes, you don’t really need to really shatter the status quo or put the heroes at odds with each for weak reasons to make an entertaining and engaging story.

So the Infinitus Saga starts off well; it sets up the conflict and plot fairly well, but also doesn’t remain solely in setup territory. Once it lays out the groundwork for the story and introduces the Legion of Superheroes (which is handled in a quick, but efficient manner that allows the reader to understand the concept and see why it’s pretty neat), it keeps the tale going and moving into some rather interesting directions, especially with the Away Team. Justice League United Annual #1 never feels boring and to add to it all — the ending is neat and will make you curious as to how the arc will play out.

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Jeff Lemire’s writing does the job well. The characterization is pretty on point, save for Supergirl, who seems too abrasive and ready to beat up someone first and then ask questions later. The dialogue is enjoyable, with some good lines and interactions between the characters. The pacing is decent and the storytelling is perfectly fine. All in all, another pretty enjoyable and well-written issue of the series.

The artwork is handled by Neil Edwards and he does a pretty good job as well. He’s definitely more of your typical superhero style artist, but his work does fit the comic. His characters are well drawn , the action is flashy and entertaining, the layouts are decent, and the coloring and inking look solid. Basically, a solid job overall and I hope to see more of his work very soon.

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Wait a minute. ANOTHER jet-pack? Where did he even get the first one?

Is It Good?

Justice League United Annual #1 was a lot of fun and made for an enjoyable start to this arc. While it may not redefine or bring much new to cosmic superhero stories, what it does bring to the table is a wonderful and lively superhero tale with great characters and solid artwork. Sometimes you just don’t need to recreate the wheel to make a great story, or at least the start to one, as seen here.

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