This Week: Justice League Unlimited adds a secret OPS team to Justice League Red #1.
Note: The reviews below may contain spoilers. If you need quick spoiler purchase/pass recommendations for the manga in question, please see the bottom of the article for the final verdict.
Justice League Red #1
Author: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Clayton Henry
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Letters: Lucas Gattoni and Ryan Christie
Cover Artists: Clayton Henry & Matt Harms
One of the most powerful parts about all current DC initiatives is how publishers established Justice League Unlimited as a tent pole series, while using auxiliary titles to build the overall status quo. Challengers of the Unknown, Justice League: The Atom Project, and The Fusion: All All All All All All All All All All All All All All All All all use the JLU configuration and setup, and are independent for the rest of the DCU, telling stories that build on their efforts. This week, DC will debut another similar title, Justice League Red. This will bring together different groups of heroes to carry out the “Black Ops” mission hosted by the league’s resident tower AI, Red Tornado.
Justice League Red Marks author Saladin Ahmed’s first series in DC, Ahmed will take the series to a strong start. The new team’s roster features six characters, but Ahmed focuses on only three of this first issue. It’s Red Tornado (of course), Power Girl, and Green Lantern Simon Buzz. Page and Simon have the most opportunities to interact, and are unexpected and entertaining pairings. Both members of the hero’s extended family are far from the stars of Marquee, and they each bring something like an outsider’s perspective to things, questioning what the Lady put them together and why it was done in secret. They also well complemented each other on the first mission, and their reaction to the obvious ending of the problem felt completely natural.
The visuals for this issue are from Artists Clayton Henry and Arif Prianto. This is a team that has worked in almost every corner of DCU, and brings a typical excellent piece to this issue. Henry’s linework remains as sharp as ever, with expressive characters and beautiful storytelling. There is a considerable exposition in this issue, and Henry skillfully renders a highly interactive sequence with interesting images that reveal the interests of what the hero faces. The design of the threats you encounter in the main action sequence in question is a horribly ridiculous equal part, taking on the unique tone of half the back of the problem. The colors in the prints are wonderfully complemented by Henry’s linework and feature bright and exciting colors that give the entire problem an instant, iconic feel. The holographic red tornado colouring is also very impressive, with the shade of red giving a very different texture to the physical hero’s texture. It’s a huge effect that was very well pulled away. Letterer’s Lucas Gattoni and Ryan Christie’s work reinforces the visuals well with expert speech and story balloons for the lady and a really fun choice of fonts for the main threat of the issue.
Justice League Red #1 is everything you can want from the first issue. It is solid traits, a self-contained story, and a fascinating mystery that will help the story move forward. This is an issue that I find already at home and the other JLU Antira titles pleasant to me, even among the rest of the mainline DCU books. Ahmed, Henry, Print, and Kyodo. It runs at a very high level here, and the exploration of themes and the characters they use to do so will surely drive readers crazy from the jump. This is, in simple terms, a very solid, well-made comic.
Final Verdict: Purchase.
round up
Detective Comics #1100 is an oversized issue featuring a quartet of stories that begins with an incredible 20-page silent story from the current team of detectives who help Batman reunite the dog and the deaf child. Amazing visual storytelling from Janín. The rest of the stories from Tamaki and Aman Kayna Elpan, Greg Lacca and Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and Dan Watters and Bilcienkiewitz’s teams highlight various aspects of the Dark Knight (and Tamaki and Naerpan’s case, Bruce Wayne). Amazing, interesting packaging. Batman & Robin: The first decade is the best issue of the early quest of the dynamic duo of Mark Waido and Chris Samney. The twist at the end of last month’s issue completely turned the series overhead. This issue throws an unexpected curveball perfectly at Batman and Robin. I can’t believe there are two issues left in this perfect, perfect series. Speaking of the best issues yet, Dan Slot, Lucas Meyer and Rafael Albuquerque’s Superman Unlimited #4 is a truly fun story that uses the status quo of the series in a clever way. Gotham’s Superman has always been a fun time, and this time he faces one of the threats the city has to offer, which works well. Plus, this issue has a lot of great Jimmy Olsen material, which makes me happy. And in the absolute universe, Absolute Flash #6 brings Jeff Lemia and Nick Robles to explore the villains of this world, giving Colonel Rudy West much needed depth. After a strong first issue, the series felt a bit slow at times, but this week’s issues take up the current pace and I’m looking forward to where it goes from here.
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