The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Well, while many are divided on what impact DC’s relaunch with the 52 new issue #1s will have we certainly can see a huge amount of interest both in our stores and here with the blog crew – Richard’s shared his thoughts on the first of them the Justice League #1, Oli East just penned us a guest review and James Bacon has also donned his spandex and his utility belt (although I believe James never actually leaves home without the latter) has also felt himself compelled to pick up JL #1:

Outside the comic shop, prominently placed, was an A-board, a poster for this important issue clearly on display, indicating a level of importance to this comic that was rather unusual.

With tens of thousands of dollars in advertising and the massive amount of hype and the months of choreographed marketing, it all boils down to a comic. A selection of pages stapled together, an iconic product of the 20th century, brightly coloured and fantastically imagined, combining art and prose in a sequential story.

And it’s quite good really.

I forgot how nice Jim Lee’s artwork actually is. Can it be five years since his work on Batman Hush? And straight away it was clean, and beautiful, some excellent draughtsmanship, good to see he is on top form. I was a little surprised that the technology of Gotham police was somewhat fanciful; I would have preferred a grittier, more realistic element to their weapons and helicopter, but the story flowed nicely.

In this comic, we meet Batman, under pursuit from the police as he pursues a villain, the Police obviously consider him as much a felon as the felon he is chasing. The movement of Batman is superb, Lee gracefully shows that Batman can do with one shot that the cops fail to do with a barrage.

Batman is joined by Green Lantern, who arrives to assist, although one wonders whether assistance was at all needed. The dialogue between Batman and Green Lantern is not at all bad. They have never met, and there is a lovely moment, when GL realises that Batman has no ‘powers’ at all. Batman is not as caustic and acerbic as I would have liked, but it’s a good portrayal. They find an Alien Computer, and of course wonder what it is when the creature they were chasing shouts out what they think is ‘For Darkside’.

There is a side story about a up and coming football player, Vic Stone , and his relationship, if that,  with his father, while the Lantern flies Batman to Metropolis, to find Superman, which is a neat link.

Of course, I especially liked how Superman and Batman meet. Superman ‘handles’ Green Lantern with quite the blow, it’s quite sudden, and then he is standing in front of Batman asking him what he can do, but then they have such a history, that it was an important moment to capture right, and with some neat dialogue, we at least get to see the start of that meeting. Lee’s artwork again, is very clever for this, and I must admit I do like Superman’s ‘look’.

Second and third reading show that there is definitely a nice sequence to the panels, and I suspect that although there is some space for readers to fill in their own understanding of what’s going on and it’s not exactly spoon fed, there is an element of clarity and accessibility to the comic, there is no doubt, that any reader could potentially just jump on. I wondered was it possible to try and eradicate the inherent shared knowledge of characters like Batman and imagine what it might be like to read the comic for the first ever time, and realised it would be like sending out a search party for one’s virginity; once the initial moment is lost, well it’s lost, and I just hope that those who have never read comics before get a buzz out if it.