DC New Schmoo

So the DC New Universe is finally here.

I've held back discussing this until the books came out. I really wasn't happy with the cancelling of everything and then whacking 52 new titles out in a month, it just reeked of two things,
1-the new order making their mark on the company with controversial, publicity grabbing agendas
2-money grabbing because everybody knows that issue #1s sell like hot cakes, and JL#1 has reported 200,000 domestic sales, add on 10-15% for UK retailers and international figures and we are looking in actuality at around the 300,000 mark.

Out of the 52 there are only about a half dozen I'm really looking forward to, and they are in the "the dark" line, with Jeff Lemire's Animal Man and Frankenstein books, Swamp Thing and the fantastic sounding Justice League Dark By Peter Milligan which sounds mental by having John Constantine, Zatanna and Shade the Changing Man amongst others together in a hero team.

However most of the 52 look to range from shoddy to shocking. There's a horrible return to the art styles of the Image days, even resorting to Rob Liefeld returning on Hawk and Dove with possibly the worst art of his career - Hey kids he's doing two ongoing books and you can tell because this is worse than ever

Liefeld on the new Hawk and Dove

Red Hood and the Outlaws art by Kenneth Rocafort

So yesterday we saw the first release - Justice League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. It's the only new 52 title released this week and its the big name creators so you can tell it's the biggest title on the books. Only releasing 2 books in a week is unheard of, the other title being the final Flashpoint which brings in the new universe, it's financial suicide. It'd better be good...

Spoilers may appear review after the following illo

It isn't. It's the worse JL since Justice League Task Force.

I'm guessing its the one with the big names and big hype because both Lee and Johns are on the staff of DC, Co Publisher and Chief Creative Officer respectively so they were cheap, hey lads you already get a hefty wedge each month, you know that bit on your job description that says "Any other duties deemed reasonable..." well, this is one of those. I say this because the script has no effort whatsoever put into it and Lee's art is great if you like backgrounds but the characters are shocking.

Setting a new continuity five years ago in what is essentially a multi issue flashback is a bad idea, giving the other 51 books a chance to set the world events next week. If the next arc writers, because I honestly expect Jones and Lee to have gone when the first story finishes, want to write something they now have to consider at least 200 issues of other books.

The aim of DCnU is to get kids back into comics so we have another generation of sales, and you can tell this because it's written like the Disney Channel, the hardest word in the strip is subtlety and there are parts where exposition and art show the same thing, making one of them pointless.

We start with Batman chasing an alien while he is being chased by the most weapons heavy Gotham PD ever seen. When did they get a fleet of attack choppers? He's on it but messed up only to be saved by Green Lantern. Which is when the big problems start

Jones has made Hal Jordan, his beloved Green Lantern into the a himbo. All this guy does is brag about himself and does so in an annoying manner, referring to himself in the 3rd person, talking like the love interest in Sharpays Fabulous Adventure, amazed that Batman exists and lighting the sky up to show the anti heroes Gotham PD their location like a big sign that says Hey Cops We're Here with a thousand arrows pointing at them while chirping the brilliant piece of dialogue "Put my hands in the air? So they can just shoot me?" and "I know the drill. They don't like us." These words of wisdom are soon followed a couple of pages later with such excellence as "Move!" "We don't need to. Green Lantern's got this." and "Hold on a second...You're not just some guy in a bat costume are you? Are you freaking kidding me?!"

It's not just GL who has this dialogue problem, The so called super smart detective Batman has trouble understanding GL's role as a space cop, not knowing what a space sector is.

Then we actually get a third member of the League introduced some 18 pages in, only as its flashback he's not even a hero. Vic Stone, or Cyborg as he will become is one big cliche, a high school kid who is a true jock, but his dad is embroiled in his work and doesn't see the matches that he excels at. He's the acceptable black face in the locker room-the art suggests another two in distance during the match and a black scout but only the colouring says this, his face has no Afro-American characteristics. He's in it for 4 pages then its back to GL and Bats for a couple of pages before they chuck in a splash of Tom Welling, sorry Superman,and that's it.

The script is terrible, the dialogue worse but what really lets it down in the art. Jim Lee doesn't even try with the characters, the backgrounds are fabulous but it's like he drew them whilst waiting for approval on character deigns, he just went back and drew the costumes on over sketched in mannequins. There is no dynamic movement beyond the first four pages, it's all very stilted and wooden. Batman has no contrast of black and gray, its all very scratchy where you would expect solid black. His cover is hideous with the Man Of Steel being more Boy of Suet, everyone on the cover is pudgy faced while David Finch's alternative has everyone looking like they are in the mid 40s. Talk of the cover - Superman's chest emblem looks like it's been stuck on the art at a later date. The shadow of the ribs cages at points are so deep that it looks like there is no room in the torso for organs. Some of this could be the fault of inker Scott Williams, but he's normally a reliable inker and his relationship with Lee is usually really good, but it makes me wonder if he's afraid to change Lee's lines now that Jim is in charge. And going by these inks for issue 2 I don't think it is his fault.

Usual colourist Alex Sinclair isn't given much to do either, bar chuck a bit of luminous green on greys and blues. Again, if I saw the name Sinclair on I would look forward to good colouring as he's one of a few excellent computer colourists, but again he's sub par.

Overall JL1 is a massive disappointment. I don't know if it's that the creative team are past their best, the idea sucks or an editor who is afraid to tell his bosses that the work they have put out isn't good enough, what I do know is that I'll be leaving this on the shelf next month