Justice League of America, Vol. 1: The Extremists by Steve Orlando

Justice League of America, Vol. 1: The Extremists Reviews

• 
  Chad

  A disappointment after being pleasantly surprised with the one shots. Batman assembles this team because he wants a more human team, but then has Lobo on the team? An alien who can't be killed ? Really? Then it's supposed to be a team full of people who don't wear masks. Well, except for Batman, I guess. Just because you refer to it in the book, doesn't make it any better. Honestly, Batman doesn't belong on this team. He seems superfluous throughout the book. Vixen seems to be handling the same roles he would.
  
  I hate the villains in these books. Were they all philosophy majors? They yammer on and on about whatever nonsense agenda they have whether it be ruling over people because they'll otherwise destroy themselves or life is chaos so lets destroy order just for the hell of it. Having a guy called Lord Havok trying to rule the world to establish order is a major league oxymoron. Having the Extremists make their first appearance since the new 52 reset and not playing up the fact that they are knockoff Marvel villains seems kind of pointless.
• 
  Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈

  *** Recevied an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
  
  

  People are crying for help. Wherever you are...
  Time to show them they're heard

  
  
  So, this was… okay. I would have been just fine having never read it. Case in point, I just wrote bullet point notes as I was reading it and forgot about the damn thing moments after.
  
  - I have no clue why DC is shoving a Killer Frost in things. Why is Lobo here? I'm excited to see Vixen again but this is such a B team. It's depressing.
  
  - Their warning system is called the troubalert? Really? They couldn't come up with anything better than that? Seriously?
  
  - This is the year of Batman being all over the place and I hate Steve Orlando's Batsy. Why the hell would he invite Lobo to this team? I mean, I understand Killer Frost on the smallest of levels but Lobo? Why the hell would he invite Lobo?
  
  - Every T&A shot possible.
  
  - Villains are like Dalek style cyber men
  
  - So, I pretty much forgot everyone's names, to be honest. The Atom guy could have been an interesting character but it looks like they're playing him for amateur comic relief. He literally explained who he was again in pretty much all of his dialogue. Which was helpful because I repeatedly forgot who he was
  
  - The team ultimately fails because there was no sign they trained together as a team and really, when would they have time w/Bats being in like 20 teams apparently.
  
  - Dr Diehard?
  
  - The villains look like Dragon Ball Z characters. Is Freeza showing up, too?
  
  Really, the “cleverness” of this series could be summed up in my favorite terribad quote of the book:
  
  

  Bad Guy: No one would dare resist me
  Vixen: No one say's 'hello'.
• 
  Subham

  This was so good omg!
  
  We see Batman form his new team post JL vs SS and this is more "what if JL did more" and its intriguing the way its done and I love the recruitment process and the coming of Lord Havok (Dc's doctor doom) and how he is from an alternate dimension and the challenges of that and the craziness that follows, him wanting to take over a country and he does and the power and all he represents and how the league frees a nation from the tyrant's controls and inspiring people plus the awesomeness of his extremists is shown and I love the battle of the philosophies and all characters get a moment to shine which was so awesome and I especially love the focus on "C-list" characters and it makes for some intriguing moments plus the art of Ivan reis! <3
  
  And then the second story where they rescue some backwater city which has been taken over by a corporation and the evils that follow and all that and whatever threat this "Nikos Aegeus" represents and a lot of greek-myth related names and weaponry and it makes for fun story-telling highlighting the ray and does lead to some philosophical discussions while hints at larger stories to come is shown here!
  
  Pretty fun stuff and makes for a great read with good art and writing and an intriguing line-up! So a definite recommend!
• 
  Chris Lemmerman

  [Read as single issues]
  Oh, I had high hopes for this series. After the great one-shots that set up the series and focused on all these interesting characters, they're thrown into a story that leaves me scratching my head. The first four issues deal with the Extremists, who I believe are obscure DC characters I've never seen before who pull a Black Adam and take over a country, whether the country likes it or not. Unlike Black Adam though, they can't stand against the might of Batman and friends, I mean, the Justice League Of America, who turn up to evict them.
  
  The philosophical discussion of whether the Extremists are in the right or not (although I doubt it with a name like that) is interesting, but ultimately pointless, and because there are so many new characters, the actual JLA characters get short-changed.
  
  Also included are issues #5-6, Heart Of A Bastich, which has the League fighting more crazies armed with weapons powered by belief in ancient myths and such, which again is a fun concept, but doesn't get the time to breathe and doesn't focus on the characters enough.
  
  Artistically, with Ivan Reis as the headliner, you'd think this would also be a beautiful book, but Reis only pencils two of the six issues. Felipe Watanabe, Diogenes Neves, and Andy McDonald share the other four, and while they're solid artists in their own right, they're not really the level of talent you'd expect to find on a book like this (which is no way a dig against them, just that in comparison to Ivan Reis, they haven't built up the star quality just yet).
  
  Some good ideas, executed poorly, but with glimmers of hope for the future.
• 
  James DeSantis

  I think I've come to dislike most of Steve Orlando's stuff. It's not that he's a HORRIBLE writer but he's one I just don't connect to at all. Like on any level for any comics. Anyway, on to Justice League of America.
  
  Biggest question is why was this made? You know, besides obviously having Batman as the team leader and trying to make some profit on the comic. Introduce a bunch of C and D level heroes on the team and some nobody really likes but pretends to like Lobo and you have a grade A pile of shit. JLA is everything you want to get away from in superhero comics. A new set of villains come, cliche as possible, claiming the world needs order or some blah blah shit. So Batman like nah buddy, we gonna stop you. Aveng-- I mean Justice League, but only of America, unite!
  
  Good: The art is okay? The first issue was half way decent introduction to everyone.
  
  Bad: The awful cliche story feels like a left over plot that nobody wanted to write. The characters are boring, with Batman's self entitled one liners, and a bunch of nobodies. They don't even have the real Atom and Lobo is a joke. The fights are pretty much bare bones the same shit you see in every comic. Actually, this is made for comic fans who don't want anything exciting. Things like Omegamen or Vision? Blah! SUPER FIGHTS! You know. I could enjoy even a big dumb fight book but least have characters with decent dialog. This misses the mark big time.
  
  Overall a crappy comic not worth anyone's time. Equally as bad as Justice League itself. DC, fix your flagship titles man.
• 
  Will Robinson Jr.

  Not quite what I expected. JLA is every bit a better book than the Justice League book that Bryan Hitch is currently writing. In JLA writer Steve Orlando has given us a different team that we are use to following in the DC universe.
  Justice League of America: The Road to Rebirth was the better book for these characters those far. I applaud DC Comics for trying something new here but where the book falls short is on poorly executed dialogue and not enough character moments to get me to care about the characters. There is a lot of action in the story and the earlier issues in which
  Ivan Reis handled the artwork were really good. But once Reis left the book the art really just begins to suffer. I must admit I am also a little tired of seeing Batman lead a team in DC Comics. I know why they insert Batman in to so many books. Batman sells! I get it. But why not give another Justice Leaguer a chance to lead. It would have probably been really cool the have the Martian Manhunter lead this team or maybe Green Arrow. Nevertheless this book was okay. I hope the next volume is a bit better.
• 
  Joseph

  this was kinda meh. not completely in board with why this team is needed, but maybe it has something to do with the recent JL/Suicide Squad battle, which I haven't read yet. The team members are interesting but Lobo gets on my nerves quickly.
  
  I'll keep reading as I want to read the upcoming microverse story, but needs to improve if I'm going to read much after that.
• 
  Danielle

  Read this review and more on my
  blog, uncovered-books.
  
  I received a free copy of Justice League of America Volume 1: Rebirth from DC Comics in exchange for my honest opinion.
  
  Batman decides that humans need a human version of the Justice League to inspire them, so he gets Killer Frost, Vixen, the Atom, Ray, Black Canary and Lobo to form this Justice League of America (not that I understand how Lobo would ever be considered human but I am not complaining). This team are forced to work together when they hardly know each other, which makes for interesting fight sequences and conversation.
  
  What makes the Justice League of America unlike most team-ups if both Lobo and Killer Frost. They both bring a spontaneity to the team, which otherwise would most likely be a boring team-up of heroes that play by the book. Killer Frost is trying overcome the Killer part; but everyone is focused only on that and are not willing to look past it. As for Lobo, well he gives the team an edge that they greatly benefit from, not to mention forcing members of the team into making decisions that they never thought that they would have to make.
  
  My only complaint is that the art is all over the place, literally. I was constantly struggling to focus on what was going on as my eyes were just unable to settle on the page. Whilst this works in some comics favours as the storyline calls for this, it just does not work when their are so many characters that require attention. I feel like the art style was made for Lobo, then they decided that they needed to add in the other characters as they were part of the team. It did not feel like each individual was properly showcased in how they deserved. I was constantly looking for Lobo and what crazy antic he was up to.
  
  Worth the read, but do not go into this expecting it to be like the majority of comics that you have read this year.
• 
  Scott

  In my review for JLA: Road to Rebirth last week I glurged "I think this new JLA has potential . . . now let's see 'em in action together." Well, here it is; and while it wasn't necessarily great I'd like to think it's only because the team is still trying to establish cohesion in their salad days.
  
  After a recap - not exactly brief; it's better to read the prior book - they jump into their first adventure. The initial story is better with the story-line and action, although I was intrigued that the latter story is set in a (fictional) Pennsylvania "small city, industrial flight, job loss, desperate enough to sell itself . . ." that pretty much describes my hometown in the Keystone state.
  
  I still don't get the Lobo character, but he has a nice scene near the end with a teammate that was briefly uncharacteristically serious and sort of revealing.
• 
  Charles

  It’s certainly one of the more interesting titles of Rebirth, but it’s just not enough to keep me interested. When I first started reading Orlando’s Midnighter I greatly enjoyed his writing. He’s now moved up to several titles for DC and I worry that maybe he’s spread too thin. I feel that this title lacks some of the personal touch and feelings of his earlier works.
  
  The arcs in this volume are pretty straightforward and simple. To me at least, the first one is far superior to the second one which borders on the banal. It at times felt like an episode of ’66 Batman which wasn’t what I was looking for.
  
  One odd point for me was the recruitment of the Characters to form the new JLA. You see, it felt odd, since Lobo in particular had already been recruited in the Justice League vs Suicide Squad which predates this title. It played out a little differently in this, so I felt a bit confused.
  
  The art is fairly nice and enjoyable but at times the pacing of the action left me a bit lost and wondering what was happening. Felt like I was passing by it on a high speed train and was missing out.
  
  One serious sore spot for me was far too much Lobo. Yes, I know that will probably be the main attraction for some, but his goofy expressions began to wear thin. It was nice to see a bit of redemption for him, but I felt that was weakened by his dialogue.
  
  This is probably really picking some knits here, but I also dislike the tradition at the attempt to make up fake former Soviet Republics. The names mean nothing to me and this volume in particular bounced through several so the impact of the action and consequences felt watered down. After a while, I really didn’t care since it all felt like a jumble.
  
  The best I can give this is just an “ok”. I’m happy I’ve read it, but I don’t think it’s compelling enough to make me want to come back.
  
  In an odd twist of fate, I picked up the recently collected Midnighter solo series originally published under Wildstorm. I have to say that the first arc of this new JLA closely mirrored the theme of the story of Midnighter returning “home” to face the Anthem. To me, the older arc felt more intimate and personal. I think that the approach in the JLA was too big, too crowded, and too grandiose to make me feel any emotional connection.
  
• 
  Ivy

  5 🌟
  
  Nice to see Batman building up a team of ordinary people to fight crime. Heroes and villains team up sounds cool. Hopefully it will work. Glad that they were able to stop the Extremists. Wonder if Xenos and Ray will get together.
  
  Can't wait to read Justice League of America, volume 2: Curse of the Kingbutcher!!!!
• 
  Sans

  Yiiiiikes. Talk about a rough start. Not enough Black Canary and too many Marvel ripoffs.
• 
  Nexumi

  Apart from Batman and Frost this is just plain and awful.
  
  But it's rare I am a fan of team storylines unless they are events.
• 
  Alex E

  A good effort, but disjointed and rushed, this book feels like Orlando trying his best to make a good thing out of a bad situation.
  
  Its hard to get over the fact that Lobo is on the team. Not so much because he is a notorious villain, I mean that's part of it, but also because he is so overpowered, that the rest of the team becomes a bit moot. Why not throw Lobo at the problem to see how far he can get then come in and sweep up? And while the villains in this books second story arc do come up with a way to stop him, it actually is only a way to slow him down as he recovers quite quickly.
  
  Besides that, the pacing of the book feels off. We bounce from scene to scene without much explanation or sense of logistical narrative structure. The book simply switches places, sometimes only for one panel. Which can be jarring to the overall flow of the book.
  
  I do like the team dynamic of the team still getting acclimated, as some are brand new to the overall super hero business, some are distrustful of others, and some simply are along for the ride. The character work is for the most part excellent, and I appreciated Orlando's ability to write each character in their own voice.
  
  I will read the next volume, but I hope there is a better handle on the plotting of this book, because currently it was a bit difficult to get through.
• 
  Stormi (StormReads)

  I am learning that the comics I read when I was young have not stuck with me or there are a lot more characters now than there use to be. I seen this one and thought oh Justice League, but I wasn’t prepared for Batman’s suicide squad version…lol. I only knew a couple of the characters and the rest were very strange especially Lobo, he was plan scary.
  
  
  I was so confused with the story line at the beginning that I just wasn’t really having a lot of fun with this one. I found it really hard to get into when I didn’t really know the characters and the confusion at the start just through me off. From now on I am going to be much more careful with my picking of comics to read. 🙂
  
  Batman takes some unusual characters, some of them being Lobo, Killer Frost, Ray and others I can’t remember. He is attempting to change their attitudes and make them heroes instead of villains. The people don’t really trust them but when Havoc comes to take over the planet they have to try and defend everyone making them somewhat crazy heroes, I just can’t get over the looks of Lobo….lol. He creeps me out. 🙂
  
  I did think that the illustrations were pretty cool. 🙂
• 
  Wayne McCoy

  'Justice League of America Vol. 1: The Extremists' by Steve Orlando finds Batman putting together another super team, but the book is just kind of a mess.
  
  Batman wants to create a super team that has "normal" superheroes on it and not gods. But the presence of Lobo doesn't seem to make sense to me. Then there are the two story arcs in which super powered beings take over a country or a city and it's up to this newly formed team (at least one of which is new to the superhero business) to sort things out.
  
  I like Batman with a team of Outsiders, so I had hopes for this one, but it just didn't work for me. The team is a weird hybrid that all seem to suddenly be fine working together. The back to back dictator stories seemed like political fodder (and why do the normal humans just bow down and accept these tyrants?). The art and color is overkill to the point of being blah. When it was all over, I just didn't care about any of it.
  
  I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
• 
  Christian Zamora-Dahmen

  This was terrible.
  After such a wonderful launching set with the previous volume, I expected a character driven book, instead, I got a non-strop action driven series, with two-dimensional portrayal of characters and a concept that doesn’t work that well.
  Batman wanted a down-to-Earth team that wasn’t comprised of gods. A relatable team. And then, we got Lobo in it. He’s a murderer, what’s relatable about that? Killer Frost is on her way to redemption, so I do get why she’s in the team, but then again... Lobo?
  The Extremists are a force to be reckoned with. But their arch was so boring. Just battle after battle, no surprises, no turning points. As for the second arc, it wasn’t any better, and in that scenario, even art went South.
  Everything went wrong with this book. Action books can work, just look at the Suicide Squad, but characters need to be more involved and stop talking in slogans.
  
• 
  Hannah

  ARC REVIEW
  
  Story: Now that Superman and Batman have redeemed Killer Frost they need someplace to put her and Batman has just the place. With the Justice League full of Aliens Batman feels that the people need a group of superheroes that aren’t aliens, so he got together Vixen, Black Canary, The Ray, Atom (but not Ray Palmer) Frost who has dropped Killer from her name, and Lobo. (Wait Lobo I thought this was supposed to be humans, whatever.) Finding out how they work together is trial by fire when a multiverse group of powerful beings tries to take over the world to save us from ourselves, by any means necessary. That includes killing anyone who objects to them. JLA decides the best course of action is to rally the people and defeat the Extremist together.
  
  Art: The art was nice it had one awesome two page spread. I love how Frost and Vixen were drawn, and even though I don’t like Lobo he was drawn pretty well.
  
  Review: After first reading it I really liked it but going back to it now I find it a little lacking Justice League vs. Suicide Squad was massive and non-stop and unfortunately JLA did get dry in some spots. I liked the characters (except Lobo) and I like them working together; this was a great idea but finished product it just okay.
• 
  Joe

  Okay, Lobo wasn't to bad.
  Need more stories with this team.
  Not enough personal growth.
  
• 
  Eli

  Reading in preparation for Doomsday Clock
  
  Being generous giving it a two-star rating. Hoping it gets better. Only picked this up because I can't stand picking volume 3 of this run up for Doomsday Clock without having read 1 and 2.
• 
  charlotte,

  Rep: Black mc, gay mc
• 
  John Yelverton

  So, Batman creates a Justice League out of nowhere, and they fight villains that you barely remember from years past. I was especially disappointed with the graphic novel swapping artists half way through. I'm going to give this series a chance, but I'm far from impressed at this exact moment.
• 
  Rick Hunter

  ****** I got a digital copy of this from Netgalley.
  
  I've always loved team books and have been a fan of many of the different iterations of the JLA. When I first heard there was a new JLA book coming out, I was pretty excited. That excitement grew even more when I found out Black Canary was going to be a member. I love her. The Atom being included was a plus as well. I always enjoyed comics with Ray Palmer in them. (Much to my chagrin, Palmer isn't Atom in this book. It's some new person.) Vixen intrigues me. My limited knowledge of the character comes from the Justice League United cartoons and from CW's Arrow-verse. I can't say that I've ever read or seen anything with the Ray in it. He too seems to be a newer version like Atom is although I can't be 100% sure of that. Lobo is okay in small doses. I hate reading his speech and some writers have him talk way more than others. Him being included detracted from my interest level. The final member of the team, Killer Frost, is the main reason I wanted to read this though. I'm still not sold on her being a hero now. I'm not sure DC made the right call with her, but I really want to see how they try to pull off her turn.
  
  I should have just skipped this one once I saw Steve Orlando's name attached as the writer for the series. I've yet to read anything by him that was good. Batman: Night of the Monster Men was the worst crossover event I've read in years, possibly the worst event ever. Rebirth Supergirl volume 1 was a big disappointment. I would go into all of the ways the writing in this story was horrible, but that would take a VERY long time and, ultimately, not be worth the effort. At this point, I'm beginning to think a Roomba that runs over some dog poop has a better chance of writing a good story on your carpet before Steve Orlando writes something worth reading. Writing gets 1 star.
  
  There are 4 artists that work on the book. They are Ivan Reis, Felipe Watanabe, Diogenes Neves, and Andy MacDonald. I normally love Ivan Reis' artwork. I think he's up there with Jim Lee as one of the greatest comic artists of my lifetime. Much like Lee's Rebirth Suicide Squad art, what Reis put out for this book is some of the worst art of his career. Reis' art in this is still much better than most comic art, but isn't up to par with what he normally produces. The time constraints on these Rebirth titles have forced artists to rush to deliver. Diogenes Neves has the best looking art in the book. The art produced by the other 2 artists is a drastic drop in quality. As a whole, the art in this book falls somewhere in the middle of all Rebirth titles. I never would have thought that's where it would end up since Reis is on the project. Art gets 3 stars.
  
  This was really close to being as bad as Rebirth Batgirl & the Birds of Prey volume 1 and Batgirl volume 1. This was a major disappointment. Unless you're a fan of Steve Orlando or one of the team members is your favorite character, stay away from this one. Overall rating is 2 stars.
• 
  Sarah

  So, I didn't read the back of the book before picking this up--I was just curious about it from WAY BACK when I read the 0-issue in the Rebirth omnibus almost a year ago, and I thought, "Hey, let's see what this all about." Apparently, I was supposed to read "Justice League vs. Suicide Squad" first. And I didn't. Woops. There were definitely parts that I didn't understand, which I assume will make a lot more sense when I go back and read that other volume. That said, there were definitely parts of this that were more "comic book action"-focused than storytelling/character development- focused. Action is definitely not a bad thing--especially in comics, obviously--but great comics strike a balance between the action and everything else. This one... didn't quite hit that for me. I'm intrigued by the bizarre combination of "heroes" that Batman has put together, and some of the character development was intriguing--Frost, for instance, trying her hardest to be a hero rather than a villain, and Lobo taking the new Atom under his wing. Plus, the themes of free will vs. safety were intresting and well-done. The final theme of the first story arc--that free will is something that should never be sacrificed, but that the free will of a everyone should, ideally, go towards helping rather than hurting others (that, if we all work together to support each other, we have the potential and the ability to survive anything)--transitioned nicely into the main idea of the second story arc, which didn't just focus on using fear as a means of controlling a populace, but also manipulation. Those are some very real world conflicts that, through these very flawed heroes, I feel like Batman (and therefore the author) is trying to show can be overcome. You don't need to be Superman or Wonder Woman to be a hero--you just have to do what is right. There are a lot of seeds being sewn here for something very powerful with this title... but I don't think it's found that right balance yet. This could be a great series, but as it stands right now... it's a solid series. It has both the fun and the thought, but just not quite the right balance between the two. Still, I think there's a strong chance that it will, and I'm excited to see what's coming next.
• 
  Malum

  I reeeeaaaaalllly wanted to like this series, but there are some problems here.
  First of all, the series (or this volume, anyway) has a very "Silver Age" vibe to it. The stories are hokey and yet take themselves very seriously. For example:
  
  We get one story about a group of Marvel knock-off villains try to take over some Eastern European countries.
  The next story is about a guy manufacturing "folklore weapons". That is, weapons based on myth and legend.
  
  These stories are pretty silly and probably would work better if there was a little more humor injected into them. But when you have a bad guy that is seriously threatening people with his "Dionysus gun" that makes people frenzy, you can't help but roll your eyes.
  
  The next problem is that the stories all have pretty similar themes. The bad guys take over a village/city/country, the people there complain about the JLA even though the JLA are trying to help them, Lobo argues with everyone and gets into a stink-eye contest with Batman, the JLA needs some kind of special armor to help beat the bad guys, the end. This is literally the outline for both stories in this volume.
  
  Next, most of the JLA are real bottom of the barrel characters. That would be ok except for the fact that there are so many team members that you don't get to know any of them. The Justice League can all share "screen time" because we know who Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc. are. But on this JLA, we don't really know these characters, nor do we get to know them. Even if there is a character here that you particularly like and know something about, you won't be seeing them much because there are just too many people to spread the dialog/fight scenes around.
  
  Now, I have been very disappointed with the regular Justice League book, but I couldn't help but think that the Justice League would work better with these kinds of stories rather than the terrible stories they have been put in for the past year or so. Little character development (because they each have their own books and we know who they are), lots of fighting, and a little silliness.
• 
  Cale

  Why is this team called the Justice League of America? They aren't legacy characters for the name, they're not being portrayed as representatives of the US within the book itself, and they spend more than half of this collection fighting interdimensional invaders in a foreign country! At least two of them aren't American citizens, and another one or two weren't born in the US. Look, I'm all for diversity, but why aren't they being called the Outsiders? It's a much more appropriate name for the team considering its makeup, its creation and management by Batman, how it works, and where it's doing its fighting.
  
  Maybe it was covered in Justice League vs Suicide Squad. I'll need to go back and read that.
  
  Otherwise, the story here is okay. We get interdimensional super villains who think they're doing the right thing, and then we get a super-powered mob that takes basically a city hostage. There's lots of action, and things get WEIRD throughout. The characters spend as much time arguing as they do fighting (usually with enemies, but not always), but at least they look good doing it. The Extremists feel like an interesting antagonist that could have used more development time - I don't know why the story was shoehorned into only four issues. It could have easily supported a whole volume.
  The bickering of the team is expected, but I'm not really here for it. All told, there's nothing here particularly special or memorable. It's by the numbers super team. With the wrong name.
• 
  Sean

  1.5/5 stars. Didn’t have high hopes for this one, after seeing Lobo as a Justice League member. The prequel, Road to Rebirth, was much better because it focuses on the backstory for the other four characters: Vixen, Ray, Ryan Choi as the Atom, and Killer Frost, a diverse cast of interesting characters who haven’t historically been in the spotlight. I was particularly excited to finally see an Asian man as a hero, especially a character who in previous versions has always been a minor supporting character to the Ray Palmer Atom and a stereotypical Asian nerd genius. Unfortunately, the Ryan Choi Atom really did not contribute at all to the story or plot.
  
  There could’ve been potential, especially with DC’s promise of reflecting diversity into its pages. Instead, it felt sloppy. The writer, Steve Orlando, just did not understand the voices of the characters, especially Vixen (as compared to previous versions of this character). The dialogue didn’t flow. The villains were lame-ducks, their motivations lacking and shallow.
  
  No character development. Choppy dialogue. Boring plot. Lack of chemistry in their teamwork. And a foreshadowing so obvious and blinding, there’s a vacuum of suspense and tension. I’m not excited at all to continue this series. Perhaps the next collection will redeem itself by focusing on the potential of these lesser-known characters. Just please, less talking from Lobo. Ugh.
• 
  Scott Lee

  Orlando's doing a pretty good job, although this book feels a bit like Batman and the outsiders do the JLA. By which I mean, that the only character here--besides Vixen--who's established to move beyond an intriguing choice for the Justice League or the JLA is Bruce himself, and everyone else either has too checkered a past or is too new to all of this to belong on this version of DC's premiere super team.
  
  That said, Orlando is definitely the strong point here as the artwork is wildly inconsistent. The irony of this incarnation of the JLA is that it supposedly represents how human beings can be heroic, even as the Justice League is designed to take on what in Marvel would be called cosmic level threats. Of course, Batman makes up his proud to be human superhero team with a Czarnian as the primary muscle guy. How symbolically human can team that features Lobo and the Ray be?
  
  In this first volume we get a "Road to Rebirth" issue, in which Batman gathers the team. In the remaining five issues there's a JLA vs. overzealous order fanatics followed by JLA vs. Agents of Chaos. The lineup is interesting enough to be intriguing, and the foreshadowing that Batman is trying to get away with something involving this squad he's put together. No hints yet of anything it might be.