Comic Info
Comic Name: Justice League (Volume 2)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jim Lee/Gene Ha/Carlos D’Anda/Ivan Reis/Ethan Van Sciver/David Finch
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2012
Justice League (2) #8
Reprints Justice League (2) #7-12 (May 2012-October 2012). The world sees the Justice League as gods that walk among them. Steven Trevor has been assigned as the liaison between the Justice League and the government…and the former lover of Wonder Woman. When a man named David Graves sets out for revenge against the Justice League, he not only intends to prove to the world that the members of the Justice League are the monsters he believes them to be.
Written by Geoff Johns, Justice League 2: A Villain’s Journey continues the New 52 relaunch of the series. Following Justice League 1: Origin, the series features art by Jim Lee, Gene Ha, Carlos, D’Anda, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, and David Finch. The crossover issue with Green Arrow was also part of Green Arrow 2: Harrow and the collection does not include the Shazam back-up storyline Shazam—Volume 1.
The New 52 relaunch really reinvigorated the DC Universe for me. I grew up more of a Marvel reader, but my earliest encounters with super-heroes was the Super Friends! series which essentially was the Justice League. The idea of streamlining DC’s sprawling universes was a good idea and series worked or didn’t work…Justice League is one of those series that didn’t do much for me.
Justice League (2) #12
I loved Johns’ take on Aquaman, but the Justice League storylines feel rather fractured and underdeveloped. In theory, the readers are supposed to read all the DC comics that tie to the “Justice League Family” and it will flesh out the series…but the New 52 relaunch really didn’t tie in enough together as promised. This leaves the Justice League rather limp and generic.
The decision to not have a classic DC villain was probably also a mistake. The series needed a real punch that didn’t involve a big gun like Darkseid, but also needed something more than Graves. I was excited to see the Key as a potential villain because Morrison really used this villain well in his JLA storyline in JLA #8-9 (August 1997-September 1997). Someone like the Key, Starro, or Despero could have been a good choice for the volume to give it a classic Justice League feel.
Justice League 2: The Villain’s Journey just didn’t do it for me. The final pages of this story with the “big kiss” stirred even some news stories with the idea that Wonder Woman and Superman would finally be a couple, but to me it felt like a desperate ploy for attention. Justice League 2: The Villain’s Journey is followed by Justice League 3: Throne of Atlantis which featured a crossover with Geoff Johns’ Aquaman comic book.
Related Links:
Justice League 3: Throne of Atlantis
Justice League 5: Forever Heroes
