Justice League Unlimited #3 // Review
There’s a global terrorist group that is looking to do some major damage to everyone. This is the type of thing that the single biggest team of superheroes on the planet should be able to deal with, but how are they gong to be able to do so without incurring some kind of major casualties themselves? It’s a big storm that’s coming in the form of a group calling itself “Inferno.” The heroes learn a little bit more about it in Justice League Unlimited #3. Writer Mark Waid continues a fun reboot of the old JLA with artist Dan Mora.
The Question is running her traditional rounds patrolling the Justice League’s orbital headquarters. There’s quite a lot going on. Blue Beetle seems a little jumpy. Green Arrow is making some chili with Black Canary. Then there’s a kid who was saved from a parallel Earth. He’s been spending a hell of a lot of time on the JLA’s watchtower. She knows why. He feels more than a little nervous about the whole situation, but she’s got an idea of how his presence might be of use. He’s free to stay. They’ll help him get established on the new Earth. He just has to mask-up and help her out first.
Waid continues to fully flesh-out the Justice Lague Unlimited idea that had been developed for the animated series something liek a quarter century ago. It’s a fun premise that really mebraces the ide aof a shared universe with great continuity in a way that has seldom been attempted with any serious level of coherence over the years. Waid’s intimate knowledge of all things DC works to the advantage of a series that seems to be almost totally integrated with everything going on in every other title. It’s a fun meeting point for so much of the rest of what’s going on on DC’s side of the new issues rack.
Mora embraces the overall feel of the watchtower with a great degree of fidelity to the inspiration behind it. It’s space fantasy space quarters that feel like they could stretch out forever in all directions as fantastic people in colorful costumes move about performing various duties. In the center of it all, there’s some well-executed drama that supports some very cleverly-framed action that moves around the page with a great deal of grace from one cover to the next.
Justice League Unlimited might be one of the better-realized and more sharply-framed looks at the Justice League concept to come along in a very long time. It embraces the idea of the team while leaving a whole lot of room for the imagination to linger around the edges of everything. Very sharp stuff from beginning to end on a whole bunch of different levels that feel like a fresh nexus between all of the different elements in the All-In initiative. Waid and company have harnessed some really sharp momentum. With any luck they can keep it going.
