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Justice League: No Justice #1
Publisher: DC
Story: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson
Pencils: Francis Manapul
Inks:  Francis Manapul
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: AndWorld Design

Coming right off the heels of DC’s last big event, Dark Nights: Metal, Justice League: No Justice kicks off with nothing less but the entire Green Lantern Corps at the Source Wall, trying to repair the damage done by the heroes at the end of Metal. The first of multiple Francis Manapul spreads comes next, kicking this short four-issue mini-series off in high gear, and never slows down.

Manapul’s visuals and bigger-than-life layouts are one of the primary storytelling components of this issue, and they complement the type of big, universe-spanning plot developed by three of DC’s current fan-favorite writers. Manapul’s character designs, facial expressions, and use of unique panel layouts set this story apart from DC’s standard monthly fare, providing a sense of importance, but also of fun, to the visuals. There’s an almost Silver Age type of sensibility to some of the page layouts, given the large cast of characters and the incorporation of many old DC characters that were created during the Silver Age, primarily Martian Manhunter, Starro the Conqueror, and the main antagonist for the story, Brainiac.

The writers’ story also involves another familiar Silver Age trope, by mixing together teams of characters that normally don’t work together. This was all set-up in the DC Nation #0 comic from a few weeks ago, but here the different teams are explained, and background is provided, and while the premise of how and why the teams are mixed and matched is a bit too convenient, it makes sense within the context of the story.

Justice League: No Justice also includes a few surprises, such as the reveal of a new team for Amanda Waller, Task Force XI, and a very well-written scene between Lex Luthor and J’onn J’onzz that hints at Martian Manhunter’s history within the Rebirth universe. The writers also don’t forget that comics are supposed to be fun, such as by including a scene for Beast Boy to goof around right in front of Batman, accompanied by Batman’s perfect deadpan retort. This kind of humor is something that was sorely missing from Dark Nights: Metal. While that story was different in scale and scope, and had a much darker tone where that type of humor would have bene out-of-place, it was still a comic event story about the potential end of the universe and the group of heroes that need to stop that from happening.

Ultimately, that “save the universe” theme is probably the biggest fault with Justice League: No Justice. While the blame is not specifically on this particular issue, it seems that the theme with all cross-over event comics these days is that they have to be “important” and that the stakes have to be huge. It’s as though the heroes go from fixing a universe-threatening event last week, and then do it all over again this week, but with a different premise. After the depressing tone and the massive implications from Dark Nights: Metal, it might have been nice to have a bit of a breather and to let the heroes deal with the more psychological and emotional ramifications of that story before immediately jumping into another event that almost makes the enormity of Metal be quickly discarded.

The saving grace is that Justice League: No Justice seems to be taking a different approach, incorporating bits of humor as mentioned earlier, but also adopting a storytelling aesthetic that is much more reminiscent of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths than on its darker and more complex sequels such as Morrison’s metaphysical Final Crisis, or the dark and violent Flashpoint.

It remains to be seen if the names of the different fundamental energies represented by the Omega Titans in Justice League: No Justice, are prescient of DC Comics plans for their universe in the future. Rebirth re-captured a sense of wonder and mystery to the DC Universe, while the more recent Dark Nights: Metal generated chaos and disarray (“entropy”). Could DC’s leadership be telling us that they have the wisdom to learn from their past efforts what the fans want, and what doesn’t work?

That last one might be overly wishful thinking, but “wonder” and “mystery” combined with some occasional “entropy” to mix things up, is a good start.

Martin Thomas
martin@comicattack.net