Justice League International: A Mixed Review

The work of Dan Jurgens can be powerful. After 20 years his name conjures the death of Superman and the war of the supermen. With this, it was with some trepidation that I approached Justice League International. Illustrated by the team of Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan (JLA Generation Lost), we have mostly good, if sometimes inconsistent, art.

Some of the new 52 start out with a bang, some with quiet contemplation, but JLI starts out with a fancy power point presentation. Andre Briggs, head of U.N. Intelligence, sells a new group of superheros to be backed by the U.N. Headed up by Booster gold, their members include Ice, Vixen, Fire, Godiva, Rocket Red, the August General in Iron, and Guy Gardner.

Jurgens’ gives us friction from the beginning: factions amongst the U.N., Gardner’s resistance, Batman’s interference, and missing U.N. research teams. The cost of this is that we don’t get much personality and character, with the exception of Booster and Gardner. Overall, I liked the story, but I’m less than impressed with Jurgen’s writing. The beginning starts strong, but the trivial characterization of some of the team draws it down. In the end, I’m still a little afraid of what we’re going to get with JLI.