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COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Justice League 3000 #3

February 13th, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Plot by Keith Giffen

Dialogue by J.M. DeMatteis

Art by Howard Porter

Published by DC Comics

Things are NOT going well for the JL 3000. The Flash is dead, Green Lantern has gone missing, and the last three members have been sent to Takron-Galtos, a prison planet that has fallen into such disrepair that it isn’t really fit for life. All of this is going on while we still have a TON of questions as to what’s going on with this new Justice League. We don’t really know how they’ve been brought back to life, though we’re given some hints to the answer towards the end of the issue and we really don’t know why their memories and powers are so fragmented. I can promise you one thing though, by the end of the issue your intrigue in the series will have grown exponentially!

Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis are building a really interesting story with JL 3000. While it’s not an “other-world” story, you can tell they’re taking full advantage of not having the restrictions that normally come with writing a book with the core members of the League. By having their memories fragmented the way that they are the characters we know and love still feel very familiar, but we never know how they might approach a situation. Superman almost seems like the star jock of a high school; while normally Clark would do whatever possible to preserve humanity and save the day, this version of Supes is too busy being caught up in his own legacy to be the Man of Steel that we all love. He does have a moment when the conscience we know Clark to have shows, so I really think we’re getting close to seeing some extreme character growth from Supes at least, I’m not so sure about Diana. There needs to be a special mention of the dialogue in this story too. J.M. DeMatteis has added in a level of humor to this story that I really wasn’t expecting. Batman is probably the closest adaptation to the Bruce Wayne we all know, and it’s really a ton of fun to see the back and forth between him and this new Clark. Even if this book was light on action (which it’s not) I could read these characters interacting with each other all day!

I reviewed the first issue and said my biggest hang-up with it was the art and that hasn’t changed. While the art is certainly better, even beautiful at times, I have problems with the way some of Howard Porter’s faces look. It’s pretty obvious to me now that he’s best suited for the large scale stuff, like the splash page of the city, because that was absolutely breathtaking. Some of his faces seem really awkward though. I don’t think it’s because he’s a bad artist because he demonstrates in this issue how great he can really be. I think it’s more his line work that causes the faces to seem crooked at times.

It’s nice to see a book that I was so excited for when it was announced become everything I was expecting it to be. There are still a TON of questions to be answered but I trust this creative team to continue to entertain the hell out of me with this series. There are some great little reveals in this issue, like what planet Takron-Galtos really is, but I expect much bigger things to come because we still haven’t been given a whole lot in the form of what’s really going on in the plot. Anyone who loves these characters but would like to see them in a totally new setting should check out this series, because it’s a heck of a lot of fun!

4 out of 5 nerds

 

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.