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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, But Not Without Faults, February 10, 2008
This review is from: Justice, Vol. 3 (Hardcover)
Let me first accentuate the positive by saying that all three volumes of Justice have absolutely brilliant art and are plain and simply fun to read. Seeing all of our favorite heroes and villains together in mostly their "Silver Age" glory with a modern twist is a fun trip for an old guy like me.
That being said, all three volumes of Justice have some glaring weaknesses as well. First of all, the overall plot is poorly conveyed and, at times, muddled beyond clear comprehension. I'm not going to say the plot was poorly conceived because I don't know the exact intended storyline, so I say "conveyed" because I'm basing it upon what I read. Secondly, the narration sometimes tends to shift from character to character without an apparent signal. This shift fails in come cases because the "voice" of the narrator alone is not strong enough to help the reader figure out which character's perspective we're getting. I noticed this to be particularly the case in Volume III when the colors of the narration boxes were not enough to convey the viewpoint.
Finally, Volume III in particular got a bit heavy-handed with the heroes donning armor in order to face their foes. This felt a bit like a promotional toy move than anything, and furthermore it was difficult to figure out who was who beneath the armor in some cases.
All in all, I think Volume II was the strongest in terms of story, narration, and dialogue, but all three volumes had astronomical art with very cool interpretations of character's designs. If you're a fan of Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, Doug Braithwaite, the Silver Age, or the old Super Friends cartoon, you'll probably enjoy this work. Just be ready for a convoluted storyline and (at times) confusing narration.
~Scott William Foley, author of Dr. Nekros: Phantasms and Chicanery (Volume I, Episode II)
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ross Delivers on Visuals but Story is Lacking, November 26, 2007
This review is from: Justice, Vol. 3 (Hardcover)
Whenever Alex Ross is involved in a project it feels like an event and Justice is no exception. The art is absolutely gorgeous and it's a real blast to see classic DC characters like Gorilla Grodd and Solomon Grundy rendered in museum quality detail. Ross's inspiration for Justice was the old Challenge of the Super Friends cartoons from the late 70's. What I tried to do was mentally separate the spectacular art from the story and see how it holds up and quite frankly judged on its own merits the story is rather average. Justice started off with a huge bang in book one with a coordinated assault by the Legion of Doom that left the Justice League reeling. Perhaps the most indelible image was the four on one attack on Superman by Bizarro, Grundy, The Parasite and Metallo. The other big shock was Brainiac cutting open Aquaman's skull. I love the look of Brainiac in the doctors' scrubs like an evil scientist from the 1940's.
Each Justice book has impressed me less then the previous and I think I've put my finger on the problem, writers Alex Ross and Jim Krueger just wimped out. If you're going to write a non-canon comic about well established characters why not go for it all. Have a major character or two die or create a fundamental change in the dynamics of the relationship between the heroes and villains. It seemed after book one that this was where the writers were going with the villains discovering the secret identities of the JLA and Brainiac lobotomizing Aquaman. This was powerful stuff. The Legion of Doom was more vicious than ever but in book three we discover that they were being controlled by Brainiac's nano-technology and everything is resolved using DC comics ultimate Deus Ex Machina, the ring of Green Lantern. Wimpy.
The cover of Justice 3 shows the JLA all decked out in form fitted armor created to protect them against Brainiac's mind controlling nano-worms. To me it seemed like nothing more than a plot contrivance created so that our heroes could wear super cool constumes. On the upside some of the villains, most notably Grodd, Grundy and the Toyman are rendered and written superbly. It was nice to see Grundy back to his zombie like, decaying self. Gorilla Grodd has never looked more legitimately frightening and even the usually goofy Toyman is fiendishly terrifying. Again, I have no complaints on the visuals.
Justice just doesn't compare to classics like The Marvels or Kingdom Come but I have to give Alex Ross major credit for bringing back the Legion of Doom particularly since I'm old enough to have watched them when they were originally broadcast. If I had it to do all over again I'd still purchase the Justice series in a heartbeat but it's unlikely to go down as a modern day classic. I give it five stars for the art and three stars for the story which averages out to four stars.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Justice comes to a satisfying and fitting end., October 24, 2007
This review is from: Justice, Vol. 3 (Hardcover)
This volume is the third in the Justice trilogy written by Jim Krueger and illustrated by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite. It picks up right where volume 2 left off with the good guys and the bad guys priming their forces for the final showdown and I have gotta say that it does not dissapoint. Going into the story, the readers (for the most part) know how the story will end...the good guys will undoubtedly win and kick the bad guys' collective butt. But knowing that fact doesn't detract from the story and half the fun of the story is seeing the heroes get to that point.
The highlights in this book (in my humble opinion, of course) are the awesome fight scenes. In the first opening chapter, you have Captain Marvel has going up against Black Adam and a brain-washed duo of Mary Marvel and Capt. Marvel Jr. Capt. Marvel tries to pull his punches and the emotion he feels for his family clearly shows through. Thanks to Ross and Braitwaite, saying "Shazam" never looked so good. Another highlight in the fight scene between a very gruesome looking Wonder Womand and Cheetah. There are many more fight scenes, rescue attempts, double crosses, near fatalities but thanks to our intrepid heroes, they do not come to fruition.
I have said it in my reviews of the previous volumes and I will say it again, this is one of the best told JLA stories in recent years and will be enjoyed by fans of both Silver Age and Modern Age comics.
And finally, for those who are still doubting the awesomeness of this comics, I have 2 words: "Vampire Joker". 'Nuff said.
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