Friday, September 30, 2011

Justice by Jim Krueger Art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite YP FIC KRUEGER


The bad guys have won.  In one fell swoop the world’s most powerful heroes, the Justice League has been picked apart by their most powerful enemies and led by the super-computer Braniac.  He’s used all the forces of evil in the DC universe in a all out attack to rule the world.  Now the fractured and beaten League has to regroup, fight their own brainwashed friends and family, and stop the most dangerous plot they have ever faced.

This is a near perfect super hero comic.  It has loads of action, suspense, wall to wall superheroes and villains and the gorgeous painted art of Alex Ross.  Alex Ross’s lifelike superhero comics always look beautiful, but I’ve found that his action scenes are usually kind of stiff and lifeless.  However, Justice has brilliant action scenes, because they turned the penciling over to Doug Braithwaite.  Together, they have drawn some of the best super hero art I have ever seen.  This book starts with the heroes being picked off one by one and remaining the underdogs for the rest of the adventure.  This keeps things exciting and fresh and the suspense high.   

Best yet, the book is completely understandable to comics laypeople.  It is FILLED with characters that hardcore DC fans will go gaga over, but they are used in a way that doesn’t alienate readers that don’t know the entire history of the DC universe.  This is especially useful, because the book is set in the 70s and while that makes for some pretty awesome fashions, most people don’t have an encyclopedic memory of the 1970s DC canon.  You won’t learn great truths, there isn’t any soul searching or angst, none of the heroes or villains are metaphors for War it’s just a great good vs. evil tale!

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