Grant has done a bang-up decent job thus far, in fact he’s been remarkable. That’s saying a lot as I am not a huge fan of his Superman stuff. It’s good but nothing spectacular. That said, his new take here has been a great spin but somehow, the appearance of a certain clique saw things veer of course here for me. Usually, Kubert’s inconsistent art I bicker about, but no banter here as he’s done a grand job. Now if only Grant could have omitted the Kryptonite story line here with the ship’s engine…then I’d be sold.
I felt things got a bit muddled and too discombobulated as Grant waived off the simplistic route he employed in this reboot. I didn’t like straying from the straightforward nonchalant course of action he earlier plotted. Having this team link up Superman and go through time streams etc is just not my cup of tea. Even Fish’s backup feature wasn’t enough to redeem the issue for me. Both stories were alright but nothing that won me over and left me gasping in awe. Pretty average read. Disappointing considering I was adamant about the boss work in the issues 1-5. (5.5/10)
Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridols both plot and sketch this issue and that isn’t something to boast about. It’s too similar to the series, but doesn’t show any evolution or step up like the Beechen book did with Ryan Benjamin on art. The latter was potent and hit poignant revelations but this #1 seemed teeny-bopping and a raw mishap. Somehow, despite looking average, the book fell way below expectations. The cast here seemed too formulaic and wooden. It seemed robotic and the implementation, planning and execution of the script missed the target to me. (2/10)
Apart from Jim Lee’s constantly-evolving yet brilliant works of art here, the issue is another slow builder to what should have taken just 2 issues. Really? 5 issues just to show invasion, ass-kicking and Apokolips? Seems that Lee and Johns are focusing on character development, or should I say hero development, a bit too much! Darkseid doesn’t get the proper insight that I felt he should be given and we see the league as fallible as possible. Hal and Barry are spot on, don’t get me wrong, but Bruce is a mess in this issue as his actions are so uncharacteristic and non-sensical. The team camaraderie is decent and the revolving door for giving each member proper panel time isn’t too shabby, but it’s another issue of heroes vs minions, with failed attempts to outrun the Omega Sanction. I’ve waited too long for a backdrop into new Darkseid’s history and this book seems a wallet rapist at this point. Darkseid is no more threatening than any other villain right now, with thugs and powers galore. Developing him and giving him motive a bit earlier for his attacks would paint well a story, but unlike the nonchalance that Grant took with Lex on Action Comics, here…this casual VILLAIN ENTERS TO DESTROY THE WORLD vibe is a calamitous aspect of the book. The team is also way beyond rookie at this point…it’s a shambled non-profound mess. It isn’t what I came to expect from Johns. (5/10)
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