The Justice League of the Future Faces a Past Threat!
Future State is upon us, and we get to meet an all-new generation of heroes. Last week, we had several comics introducing us to the Next Batman, Superman, and more. As with the generation before, the heroes of tomorrow have gathered to form a Justice League of their own. We have new characters such as The Flash and Yara Flor, Wonder Woman, teaming up with names we’ve known for years, such as Jon Kent and Jo Mullein of the Green Lantern Corps. With all these heroes gathered, are they ready to take on the threats of this future?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
We open with a monologue explaining how this new Justice League has stepped up. The narrator revealed to be an old T.O. Morrow, goes through each member and how they’ve changed the state of the world. He says this to his new Legion of Doom and promises that together they will defeat the heroes. This doesn’t come to pass, as the next day, they are murdered. The League goes in, but with few clues, Green Lantern tells them all to wait until she figures out who did this. They all go their separate ways, but Superman doesn’t feel right.
This opening issue was honestly disappointing to me. Justice League, like all team-up comics, needs to have interactions at the forefront. Characters with such memorable personalities meeting and clashing is usually a fantastic time. We’re only told about this League’s accomplishments, but nothing really about their personalities. Granted, we know a little about Jon, Batman, and Yara, but unless you read Far Sector, the other three are entirely blank slates. Due to an incident(the one hinted at during Flash/Batman: The Button), the heroes aren’t allowed actually to get to know one another. What kind of team-up story is this when there are no stakes in relationships?
That being said, I am still intrigued to see where this story is going to go. The killers have been revealed as an old Justice League foe that hasn’t been seen in over a decade. While I will keep the identity a secret, the idea it implies is that these heroes will need to break their rule. The only way to beat an enemy such as this is to trust in one another completely. If that’s the idea the writers are going for, then I’m very excited.
Art:
Robson Rocha is the illustrator for this issue, and he does a spectacular job. This version of the Justice League looks fantastic, with the designs of the characters looking top-notch. Even the villains end up looking cool, making me feel sad that we wouldn’t get a proper action sequence with them. Rocha also succeeds in crafting the world itself, with the city looking breathtaking with its bright lights. It’s a nice contrast when compared to the run down Hall of Justice. This artist definitely needs more work at DC because he really brings his A-game.
Conclusion:
Overall I was disappointed in this issue, but I am not quite giving up hope on the series. We don’t get a ton of action or character, but the world is still interesting. The latter is definitely due to the fantastic work on the art team’s part. The story itself has left enough intrigue to pull people into the second issue, but it needs more work. This series would probably be more successful if we had more time to really get to know these characters. If we are able to get more character in the coming issues, then I think this mini-series will really succeed.
