Lord Havok is taking over territories within and outside of Kravikora and in certain parts of the world, unleashing his Extremist’s running rampant and wreaking havoc on the citizens.
With very few rebels left to oppose these powerful forces, they are left with nothing but to hide, plan and gather their remaining forces. With very few resources, who will they have at their side to defeat Lord Havok? The Justice League will answer the call. Can the Justice League of America plan to divide and concur be enough to face tip the scales against Lord Havok and his acolytes?
Steve Orlando wrangles up some good moments and some narrative parallels between the JLA and Havok’s Extremists. What is most fascinating is the balance and focus on characters such as Vixen, Black Canary, Killer Frost, The Ray, and Lobo who get a lot of spotlight in this issue. Usually, in a team book Batman is usually front and center, but in this series, it’s not the case. That isn’t to say it’s a bad thing, it actually makes the comic more interesting since Batman is more in the background making the reader wonder what Batman is thinking about when he is watching the team he assembled in the heat of battle. His role is somewhat similar to his appearance in the Justice League Dark animated film, which is minimal, which in turn doesn’t take away the attention of the other members in the title. The team dynamics are great, we see the team split into pairs to face off against members of the Extremists who echo similarities to the protagonists which is great for character analogies and narratives.
The story is Paced with decency which is great since it doesn’t drag. Orlando has written Lord Havok to be a very intimidating foe that may give the main Justice League team an actual problem should they ever meet. It’s good to see writers who take obscure characters from the library of lost characters and repurposing them to be more imposing that makes the protagonists actually worry. Still, one must wonder what Batman means when recalling the team to be a more ‘human’ team. Is it because he’s looking for more relatable personalities? Or people more in tuned with humanity? That’s one of the few things that come to question. It’s just a tangent train of thought.
Diogenes Neves art is also great in this issue. One of the best pages that really make for a great poster is an image that Nerves illustrated of Lobo descending from the shadows before facing off against one of the Extremists. It’s a really great image that kinda gave off some classic 90s / 90s Wolverine vibes, cigar and all. Nerves provide some proper layouts and keep the visual narrative intact to Orlando’s writing while taking some illustrative liberties with the visuals here and there.
Mark Deering and Rose Jose both accomplish their ink work on Neves pencils giving off some nice sharp inks that remind one of Joe Quesada’s inkwork. There isn’t a line that feels out of place with the inks. The colors by HiFi are great and the lettering by Clayton Cowles are also well done. This is a good issue, although there is still a bit to be desired after the little preview that was shown at the end of issue one. It’s a wait and see game. But surely it’ll be worth reading as the series continues to progress. Justice League of America is a series that has a sense of direction, and that’s a Justice League series worth a read.
Newsdesk