Comic Review: Justice League Of America #5 (DC Comics)

The Justice League of America have made themselves known to the public eye.

Even allowing the people of Happy Harbor to have access to Mount Justice headquarters. The focus is to build trust, yet the public eye is having a hard time trusting the likes of Lobo and Killer Frost. In the midst of distrust, someone is smuggling black market weapons that harbors danger on the streets. Who is behind it? And what will it take for the public to trust the JLA?

Steve Orlando is definitely venturing into interesting territory with the JLA. There is a lot of focus in the ideas of accountability, and collateral damage. There is definitely some political undertones that occur throughout the book that make it interesting in regards to how it can make the efforts of Batman’s new team progress or buckle due to the kind of jurisdiction that the team has to straddle around.

Orlando continues to make Lobo, and Canary to be standout voices in this title. Batman is humorously written in a way that makes his interaction with Lobo satisfying. The story has an interesting parallel to the first arc. The first arc was all about forming systems of order and control, this arc is largely focused on disorder of systems and ideologies. It makes it as interesting to read as it is entertaining.

Andy MacDonald’s art is enjoyable, making the comic feel like something suited for a nice animated series. MacDonald’s art and panel layouts are well suited for this story that Orlando has cropped up. It feels more urban in a 100 Bullets kind of style. Overall there are no complaints with the art. The final pages where The Ray utilizes his abilities in unison with the rest of his teammates in some fashion is a highlight aside from Lobo thrashing baddies all around. John Rauch’s colors really blend splendidly well with McDonald’s art. Steve Wands delivers in the letters department.

Overall this title is definitely a boots to the ground kind of series that focuses on elements of real world issues. It’s a worthwhile series and this issue or at least this story arc is a worthwhile read.