DCnU - Justice League International #1 From DC's New 52

Justice League International features writing by Dan Jurgens, pencils by Aaron Lopresti and inks by Matt Ryan.

I find Dan Jurgens to be one of the most talented comic book creators working today. His work on Superman, particularly during the Death of Superman story line was excellent, and he created Booster Gold. Not surprising, then, that Booster is one of the main characters in this title.

One of the things I liked about this book was the broad selection of characters - many of whom are B-list or C-list characters that were brought together to form this team. It's a great mix, and will be interesting to see how the personalities mesh. Not to mention how well Booster does leading a team with Batman on it.

Speaking of the personalities involved, those of you who were following the previews might have seen some changes to this cover. In the original version, the bottom left was taken by a dark-haired woman in a dark costume.

Interestingly, this image, when I downloaded it from DC's site, was called "jlifinalcover.jpg." Apparently not. As time passed and more details came out regarding the New 52 titles, there was speculation about who that character was. We were told by Aaron Lopresti that it was not Donna Troy, but we really didn't get much more. There was a lot of speculation about who is could be.

Fuel was added to the fire when a newer version of the cover was released, this one with no character there. It has been said that the JLI team may well have frequent roster changes, so I cannot help but wonder if perhaps the woman who was there originally, whoever she was, will be turning up in a later issue.

But enough about what is not, what about this issue itself? Flatly stated, this was a hell of a comic. The opening page made me happy. The Creeper is still part of the DC Universe, as is Plastic Man. Metamorpho, too. We also see B'wana Beast and it looks like Congorilla is still around, too. I love that they used this book to help lay that groundwork in the new universe. And now I find myself very much hoping for a Creeper story arc in DC Universe Presents.

From there, we go into a character named Andre Briggs leading a meeting on assembling a super-hero team that answers to the UN. They evaluate several heroes, settling on Booster Gold as the leader, with Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Rocket Red from Russia, Godiva from Britain, Vixen from Zambesi, Ice from Norway, Fire from Brazil and August General in Iron from China. Some other heroes are suggested, but refused for various reasons, including Batman. When his name comes up, the answer is, "I thought the idea was a team we could control. No."

There is an interlude where we see a research team get swallowed by the earth in Peru. That seems bad.

And then the team arrives at the Hall of Justice. And there are protesters outside, upset that a public building of some repute is now off-limits to them, and of course, some people who are against the UN in general. Our Flashpoint Lady in Red shows up here among the protesters as well.

There is a line of dialogue in here that has caused something of a stir among comic fans. When Booster Gold remarks on the protesters, Briggs says, "Ignore them. They're nothing but a bunch of basement dwellers who spend all day whining on the 'net. Not an single open-minded one in the the bunch." A lot of fans took this to be criticism of people who were crying doom and gloom for the New 52 without ever seeing a single issue.

In an interview on theouthousers.com, Jurgens did discuss this a little bit.
I was going to quote the salient part here, but this review is already long enough. There is other good stuff in the interview too, and I recommend following the link and giving it a read if you interested.

7 pages of story, and so far, I am excited by the characters who are mentioned to exist in the DCnU, interested by the team's makeup, and we have seen a minor internet controversy. Not a bad start.

Now, we see Guy Gardner's reaction to being on Booster Gold's team. He walks out. This is a tremendous blow for the team. Losing the power of a Green Lantern is not something to be taken lightly. On his way out, Guy runs into Batman. Batman encourages him to stay, but Guy is having none of it. Batman tells Guy he is underestimating Booster, but Guy says that personal experience tells him different, and leaves.

Here is another interesting Batman moment. He is clearly admired by some of the other heroes. Even Guy mellows when talking to him, but he is not the omniscient character he had grown into in the old DC Universe. People do not just blindly do as he tells them because he is the Batman. And he is more interesting for it.

The team takes off to find out what happened to Reasearch Team 3 in Peru, and are joined by a suprise visitor. Okay, not so much of a surprise - he is on the cover. Batman is in their jet with them. When Booster sees him, it leads to another great exchange.

Note - so far, there has been no fighting, and I am still loving this book. Despite my focus on how quick some of the other books get into the action, this one is doing such a good job with characterization and humor that I would be okay if there wasn't a single fight in the issue. But there is. The team is set upon in Peru, leading to an extended fight scene, which includes Godiva telling Batman to "sod off."

Overall, this book was excellent. It was the standout book of the first full week of the New 52 in my opinion, and Godiva may have been the standout character. Dan Jurgens writing shows his normal sense of humor, and good ear for dialogue and characterization. Lopestri and Ryan do a great job with the art.

Conflict between team members, and between Booster and Briggs, as well as the protester subplot gives lots of great room for stories and character development.

As of now, this book is definitely staying on my pull list as long as this creative team stays on board.