Justice League 7 is better than the first 6

[madmarva]

After being fairly unimpressed by Justice League 1-6, except for a few character interactions, I have to say Justice League No. 7 was quite good.

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This isn't the JLA we all feel in love with in the past on a lot of levels. They are supported by a unit of the military tagged A.R.G.U.S., of which Col. Steve Trevor is the chief.

Evidently, the organization not only provides tactical support for the Justice League, but also PR, communication with Congress and free eats. Hal Jordan continues to be the biggest mooch and jerk in comics. Notice who doesn't get an umbrella.

On first impression Trevor has the makings of an excellent character, perhaps the best I've read in the relaunch. The DCnU's Etta Candy is also introduced.

As for the first installment of the Shazam story, it's pretty interesting, too. You can tell Geoff Johns has seen "Boys Town" and Billy Batson is somewhat like Micky Rooney's role in the film. Sivana is introduced and he's physically the opposite of what he was, other than still being bald. Again, this isn't the Captain Marvel we all know, love and prefer, but it wasn't bad for 8 pages of setup.

[The Toyroom]

I dumped this book after the initial 6... I didn't want to get sucked in with more nonsense...and I had the feeling the new spin on "Shazam" would just make me sad...

[samurainoir]

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On first impression Trevor has the makings of an excellent character, perhaps the best I've read in the relaunch. The DCnU's Etta Candy is also introduced.

As for the first installment of the Shazam story, it's pretty interesting, too. You can tell Geoff Johns has seen "Boys Town" and Billy Batson is somewhat like Micky Rooney's role in the film. Sivana is introduced and he's physically the opposite of what he was, other than still being bald. Again, this isn't the Captain Marvel we all know, love and prefer, but it wasn't bad for 8 pages of setup.

you pretty much captured my thoughts on the issue.

I really like the return of return of the soap opera to the Wonder Woman characters and look forward to seeing her in what could potentially be a complex adult relationship with Trevor. Although I did like Gail Simone's Etta Candy in the previous run.

I was taken aback by Sivana given that they probably should avoid grafting Luthor onto the character, but I can roll. They do seem to be writing for the movie here.

[Random Axe]

The only way I can see myself reading any future Shazam books is if they bring the respect level to where it needs to be and make him fully Supermans equal. If this new universe is indeed permanent then Supes will need someone counterto himself.

[madmarva]

^You're right about Sivana. His whole schtick was to be opposite of Captain Marvel — old, crabby, feeble, ugly and sinisterly smart, with Cap being young, brawny, happy and optimistically naive while still having the wisdom of Solomon.

Luthor and a clean-shaven Hugo Strange were my first thoughts when seeing the character. Bad choices at first look on Sivana.

I did kind of like the tough-kid attitude of Billy. In the golden age, he was a male little orphan Annie type, but his portrayal here is more realistic of a kid who grew up in foster care. Making him tough and a little bit of a con man on the exterior isn't a bad choice, and doesn't mean that he won't eventually show the heart that makes Shazam a hero.

Perez and Simone both made Candy a likable, viable character. I never took to Steve Trevor as a character. He was a less-interesting male Lois Lane, to me. But this characterization I like.

I know DC sold a boatload of copies of JL 1-6, so it's tough to question its decision, but it might have been smarter to start the title with a story like No. 7, which told me a whole lot more about the way this new world sees the JL and how the team really is than the entire first arc.

I can understand why Anthony and others might be dropping JL because I'm still on the fence. I was really more interested in the Shazam reboot than the JL story before reading the comic, but if Johns and whomever the artist is delivers more issues like 7 and fewer like 1-6, I'll be more likely to stick with it. That's not a criticism of Lee, either. His art will keep the book selling at a certain level, but it will Johns that either does or doesn't make the book worth reading.

[The Toyroom]

The only way I can see myself reading any future Shazam books is if they bring the respect level to where it needs to be and make him fully Supermans equal. If this new universe is indeed permanent then Supes will need someone counterto himself.

It's only as permanent as the next reboot...Which is inevitable at some point when sales slide. That's been DC's modus operandi for close to the last ten years.

[thunderbolt]

Love the title of this thread, its like saying Police Academy 7 is better than 6.

[madmarva]

It's only as permanent as the next reboot...Which is inevitable at some point when sales slide. That's been DC's modus operandi for close to the last ten years.

I would think at some point the re-boot would have to kick Didio in the butt and out the door. He wanted a reboot after Infinite Crisis, but Levitz wouldn't allow it. I kind of wish he had because it might not have been as harsh as this current one and this one might not have been deemed necessary.

[boynightwing]

I didn't realize this was the Shazam story. I didn't pick it up. So far I've been less then impressed with the new Justice League. At first I thought "Hey! Jim Lee and Geoff Johns! How could this be a bad team up?" but then I remember a few years ago thinking "Hey! Jim Lee and Frank Miller! How could this be a bad team up?", so there you have it...

I like a good many things about the "New 52". Aquaman, Wonder Woman, various Bat titles but JLA didn't do it for me.

Count me in as being a Didio hater. That dude is full of himself and I don't think he has a clue what he's doing. He wanted Nightwing to die in one of their stupid Crisisisis. Crisisease? And he's lost my confidence permanently. Though he never had it. I had no clue who he was until that moment...
He's got to go.

[boynightwing]

I might have...downloaded it.

Here's my question. How can Geoff John's bring Hal Jordan back from the dead, writes all these amazing Green Lantern stories which literally redefines the character, but he can't figure out how to write him in a group dynamic with the Justice League? I don't get it...if you want a silly fun character, you need only bring Wally West back. He did it with style and didn't come off looking like an a hole.

[madmarva]

I'm not necessarily a Didio hater. He allowed Tomasi to hire Johns to retool Hal Jordan. On one hand, I like that he is willing to try things — Wednesday Comics, weekly publication, All-Star Superman — but he's had as many failures as successes, if not more. If he were a college football coach, he would have been on the hot seat going into this relaunch.

Currently, though, Didio's got to be riding a high with executives. While I know some can't stand the reboot, in terms of sales — at least in the short term — it's the biggest success DC can claim in ages. For the most part, the books are shipping on time and they are selling well.

^As for the way Johns is writing Hal — and for that matter, every other character at DC right now — to me, they have to be viewed as new characters with similarities to the ones residing in the previous continuity.

Johns didn't just forget how he was portraying Hal previously. He's made a choice that in this continuity, Hal is immature and a jerk, at least when he's around the other JL members. He's a frat boy, basically Flash Thompson with a power ring. We may see other differences with the characters that are again conscious decisions.

The stuff with Wonder Woman that was under discussion in another thread is an example too. When she goes from basically coming to life like Adam or a golem to being a demi-goddess sired by Zeus, it opens up story points that were addressed in the latest issue of Azzerello's Wonder Woman title. Those don't bother me much because Wonder Woman isn't a precious character to me like say Hal Jordan or Superman or Batman.

After reading the first arcs of around 15 DC titles and a couple issues of others, it's clear to me that what DC dubbed a soft relaunch is much harder than we were led to believe. I no longer assume anything that happened in previous DC comics as being "in continuity" now, until it's mentioned in the books. DC has pretty much unchained its creators from the past continuity. They can use it if they want, they can change it, modify it or just go their own way. The previous continuity is dictating very little other than perhaps the essence or core of the characters, according to DC, not the fans.

What DC readers have to decide for themselves is if the past adventures are more important to them than the current and future ones. Can they reconcile one with the other? Do they even want to?

That's a tough decision for a lot of us because these characters and their histories and adventures have meant so much to us over the years, but the only option we have of new adventures of somewhat similar characters with familiar names are these new books.

It reminds me of when many of my favorite characters were replaced in the post-Crisis universe, particularly with Hal Jordan.

I didn't like that Hal Jordan and for that matter the GL Corps was abused and shunted to the side, but for a time, I did enjoy Kyle Raynor's book, so I read it.

That's what I'm doing now with the DC books. I'm reading the ones I like and letting the rest go. Really it's the same as I've always done with comics, but with higher prices and uncomfortable changes, my reading stack gets thinner and thinner.

[samurainoir]

Didio would have greenlit Tiny Titans, so he can't be all that bad.

[boynightwing]

I read the regular Green Lantern series where Sinestro is a GL again and he's made a ring for Hal. Hal doesn't act like a frat boy in that series at all. He seems perfectly normal for Hal in his own series.

And I have to agree to your Tiny Titans point. That redeems him a little.

[madmarva]

Hal doesn't act like a frat boy in that series at all.

That's why I wrote:

He's made a choice that in this continuity, Hal is immature and a jerk, at least when he's around the other JL members.

Which is valid. Some traits are more present in people when they are around a certain group of people or in certain situations.

I read the GL series, too, and I believe John's is portraying Jordan as a much younger, less experienced and more brash version of the character than he did in the previous continuity. As portrayed post Rebirth, Jordan was always at least Sinestro's equal if not his superior with the power ring other than in the Secret Origin arc, which took place in the past.

In the current DCnU continuity, Sinestro is better with the ring than Hal. That is new. For 50 years Hal had been kicking Sinestro in the teeth physically and with the ring until Johns' opted to magnify Sinestro. Previously, Sinestro was more of a bully and a coward (hence the yellow ring). Now, Johns is putting a Sub-Mariner type of slant on Sinestro like he did previously with Black Adam, adding a hint of nobility to the character. He's making him seem more misguided than evil.

But that's fine. Making the villain more compelling generally does the same to the hero.

Characters change. Denny O'Neil's version of Hal was a good bit different than John Broome's and so on.

[samurainoir]

Doesn't the Justice League actually take place in "early" new DC 52 continuity, rather than "current" present day where all the Green Lantern books are set? That would mean pre-parallax and blackest night/Lantern War.

Hal in JL is the earlier, brasher and less mature Hal that has not gone through all the stuff in the last few years of Green Lantern since Rebirth.

Again the problem with a soft reboot like this where Batman and Green Lantern continue with their story lines building from the last few years and other books like Teen Titans start from the ground up.

Right out of the starting gate you have the problem in the fact that there have been four Robins within the "five years" since Superheroes showed up in this continuity. plus, with Kyle still around, it's obvious that Emerald Twilight, Hal as Spectre, Rebirth, Sinestro War, etc all happened inside that five year span as well.

All the problems of the original Crisis recur, and need to be addressed in a rolling retcon kind of way once again... Like Hawkman or the Legion which still are suffering the seismic after effects of being constantly rebooted for the past quarter century.