Justice League #22 –
DC Comics
Written by Shea Fontana
Art by Philippe Briones
Colors by Gabe Eltaeb
Letters by Dave Sharpe
When I was younger, I loved the Justice League titles for a lot of reasons. Not only did it bring a lot of my favorite characters together, but in some instances, the book would introduce me to other characters that I may not have seen in other books. That’s how I became a fan of characters like Firestorm and Red Tornado (don’t judge me.) The Rebirth initiative from DC Comics saw a couple of new Green Lanterns join the League. Even though you SHOULD know them from the Sam Humprhies run on Green Lanterns, this is your chance to really learn a bit more about Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Time to dive into the pages of the first Justice League title from writer, Shea Fontana.
The two aforementioned Lanterns have been sent on a mission by the League, which ends up not being as one and done as you think. What Baz and Jessica did not know is, they had some company on their way back into the Watchtower and it would cause something major that hasn’t happened very often at the headquarters of the Justice League. That brings about a theme in the book, which deals with the confidence of the young Lanterns and how they are perceived by their fellow League members. It should be no surprise who decides to help them through those issues, but I’ll leave that for you to read in the issue. Another familiar face provides help, and this may be a SPOILER, but I think I actual saw Batman crack a smile at one point. At the end of the story, you really get that feel-good, old school Justice League comic feeling that I remember from my childhood.
What Shea Fontana brought to this book was a solid story, but also a really sense of a team dynamic. I’ve had trouble getting into the recent run of Justice League, but this book had such a good vibe about it. I don’t know if it was the team dynamic, some of the small moments between characters or the steady page to page pace of the story. It just all worked for me, and I was read it, I just felt like this is what a Justice League book is supposed to feel like. We also get a glimpse of how Fontana handles writing Wonder Woman, which she will do a couple of issues from now. I was confident in her abilities before, but now I’m looking forward to that book even more. The art is solid throughout, and the final page of the book really made me smile. I really hope Justice League can carry this momentum into their next few issues.
RATING: PULL / BUY