Jump-On Point

The DC Universe has rebooted. For people who've been reading comics for a long time/some time, this is betrayal. Usually, stories and events and developments (character, plot, universe) that you read, loved, hated, discussed on end are now non-canon. Think of it as annulment. You read it, I read it, they published it, it's on the internet, there are pictures, there are records. But it didn't happen.

This allows the current/new editorial board to remould the characters as they want, for a new generation of readers, for their own ego trip. On another level, it's also an insane marketing strategy. The benchmark for big 'events' is a hundred thousand issues sold. That basically means it's a success. We haven't reached that benchmark for a couple of year and then this DC New 52 comes along and a couple of titles clock one hundred thousand in pre-orders. This title, the flagship title, went past two hundred thousand. DC has basically reserved half of the top ten best-selling comic book issues of 2011 in one fell swoop.

This whole marketing strategy (that's how I see it) is thinly veiled as a way to get new readers on to comics and I really have no problem with that. I advocate comics, and this is supposedly engineered as a good jump-on point (which is to say, you don't have to deal with, or with a lot of baggage to understand and hopefully enjoy the story). People can get up to speed in no time.

My little problem is that I jumped on to comics without the convenience of a reboot. I did okay. Sometimes, of course, a lot of things are happening and you do not get jokes. But like the current Doctor Who (I jumped on just last series), there are a bunch of continuity jokes I don't get, but it doesn't bother me at all. In the end, a good story is a good story. Strong, smart lines are good lines. On a very basic level, it should be entertaining and fun. Adding to that, this isn't a hard reboot but a 'soft reboot', which just screams indecisiveness. Basically, some things still happened, but some things didn't. We'll just have to figure things out. Besides being stupid, this is problematic exactly because it is marketed as something for people to get into. Inevitably, things will conflict and they could feel cheated. It's like inviting someone over for dinner but not giving him a plate or any utensils.

As for the issue itself, it's decidedly poor. It isn't like that random James Robinson issue of JLA that I peeked at a few weeks ago. It's not bad. But it isn't spectacular. The points raised by people more into comics are correct. Geoff Johns has no idea how to write Batman. Batman here is very light and very, well, un-Batman. He's a bit like Batman in JLI but much more flimsy and shallow. He doesn't have that darkness. We don't expect the same out of Hal Jordan, but he isn't very impressive either. While Johns has managed to make Batman not cool (I liked it when he got Jordan's ring though), he's turned Hal Jordan into a brash and cocky dude with some powers (He just want to attack Superman in Metropolis? Batman goes along with the plan? Huh?). He isn't Hal Jordan. He's like Guy Gardner without the smarts and the buffoonery. He isn't likeable at all. In fact, he doesn't incite any emotions besides..annoyance. He's...Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern.

It's easy to point at the art and blame Jim Lee and Scott Williams. The design is just..too Nineties. It isn't horrible, but it's decidedly mediocre. There's a tad too many lines going around and the costumes are just bad. Everyone suddenly has collars and Superman doesn't have briefs on. It's like Liefeld-lite. The redesign isn't anything revolutionary. Think of the basic costume ('The Flash', what do you imagine?) but give it to a bunch of kids. There are a whole bunch of unnecessary things and frills. But more than a traditionalist's complaints, there is something more. It's not that the costumes having armour (Superman needs armour?) is illogical. It just looks bad. It's as if someone commissioned you to create a typeface for them. But instead of going the right way, creating a trademark, a brand identity, a logo, you just bastardise some open-source font by adding little bits here and there and calling it cool and of your own imagination. Where is the Hush Jim Lee?

I guess part of the problem is that this is an origin story, and I absolutely hate origin stories with a vengeance. I want to jump into things immediately and don't really care for the new specifics of this new direction. I want panic, terror, explosions, drama, coolness. For a new reader, if you can stand Sunday morning cartoons (I mean that in the worst way), this might be for you. I think they were able to manage introducing the universe quite well. They showed-off a Green Lantern's powers. They showed Batman vs. the public and Gotham. They then dropped a line that there is a whole Corps of Green Lanterns. They cover a lot of bases in a single (admittedly almost double-sized) issue. I still think the team-up origin story in the Justice League animated series (Justice League) is the gold standard, but this is serviceable. It sets up a Batman-Jordan buddy semi-comedy where Batman is 'dark' and Jordan is the funny, cocky dude. Superman is, well, a guy who attacks first (he's more Superboy, I think). Does this mean Johns liked the rehashed New Hope instead of the original? Oh I'll just blurt it out: It's absolutely horrible and I will never show it to non-comic readers. Gah. (Of course, I am biased because I read comics, how did the new readers find it?)

It's actually pretty okay. The really big problem is that it's just okay. It doesn't inspire confidence in this new direction. It isn't momentous. It doesn't blow our mind. It doesn't make Batman, Hal Jordan, and Superman as cool as they can be. They are people who are more talented than most people. But I don't feel the Jordan character, I don't feel the Superman character, I don't feel Batman. Something is off. A lot of things are off. In a line, the issue doesn't solidify the characters as iconic. They're these characters and it's as if they were written by some random person with no talent. It's like fanfic in the worst possible way.

It's a good jump-on point. There is no backstory to speak off that no one who has ever heard of these superheroes are not very and already familiar with. And yes, you pretty much wrapped up the best-selling comic book issue this year. But as a reader, as a possible convert, the issue does nothing to make you want to read the next one. It doesn't interest you in the mythology. And it doesn't make you want to look a other comic books.

(Justice League 1 - Geoff Johns & Jim Lee)