Justice League (USA) di Geoff Johns & Jim Lee

[Green Hankey]

Altro bel numero....

finale 

Spoiler  :

Black Adam cazzutissimo 

Finalmente si avvicina il momento di Shazam...

[Azrael]

With all the heat around Marvel's Avengers movie, it's ironic that the closest thing to it in comics form is DC's Justice League. Muscular, brash and totally single-minded, this book isn't out for some deep inner meaning, but is out instead to kick some serious ass.
This issue, in a lot of ways, marks a new benchmark in Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's collaborative skills. These two top dogs had some growing pains in the first few issues, but watching the League struggle against David Graves' machinations — and then, in the best sequence in the book, against one another — is visual poetry.

Lee produces a ton of great moments in here, whether it's Batman looking tattered and shadowy as he picks himself off the ground, or Wonder Woman busting out of a prison in what has to be the hardest-hitting splash page DC has printed all year. Lee also adds some grandeur to the quieter moments featuring Graves, as his ghostly puppets give Lee a lot of tendrils and wispiness to play with.

And don't think Johns isn't noticing that. While his scripts still occasionally get a little wordy, particularly with the exposition about Graves' book, he does a great job balancing some of the smaller character moments with the big blockbuster action set pieces. (Wonder Woman fans, take note — Diana holds her own and then some this issue, as Johns easily demonstrates why she's one of Earth's mightiest heroes.) Honestly, the tension between the League is fan-service, but it's awesome fan-service that's played to the hilt — and if it had been utilized earlier, I have the feeling we would have been looking at a very different New 52.

Of course, with all this artistic muscle, occasionally the smarts do get left behind on this book. While the League infighting is ridiculously entertaining, it's not unfair to see it as a little arbitrary, especially considering at how quickly it wraps up. (And why no one did it sooner, considering how easy it was!) Additionally, the character balance is still a little off, with Aquaman and Cyborg in particular getting very few moments in the spotlight.

That all said, I can't say enough how pleasantly surprised I've been by Justice League lately, as the creative team has been engaged in anything but a sophomore slump. The art is on-track, now that Lee and Johns are more accustomed to his densely-paneled scripts, and Johns' focus on the heated team dynamics is a fresh alternative to the rank-and-file pantheon of Grant Morrison's run 15 years ago. Gorgeously drawn with only one mission — show DC's major icons together in action — and you've got yourself a knockout of a book.

9 su 10

Da Newsarama

[Red Robin]

Voto meritatissimo. Gran bel personaggio questo cattivone!
Se prima la JL peccava un pò di leggerezza nella storia adesso sta raggiungendo grandissimi livelli. E poi i disegni sono sempre piu stupendi!

[Alan Wake]

Sbaglio o jim lee in quest'ultimo numeri assomiglia un po' ad Andy kubert??

[Azrael]

The tension rises as lives are at stake. It remains to be seen if the League has what it takes to get their their issues and find their new enemy in time. Plus a new development for Billy Batson.
The Good
I'm so glad Jim Lee's on this issue. It's great to see his art on such a heavy action-packed issue. I'll admit I've gone back and forth with the Justice League's new enemy, Graves. He's proving to be a formidable foe but I can't figure out if I can accept his reasoning. He blames the League for the death of his family and his condition. This is one point I'm waiting to see how it fully plays out. What makes up for that is the way he manages to crumble the League's defenses and moral. What does that mean? That means we'll see a bit of fighting amongst the League. It's almost a silly thing when heroes fight each other but as long as it isn't used too often, it's fun to see. Throw in the fact that it's Jim Lee and Scott Williams doing the art, it's a treat to see.

What's nice about this incarnation of the League is the fact that they are still on edge with each other. It seems as if they should be a tighter group given the fact that they haven't allowed other heroes to join but we have to assume they only band together for the major threats. It's not a perfect situation. They know how to work with each other to defeat their enemies but they are still skeptical. It would be too perfect if they simply got along and held hands while going off to face their next enemy.

It's during the bickering that we see more of their personalities. Wonder Woman shows her savage potential, Batman shows his take charge nature, Barry continues to poke fun at Hal while Hal manages to lower his carefree attitude for a bit. All this with the combination of art and color makes the scenes play out nicely. For a comic at the end of the day, this is exactly what I wanted.

And then there's the back up. I've probably said it many times but I've been a huge fan of Gary Frank for quite some time. For me to have both Frank's art and Lee's…my past younger self would be extremely jealous. Hopefully you read last issue with the debut/tease of Black Adam. We get to see he means business. And what about Billy Batson? Is he ever going to come close to getting powers? You'll want to see how the story is progressing here.

The Bad
I mentioned I'm not sure how I feel about Graves. Blaming the heroes for his loss seems a stretch. But there's the possible question of his sanity. He's seen many things so who knows what the true cause could be. He does appear to be a little more frightening of a villain here. I feel we need to know more about him. It still feels he was able to penetrate the League's defenses too easily. There could be more to it than we've seen. I do enjoy the team not getting along perfectly but it would be nice to know about how many times or missions they've been together since they still have such trust issues with each other.

The Verdict
This issue was reminiscent of big action packed movies. There is plenty of fighting and because it's members of the League fighting each other, it's a fun read. JUSTICE LEAGUE with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee is good time reading. Johns crafts the story with tiny bits of detail and Lee delivers the big action scenes. If we're going to have a book with all the big heroes of the DC Universe, it's great to have these two on board. Throw in the fact that Johns and Gary Frank are amping things up in the SHAZAM back up, I couldn't be happier. Comics are supposed to be fun and that's how this was. Graves is shaping up to be a dangerous villain and with Black Adam on the scene, the rest of the DCU better watch out.

4/5

CVine

[KAL]

pero'...

[Dean Winchester]

Quest'ultimo numero è piaciuto molto anche a me!

[Occhi nella Notte]

Un Jim Lee che non saprei come definire...

[KAL]

Un Jim Lee che non saprei come definire...

jimbo sara' sempre nel mio cuore

[Murnau]

Un Jim Lee che non saprei come definire...

Quello della cover qui sopra? Un Jim Lee al risparmio.

[Green Hankey]

purtroppo per rispettare le scadenze ce lo dobbiamo pappare così e a me già basta 

[Barry Allen]

Non è sicuramente il Jim Lee di Hush, Per il Domani o All Star Batman.
Ma neanche lontanamente... Questo è il Jim Lee da regular, quello era il Jimbo da miniserie.
Personalmente preferisco 100mila volte quello da miniserie, però comunque averlo su una regular insieme a Johns è un sogno che si è avverato.

[Azrael]

"Justice League" #11 is several chapters into the title's second big storyline by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, but feels like it's settling down into a pattern after a promising start. Johns' idea for the new villain, Graves, is solid, but there's remarkably little momentum in the actual plot. Scenes of the main characters confronting ghosts are later bookended with… more scenes of main characters seeing ghosts. I get that the repetition is helping hammer home that basic idea, but the amount of time given to this makes it feel almost like a sledgehammer.

Part of the problem is that other than those scenes, there's remarkably little to the plot of "Justice League" #11. Wonder Woman fighting her teammates might have sounded good in an outline, but the execution feels slightly ham-fisted and uninteresting. The fight succeeds in demonstrating the friction between the team members and Wonder Woman's ability to hold her own, but it's in such broad strokes that the level of interest just isn't maintained. The only real germ of interest (other than the surprise cliffhanger) involves Cyborg, whose origin we saw in "Justice League" #1-6 but is already heading towards a "You didn't know the whole story" moment. It gives the character a story hook, and that's a good thing.

Jim Lee's pencils this month are variable; a lot of pages look incredibly cluttered, but every now and then you turn the page and everything comes together just so. Page 3 is a prime example of the former; everything's packed into the page's seven panels in a way that feels like there's not enough room to tell the story; the tight zoom-ins on Graves' head do a bad job of establishing the look of the character, and the first glimpse of the Valley of Souls is a bad mish-mash of figures that blend into one another (am I the only one who thought the ghosts of Graves' family were initially a chandelier?) and narration boxes that threaten to crowd out the art we do see. Compare it to the big two-page spread with Wonder Woman backhanding Green Lantern; not only is the image instantly popping out at the reader thanks to its size, but it feels open and able to use the detail of all the little broken shards to its advantage rather than overwhelming the reader. It's ultimately an unbalanced book visually, not just in terms of script.

The "Shazam!" back-up story has some similar problems too. It's nice to see, as I think everyone expected, Billy Batson already getting along with Freddy Freeman and the rest of the foster children he's living with. With last month's debut of Black Adam, there wasn't any doubt that the big overall story with Shazam himself making an appearance was just around the bend. But while the plot of Billy and Freddy pranking a house is nice to see finally happening, we end up with "Justice League" #11's backup story inching along at the same pace as the lead. In this case, though, it at least has the slight excuse of containing fewer pages.

That leaves the high point of "Justice League" #11 being Gary Frank's art, saving the best for last. Look at page 6 of this story; like the cramped page of Lee's spotlighted earlier, it has seven panels, but Frank does such a great job of making each panel feel big and expansive without shrinking down the characters. Frank's got such a strong storytelling ability, and his characters look real and lifelike without ever coming across as stiff or posed. There are some nice little touches here too, like the one panel where Billy gets punched in the nose being slightly off-kilter and rough around the edges compared to the rest of the page, or the billowing smoke from the Rock of Eternity breaking the panel barriers to billow around the bottom of its page. It all looks good, and it's a reminder that Frank's one of today's great superhero comic artists.

"Justice League" #11 feels like it's fallen victim to some uneven pacing, for both writing and art. The back-up feature by Johns and Frank ultimately eclipses the main story from Johns and Lee, and it makes me wish for a full "Shazam!" series drawn by Frank down the line. For now, though, this issue has some rough patches that need to be sanded down.

2/5

CBR

[Dr Emil Cooper]

a me piace molto comunque Lee qui, alcune tavole le tira via ma ci può stare. Non capisco invece quel 2/5 da cosa derivi, ma vabbè ormai delle recensioni dei siti me ne sbatto altamente.

[Murnau]

Non è sicuramente il Jim Lee di Hush, Per il Domani o All Star Batman.
Ma neanche lontanamente... Questo è il Jim Lee da regular, quello era il Jimbo da miniserie.

Però Hush uscì mensilmente sulla regoular, senza mai sgarrare; Per il domani fu rovinato dai molti inchiostratori, sul finire, ma Hush fu mensile. Il trucco? Pianificare prima il fumetto e pubblicare il primo episodio quando Lee ne ha già disegnati 3-4.

E poi qualcuno dice che il reboot è stato pianificato.