This was a bit confusing to me. The name of the collection
is “The Grid,” but this sure reads like the Justice League/Trinity War I
remember taking place in the many JL books last year. I dipped my toe back into
the DCU with the Trinity War books, and I wrote reviews of those books at the
time, so I won’t focus on those here (feel free to click on the Justice League keyword
at the close of this review.) I’ll focus on the new (to me) aspects of the
trade.
Geoff Johns leads off with a fun “try-out” issue, the kind
that team comics have gotten miles of for years now. We see a quick snapshot of
the DCU, both in Geoff Johns’ pet characters for later arcs (like Platinum of
the Metal Men), characters getting “pushed” during that month (like Blue Devil
and Black Lightning), and actual new members like Firestorm, Element Woman, and
the new Atom.
Johns really had a wonderful take on the Firestorm character
back before the reboot, and that new merging of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch
still works. I love the jock/nerd archetypes forced to work together,
especially with the more intelligent Jason forced to try and maneuver simple
Ronnie through complicated chemical compositions. (I will admit I miss the more
good-hearted Ronnie of the Fury of Firestorm).
Element Woman is mighty weird. Her voice is described as
amazingly high, and combined with her sunny personality; she’s a character
where a little goes a long way. I still like her though, in the dreary DCU, it
is nice to have such a positive character popping up.
The new Atom… well, she’s got her secrets, as we find out by
the close of the collection. I don’t want to ruin it, but having a new, younger
Atom who loves playing World of Warcraft is a pretty fun combo. I think she
probably could have used a bit better taste in her friends, though.
The high point for me? Despero. Despero shows up and smashes
his way around the Justice League satellite. There is no one around who can
possibly stop him, and even better, the current league knows it. Having the
Atom narrate the hopelessness of the overwhelming foe is a brilliant choice,
especially when she realizes that the only reason the JL won in their first
battle is thanks to the Martian Manhunter. It is clear that Johns must have
affection for J’onn J’onnz; the guy does more than cast a heavy shadow here. I
had a big grin watching the Despero battle play out in such an unexpected way.
The art on DC’s flagship title continues to set the standard
for the DC house style. That said, Ivan Reis’ shows off some spectacular battle
scenes and Jesus Saiz gets some quieter moments. Both artists do a great job
with their pages; this is an attractive, exciting book. And man, that sequence
on the satellite with Despero… SO good!
When the story doesn’t focus on the abbreviated history of the
New 52, I find myself quite enjoying this title. It is a GOOD comic with some
great heroes and classic villains. I just wish we didn’t have to pretend the
villains and guest-stars were making their first appearances!
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