JUSTICE LEAGUE

Grant and I wrapped up our viewing of Justice League Season 2 on DVD yesterday. The set came out a couple days before we went on vacation, so we only saw a few episodes before we left. We picked back up once we got home and have steadily worked through the discs. 26 episodes in all, broken down into 11 two-parters, one single ep, and the season finale three-parter "Starcrossed."

I highly enjoyed the first season but this season really ramped things up. The animation just got better and better, especially in the fight sequences and focusing on multiple actions in one shot. The villains were huge too - Darkseid, Brainiac, Dr. Destiny, Despero, Amazo, a new Secret Society, Vandal Savage, Joker, and more - all topped off by a full-scale alien invasion in the finale. The characters were much sharper, as were the relationships between them. I enjoyed it tremendously and am so glad Grant enjoys the series as well. The first season of "Justice League Unlimited" comes out in October and I can't wait.

This week also saw the release of Justice League of America #0, the latest DC relaunch of its premiere super-team. The JLA had disbanded in the wake of Identity Crisis and the lead-up to Infinite Crisis; the result of the latter series was the disappearance for a whole year of the "Trinity" (or Big Three) - Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. That year is being chronicled in 52 (which I will get back to writing about) and all of the regular DC series have been showing storylines set "One Year Later." Now it's time for the JLofA to get back into the swing of things.

I still think of zero issues as a new thing but they've been around at least ten years by this point. I still think the idea is a funny one...what's wrong with starting with #1? In this case, though, I think the conceit works pretty well. The story is told from the POV of the Trinity, highlighting various events from the history of the JLA as seen through their eyes and the relationship between them. What's interesting is that possible future events are included as well, a device I've always loved.

This issue also focuses on a wide variety of artists, many of whom illustrate scenes from the history of the League they were a part of. Luke McDonnell gets reprise the Detroit era and Kevin Maguire the bwa-ha-ha era and so forth. These switches are deftly done in service of the script.

Fan reaction to this issue has been mixed but I thought it was very well done by writer Brad Meltzer. It gives me hope for his year-long run, which will truly kick in with next month's #1. I'll definitely be there.