Pulse Glazer
Ladies and Gentlemen, 2 Guys are here to talk about DC’s flagship title! That’s right, it’s Justice League #11!
Grey Scherl
I’m as blown away as you are, everyone, Glazer is back in the saddle and willing to talk DC!
Glazer
Ah, but do I have anything positive to say?
Grey
To be honest, I don’t know! We’re rolling some serious dice here today, broski.
Glazer
What happened this issue, Grey?
Grey
Wonder Woman beat the crap out of the Justice League!
Glazer
That was really stupid. Fun fight, and I’m all for people hitting Hal, but it was stupid.
Grey
It was so stupid but I absolutely loved it.
Just like the flying sidekick to Superman’s jaw.
Glazer
It was fun, but there was no reason for it. It made Wonder Woman and Hal look like children.
Grey
Really, we’ve been needing a hero on hero fight like that for a while. The team has been too….happy and willing to work together despite that there’s been no real reason painted for them to actually work as a team.
Well, Hal had it coming, and Diana is finally getting characterized as someone with actual human emotions that she’s unsure of how to process. She’s been the ice queen anytime they talk about her time with Steve, but this issue finally made her a little bit more.
Glazer
I can agree the fight was likely to be coming, but they really could have done that far better. How dare Diana try and run off to…where we’re all already going? Come on.
Grey
Well, Diana wanted to kill the guy, they had to stop her.
I’ll add in that this issue did a far better job of establishing Graves as a villain than any of his other appearances so far.
Glazer
They were nowhere near the guy for it to be an issue.
Graves is a crap character.
Grey
He’s pretty awful, but at least he has motivation now. Hell, at least now we know how everyone died. Last issue was just tossed together to try and paint the sense that they knew where they were going with him and it fell completely flat. Boring character, broad motivation, vague power set.
They at least reigned in two of those three.
Glazer
It’s better than it was, but still a ways from good. I can’t believe Lee thinks this is sympathetic. This guy isn’t Magneto.
Grey
I feel bad that dude lost his family, but blaming the League is just insane. It’s not like Superman let a building fall on them, they got an alien disease and died.
If anything, dude should be grateful that he made that mint writing the book about them that he was able to use to find his crazy mans journey.
Glazer
Except no one else got the disease. It’s being played as a mystery, but we have no reason to care. And his powers are poorly defined drivel.
Grey
They are, but at least now we know that the desecration effect is ridiculously temporary. Last issue made it look like he walks into a room and everyone dies.
Glazer
Ha, well that wasn’t going to happen because otherwise Batman would be screwed.
So, overall, this issue had a cool fight and some villain motivation, but neither really worked.That about it? This is the worst paced major comic on the stands.
Grey
Not at all, Avengers vs. X-Men is still out.
Not to mention Action Comics.
Glazer
That’s paced stupidly given the tie ins, not given it’s own internal logic. And Action is inconsistent, not poorly paced. Some issues just aren’t creative.
Grey
The entire book thus far has felt like Grant is building up to something, but the new status quo isn’t established at all so there’s no reason to care what he’s building towards because he forgot to give us a place to rest out feet. I imagine there will be awesome payoff, but the journey to that point so far is just a hot mess.
Glazer
I don’t expect a great payoff. The great payoff would have been Darkseid, but they shot that load.
Grey
That load will be back.
Glazer
So, a rating?
Grey
I’d like to talk about the Cyborg stuff first, because there was some interesting development for him that came around near the end.
The place where Graves got his powers can apparently only be seen by someone on the border of life and death, and on Vic could see it with his remaining human eye.
On top of that, everyone saw someone that they had lost, and Vic saw his own ghost.
Glazer
Well, he was dying when he got his Cyborg powers, so it makes sense. It didn’t heal him, it just stabilized him.
Grey
Yup, it really adds to his character arc because now he has to wonder just how much of him is actually still alive and how much is just a program.
Glazer
He and Batman are easily the best defined characters in the series. Hal has been a jerk, and the rest have little personality.
Grey
Diana started to develop some this issue, finally.
Finding out that she’s not really an ice queen, but that she had to be…it makes me actually want to see what happened between her and Steve now.
Glazer
We can infer – she dumped him to protect him.
Grey
Yep, but I want to know what happened to make her feel like he needed the protection that only not being with her could provide.
Glazer
I doubt it was anything specific. Some villain threatens hero’s loved ones. That’s why most have secret identities.
Grey
Valid, but it’s not like he’s harmless. Or really seems to know why they split up.
This really is the first time I’ve ever given a damn about her, this is weird.
Her book is soooo good.
Glazer
I don’t like Azzarello. I read the Flashpoint Batman you loved, and I just don’t like Azz’s writing.
Grey
This book doesn’t feel like Azz’s writing at all.
I’ve read a decent amount of his stuff, and this is really not the same beast he usually brings to the table.
It’s….not noir. At all.
Glazer
I’ve never liked one of his books.
Grey
I’ll let you read my copies sometime and see if your tune changes. Don’t forget, I bought that first issue just to buy it, I didn’t expect to enjoy it. Let alone put it on my pull list.
Glazer
You liked 100 Bullets, his Joker stuff and, of course, that Batman… so we shall see.
Grey
I never read his Joker, actually.
But I did hate his Superman.
Glazer
Everyone hated his Superman.
Grey
Which brings me back around to our original topic, and the fact that Jim Lee’s art in this issue of Justice League is much better than the past few.
Glazer
I like everything but WW’s 80’s hair.
Grey
Her hair doesn’t bug me that much. It’s better than the Super Mullet.
Glazer
Ha, fair point, but I dislike 80s hair.
Grey
I didn’t even notice it until you said it.
Glazer
I don’t know why, but I always notice hair and styles in comics.
Grey
I never do, but then again, I don’t notice that stuff in real life.
Glazer
Ha, I totally do. I’m big on body language.
Grey
Body language I get, but I have no eye for style. Trust me, total curse.
Glazer
Ha, that sucks.
Glazer
Well, rating?
Grey
I’m gonna go with a 6.5, it was good, but not perfect, and definitely a step in the right direction for a book that has been losing itself for months.
Glazer
Wow, I have it at a 4. It’s a below average, generic title mostly notable for having really famous characters in it.
Grey
I knew we were going to be a bit off from each other, but I was expecting a 5.5 out of you.
Glazer
It’s just not an above average comic.
Grey
I tend to go higher if I enjoy myself, I didn’t find it a chore to read like I have the last few issues.
Glazer
It was still a chore whenever Graves was on the page.
Grey
Not like it was the last few months, this time around they remembered to at least try and give him motivation. But the highlight of the issue was the League getting personalities outside of Batman and Hal, Diana and Vic had good moments.
Superman and Arthur both need work, but I imagine Aquaman is getting back burnered because Geoff is writing that solo book.
Glazer
The last few months were a 2. This is an incremental improvement.
Grey
I think I had them in the 4-6 range, I don’t feel like checking,
For me a two is a book that I honestly wish I could say “I pirated this book”, but it always happens to be a book that I spent money on and would rather burn than keep.
Glazer
That’s about where it’s been for me. 4 is just a bad comic with some redeeming qualities.
Grey
And that’s how you know it’s serious business, I used the P WORD!
Glazer
Well, you just upset Dan Slott.
Grey
I hope not, he’s a writer I happily throw down money to read material for every time I see a new issue of Spidey.
Glazer
He hates pirating like nobody’s business.
Grey
He really does, and I’m really not advocating it. Just saying that a book scoring less than a three is one I wished I’d gotten illegally rather than spend money on something I detested so much. That isn’t to say I bootleg bad books by any means.
Glazer
I don’t hate Justice League, but I don’t like it, and at this pace it’s the worst $4 book on the market.
Grey
Avengers.
Glazer
Not lately.
At least stuff happens.
Grey
I’d argue that. I mean, it’s a bad book.
And while Justice League has Jim Lee on art, Avengers has…whoever they could toss on at the moment. Walt Simonson at his worst, lots of Daniel Acuna.
Glazer
Simonson at his worst I’ll take over Lee 95% of the time.
Grey
Ehhhh, his Avengers issues have been damn ugly.
Glazer
But dynamic.
Grey
Not dynamic, just ugly. I think it’s just something about that book that draws out the worst in artists, Romita looked the worst of his entire career there.
Glazer
It’s just rushed.
Grey
It really is.
Glazer
Oh well, we’ll be back soon with another review! Hope you agreed more with Grey than me on Justice League!
Grey
For the sake of your wallets!
