I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been a huge fan of the Justice League since the big guns started leaving the group to the b-listers way back around issue #13 of the current volume. Occasionally, the backup crew (sorry… I just can’t think of them as the ‘real’ Justice League) would have a moment here and there, but on the whole, they have merely been okay.

Before fans of the JLA slaughter me, notice that I didn’t say that they were bad. They were just okay. I don’t fault the writers for this since I don’t think that the majority of these characters are interesting enough to form the world’s foremost superhero team and Dick Greyson’s Batman doesn’t provide enough glue to hold the story at anything more than mundane levels.

That said, this issue is actually well written. The story leaps forward an undetermined amount of time since the previous issue and we find Justice League saying its goodbyes as the team prepares to adjourn for good. The members recount past glories that we never got the chance to see. These tales only last a page or two each and appear to me to be possible ideas that the writers didn’t get to see through to fruition. The most touching scenes for me happen between Batman and Donna Troy and, fittingly, they are the last two members to leave League HQ and turn off the figurative lights on this era of not only the Justice League but the entire DC Universe.

I expect that this bittersweet sort of story won’t be the only one this month as DC winds things down before DC Comics relaunches their entire comic Universe in the ‘New 52’ with a brand new Justice League #1. This landmark issue hits comic shelves and digital format on August 31st with the other 51 first issues relaunching throughout the month of September. The new titles are intended to be a jumping-off point for new readers and, for long-time readers, to eliminate the jumble of continuity errors that have slowly built over the past seventy-odd years of stories.

The new Justice League series, written by Geoff Johns (Green Lantern: Rebirth) and illustrated by Jim Lee (Batman: Hush) goes back to the origin days of the League as they are still finding their footing in the rebooted DC Universe. The team roster has returned to many of the mainstays of the team and includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and Cyborg.

For more news and reviews on DC Comic’s epic ‘New 52’ event, stay tuned to ScienceFiction.com and prepare for the onslaught that begins in just two short weeks!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #60
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by DANIEL SAMPERE
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO