Things aren’t looking great as this team continues to fail epically in their efforts against the mysterious giant robots, the Signal Masters, around the globe. Even after retreating from the robots in Justice League International #2, Booster and his gang rally by splitting into pairs to search for clues as to these beings’ origins.
This leads the teams to head underground. Booster distracts one robot as Batman investigates. Ice and Rocket Red somehow use an “ice bubble” to dive beneath the water. I don’t get how that works. Ice floats, much less ice with an air bubble inside it! The other teams are Vixen & Fire and August General in Iron & Godiva. Once below the Earth’s surface, the teams each find themselves assaulted by an army of thousands of small rock monsters. August General in Iron fairs the best against them, fending them off and protecting the woefully inexperienced Godiva. Guy Gardner, working alone, sneaks aboard the spaceship of the robot’s master, but doesn’t get far in his mission.
Things look dire. I have no idea how this Justice League is suddenly going to be able to logically take these Signal Masters down, when up until now, they haven’t even been able to scratch one. Why isn’t the “real” Justice League being called in?
This issue moved too slowly for me. It existed to split the characters up, so they could talk and get to know one another while also cluing the reader into their personalities. Fire and Vixen mesh well with Fire revealing she is a “Thrill seeker” and Vixen explaining that she thought it was important for her to represent her nation in the Meta community. Rocket Red reveals that he is interested in Fire, but as I said in my last review about Godiva, don’t they have better things to think about? Godiva admits she joined as a P.R. stunt (which is backfiring) and August General in Iron pulls ahead as possibly the best actual super hero on this team. Oh and the team’s founder, Andre Briggs continues lamenting the team’s failure. He’s starting to doubt that they even have a future.
This entire storyline is dragging too long. It annoys me that we’re three issues in and still know nothing about the antagonists. Not one clue is revealed about them this issue other than their leader is named Peraxxus. The team’s characterization, while maybe a good idea to some, practically brought the overall plot to a halt. I think it was just the execution. Developing their personalities is important, but maybe work it in in smaller bits or even wait until the threat is overcome and have a low key issue especially for that. The timing, after the first two issues was just off.
What I liked about ‘Justice League International’ in the beginning was that it was a fun, light super hero adventure book. But with the team bumbling as badly as they have been, it’s starting to look bleak. Obviously, they’re going to win somehow. I just hope the pay-off is satisfying!
Aaron Lopresti continues to deliver in the art department. It’s just so clean and crisp, it’s perfectly suited for a super hero book with this tone. His story telling is flawless. There’s not much more to say!
Definitely buy this issue if you’re interested in continuing with the series. It does have nice characterization, which I feel was just poorly placed in regard to the overall plot. The art is pretty! It’s not bad, I’m just starting to get impatient.
Verdict: Borrow
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #3
Written by Dan Jurgens
Pencils by Aaron Lopresti
Cover by David Finch & Peter Steigerwald
