Broken Frontier

Brainiac has Aquaman’s son and control of every nuclear missile on Earth! If the heroes are going to save the day they will need the help of their worst enemies.

The Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, and Doug Braithwaite collaboration finally wraps up after two years. The road has been a long one but, in the end, the question is: Was it worth it?

It all comes down to the wire here as Brainiac hands off Aquaman’s son to another villain and then begins the countdown to nuclear Armageddon. As the villains’ power falls apart their utopian cities begin to fail. The heroes must rescue the people in those cities, stop the remaining villains, and stop Brainiac from destroying the rest of the Earth. Even with all these heroes they will need a little help... Help from the very men and women who have been trying to destroy them!

Justice has been more than a "love letter" to the Silver and Bronze Ages of comic book history. It is even more than just the ultimate JLA story. It is older than both of those ideas – tapping into the roots of heroic mythology, reminding readers why we love heroes, and why we love these heroes in particular. It has displayed what makes these characters so great, what these characters share with the best of humanity – a determination to face overwhelming odds and not give up.

The main characters of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman each get their chances to shine here, along with Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, but there are also terrific moments for a number of others characters like Supergirl and Zatanna. Ross and Krueger’s writing is so well done that even with only a few lines of dialogue a character can really come to the fore. Even the villains shine here – being shown as chilling or pathetic, haunted or deluded by turns. This issue highlights the differences between the heroes and their enemies. It is not the powers that divide them and, in some cases, not even really their aims that separate them, but how they achieve those goals. It is a fascinating and perceptive insight.

Perhaps the one fly in Justice’s ointment as an overall story is the Joker. There is no question that Krueger and Ross craft a maniacal, unpredictable, perfect picture of the character but the character himself never feels fully integrated into the story. True to his namesake, the Joker has been a wild card in the deck throughout the story but his appearances remain random and disjointed, not always impacting or furthering the overall story.

One thing that must be emphasized here is that not enough can be said about Doug Braithwaite’s pencils. Alex Ross has received the lion’s share of attention for the series but he has only been painting over Braithwaite’s pencil work. Braithwaite has consistently and beautifully balanced making the heroes and their villains look both iconic but also human. Take his Zatanna, for instance. Here she appears as a confident magician but that confidence and power is in marked contrast to the youth and sweetness in her face. In reverse, Braithwaite does not spare Wonder Woman the ravages of poison. We see the toll that is being taken on this heroine and yet she does not falter or fail and continues to put others before herself. This is a true case of art working with words to give readers a complete story.

With two years and twelve issues, this reviewer honestly believes that Justice was well worth it all. A classic story with a modern feel, Justice should withstand the tests of time. In these days of "heroes" who straddle the line between good and evil; of "heroes" who exist in shades of gray, it is nice to have at least one story about heroes that reminds us that love, hope, determination and justice are the real super powers.