Broken Frontier

The Legion of Doom continues their quest to save the world but the Riddler’s role in this becomes a question for Batman.

As the mysterious cataclysm continues to loom, the Riddler uses Wayne Enterprises’ computers to hack into the Batcave computer. Of course this leads Batman on a pursuit through Gotham City to recover the stolen data. Will the enigmatic Edward Nigma reveal clues to what is happening? Meanwhile, Aquaman becomes acquainted with yet another member of this alliance of evil, and his future is not looking bright.

In this issue the mystery deepens as the Riddler drops clues to his motivations. We also see more of the good being done by the villains and it displays the amazing things these individuals could do if they had set their talents to doing good from the beginning. This is ironic, though, as we start to see the Legion of Doom compared to gods– exactly the accusation Lex Luthor had leveled against the heroes.

Despite the title, this series is far more about the villains than it is about the heroes. Alex Ross and Jim Krueger as plotters and scripter, draw the reader in to become sympathetic with the Legion members and their cause. The heroes come across as prejudiced and unwilling to even entertain the idea that these villains could ever work for good.

Some have put this series down, painting (pun not intended) Alex Ross as obsessed with the old Challenge of the SuperFriends cartoon. This is a disservice to the title, though. There is an emotional darkness and maturity here that was never in the cartoon. The version of Batman who appears in this issue in not the Adam West-like, cheerful figure with a ‘Bat-fill-in-the-blank’ gadget from his utility belt; it is the Dark Knight.

Alex Ross’s painting here has been winning deserved praise, but it seems some of the praise has come at the expense of Doug Braithwaite’s pencils. Braithwaite really captures these iconic heroes and villains. His Poison Ivy is particularly beautiful and also touching– an interesting twist on a character who so often is drawn as menacing or seductive. The expressions on faces are excellent and, like Ross’s own pencils, Braithwaite gives us very human looking people. The fact that many of these villains look like people you might actually see on the street brings home the idea of these men and women as a part of humanity, rather than apart from humanity.

This issue is not perfect, however, and there are some plot holes. The biggest one being how the Legion of Doom seems to know so much about the Justice League heroes and yet does not know their secret identities. Another failing comes with the costume design for the Riddler. The long black coat and the sunglasses are entirely too much like characters in The Matrix.

Justice is shaping up as a wonderful break from the darkness that has pervaded the DC titles in recent months. As much as I enjoy Infinite Crisis it is nice to see a version of the JLA where the members still get along, still act heroically, and still care about one another. If you like a nice mix of the modern and the Silver Age it is not too late to get a little Justice.