Broken Frontier

The action is coming to a head as the Justice League of America gathers some strength after the disturbing defeats of the last few issues.

In issue #6 of this unfortunately bi-monthly series, Captain Marvel and Superman have a discussion only the two of them could have, Atom fights Giganta in an obvious though engaging battle, Hal Jordan does…very little, and the world is still convinced villains are now humanitarians. The Justice League’s chips are down lower than they have ever been and with this only being the half-way point, it is hard to imagine what Ross and crew will think of next.

Jim Krueger and Alex Ross write terribly twisted versions of the main universe they are working with. In Kingdom Come, Ross told of a bleak future where Captain Marvel went crazy, Superman was clinically depressed, and Batman was a wanted criminal. Together, in Earth X, they told of a bleaker future for Marvel Comics wherein everyone had powers and heaven was only in our imagination, while heroes truly fought for nothing. In Justice, they have upped the ante.

The Justice League face their most fearsome foes whose devious plot makes the Infinite Crisis villains look like little more than angry Girl Scouts. It seems Ross and Krueger are pushing our heroes to their limits just to see what happens. Batman has been attacked in the Batcave, Atom has been shot, Red Tornado destroyed, and I don’t even want to get into Aquaman’s fate. All the while, certain villains appear to have been bitten by a radioactive altruism bug. What is going on, you ask? Quite simply, Ross and Krueger are making a masterpiece. They are questioning the very definition of the word "superhero" and forcing their readers to do the same.

Where the story is wonderfully terrible, or terribly wonderful, depending on your view and vernacular, the art is just beautiful. Ross and Braithwaite have a way of working together that makes the comic book reader’s eye happy, very happy. Though Ross’ style has been called photo-realistic, I would change that term to comic-realistic. Yes, the painting is breathtaking and yes, the characters and backgrounds look far more appealing than even some of the best pencil and ink art out there. However, it still looks like a comic. Whether it is due to the overly-muscled superheroes or the bright, flashy colors, this photo-realism isn’t really photo, its comic, which, when reading a comic, only makes it better.

Justice has been trucking along nicely since the first issue: with no late shipments, every issue being a fascinating read, and art that is so good, it’s scary. Though what is happening to the League is frightening, what it implies about heroism and the actions of popular heroes is more so. Read it.