Justice League 3000 #1

By Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Howard Porter

Warning: Very minor spoilers below

Justice League 3000 was supposed to come out months ago. It seemed like every other day there was a news piece about this title being pushed back again or a draft being scrapped. Now that it’s finally out, you can certainly tell that the script was screwed around with and not for the better. However, the series manages to still have a ton going for it.

The basic premise is interesting as heck. In a new alternate future, the Justice League has been recreated using some sort of genetic process. So, it’s our favorite heroes, only in the future and created in a pastry dish. The book cleverly uses their origin to give them an excuse for being massive jerks. They all have critical flaws, which their creators (The Wonder Twins of all people) rule to be because of their lack of tragedy and/or proper build to becoming superheroes. Superman never had the Kents to give him a moral compass, Batman never witnessed his parents being killed, etc. Without these key elements, they all sort of suck at being heroes.

Unfortunately, this issue suffers from a number of writing problems. It’s very “nineties” and not in a good way (is there a good way that’s from the nineties?). The dialogue is dull and several pages were a chore to get through. Not only is the dialogue bad, but there’s also a lot of it. Also, as interesting as the story is, this comic really goes out of its way to make us hate these characters. Everybody is either a d-bag or boring as sin.

Speaking of things that feel like the nineties, Howard Porter is on art duties. The costumes of this new Justice League are cool and they look great throughout the entire issue. The action also looks great. The only annoyance is the characters’ faces don’t always look the greatest. There’s a beautiful splash page that is ruined because Wonder Woman’s face looks beyond ridiculous.

There is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that this is a decent story and has some interesting characterization set up. The bad news is that story isn’t written well and a few pages will have you tearing your hair out in frustration. Personally, I’m on board for at least a few issues. Take that for what it’s worth.