Justice League # 3 Review

I have been waiting with bated breath for this issue because Diana was going to make her appearance and Geoff Johns, who has not written Diana that well in the past, really surprised and made me enormously happy! This new iteration of Diana he got perfectly! She is young, strong, and enthusiastic. Fresh off the boat. I love the stranger in a foreign land angle as opposed to the silly she is not human crap. She is curious about her new surroundings and she wants to help by doing what she does best. She is a trained warrior and she is seeing threats that she knows she can deal with. As we know parademons are coming in via boomtubes and kidnapping people and if you know who they are and why they take humans, you know that is not good. Diana is being kept in a government facility and she finally has had enough and throws off her leash. And she makes a stunning entrance.

Why she is there I am not sure but we know Steve Trevor is back into continuity and younger and her liaison.  I expect he fell onto Themyscira but I really hope Diana did not leave to chase after him. Least she does not seem to be crushing over him just yet and he comes across more like a den mother. Anyway, Diana discovers the joy of ice cream. It was a lovely little character moment and she is so unconscious that her sword, which is clearly just a tool to her, intimidates the already paranoid public.

Diana leaves Steve to go and fight the creatures. I bet he didn't fuss about her getting hurt then. Anyway, we see poor Vic Stone badly burned and dying (after being hit by a boom tube last issue) and his father refusing to give up and allow him to die.  The rest of the heroes, Green Lantern, Flash,Batman and Superman are in Metropolis fighting the seemingly infinite hordes of parademons, who all are like crazy suicide bombers when they shriek "For Darkseid!" Yeah, they are bent on death and destruction and I seriously doubt amid all the madness anyone could reason with them. So seeing the boys take them out and try to prevent them from kidnapping innocent people? Go team!

It is sheer pleasure to see Superman in action. The guy is a powerhouse and he uses that power. Enough with the whining already from the people who claim Superman does not kill. First off all, that is an incorrect statement. Superman has destroyed many forms of consciousness ( energy monsters, vampires, robots etc) and he killed Doomsday and was always pretty ready to kill and do other questionable crap like turn time for Lois. So the use of lethal force here is relative. You try not to kill but if you have no choice, you do must do something.  If the parademons are not technically alive, then why shouldn't he cut loose? He sliced off limbs and wings and used his heat vision in a kids' cartoon. Anyway it was funny to see Hal try keep up with him and Flash discover Batman was just a normal guy and not a vampire.

The moment Diana joins the battle with the boys is a classic. They are all stunned at her beauty and strength. Hal, the cocky one, naturally calls dibs. Barry, the well behaved one simply goes "Wow". And then there is her brief interaction with the tough one. He gives her an assessing look and states matter of fact, "You're strong". She retorts, giving him also an assessing look, "I know." The glint in both their eyes signal that something has flared between these two. All Superman Wonder Woman shippers hold their collective breaths. Are we going to get what we have been praying for years? Are we going to see a romance? I really hope so. But I want it to develop organically and no repeat of Action 600 (huge cop out) and just like how sparks fly here...give us more of that. It makes sense. Two strong personalities, great contrasts of the curious new comer who happens to be a royal princess and warrior with the standoffish, rough around the edges social crusader and reporter. Come on DC, make it happen.

We get to see the creation of Cyborg and somehow Vic seems to be able to get a vision of Apokolips and it seems Darkseid senses this. It's quite a nice, teasing shot of an enemy we love to hate.

The battle spills over to the seas and of course we sense something is coming.

And,boy, is it worth it when it does. Just to note that Jim Lee just aces it with the pencils in this. Everything is so damn pretty to look at and that is a plus. Kudos to Alex Sinclair as well. And here he comes. Bold and larger than life and full of attitude. I love the jewellery. He looks like a pirate/explorer, exactly what I expect of a young, arrogant king of the seas.

I give this issue 4.5 out of 5.

5 out of 5 for art and anticipation again.

It just keeps getting better and better. It's entertaining stuff. The only down side is that it feels too short and one has to wait too damn long for the next issue. But that is good, right?

Best Panel: Yes, the double spread of Diana is gorgeous and probably deserves it. But as a Kal and Diana shipper, I reserve the right to indulge myself.

It's the one where everyone else is looking at the retreating parademons and he is a mite distracted and simply staring at her. You can just about imagine the thoughts going through his head.