DCnU Reviews, Week 1: Green Arrow; Justice League International

(Back in June when the new DCU titles were announced, I ranked all 52 titles on my likelihood of buying them. Only fair then to look back and see if my initial assessments hold up. My plan is to review each of the new titles as they come out.)

Green Arrow #1
by J.T. Krul, Dan Jurgens & George Pérez

Original Rank/Assessment: 51 (Definitely No) - One of my least favorite writers on a character I could care less about.

I'm not much of a Green Arrow fan. I'll read the comic if there's a creator working on it that I like, but that's as far as my affection for the character goes. I've also never cared much for J.T. Krul's writing, and this comic didn't do anything to change my mind. Our DCnU Green Arrow Oliver Queen is still in his early wealthy stage, in charge of Queen Industries though having to answer to a hostile board. He's moonlighting as a super-hero with a bow. He fights a group of one-dimensional villains for some reason. A different group of interchangeable bad guys shows up at the end. It's all very rote and by-the-numbers. On the plus side, the art by Jurgens & Pérez is highly competent and nice to look at; it carries the story well, what little there is of it. But nice art isn't enough to save this from being dull.

Rating: 2 (of 5).

Justice League International #1
by Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan

Original Rank/Assessment: 6 (Definitely Yes) - A return to my second-favorite JL era, with Aaron Lopresti on art, makes for a winning combination.


This one was a relative disappointment, but mainly because I had had what in hindsight appear to have been unreasonably high hopes. Jurgens handles the story competently, introducing us to the various characters, though frustratingly leaving much of their new backstory vague. This is a team thrown together by politics, so we get a bit of workplace friction and can likely expect more. (I like how Batman just joins the team on his own, without being asked.) I'd like to see a bit more humor from a comic with this book's pedigree though. Lopresti's art and storytelling are in fine form, and the coloring is appropriately bright. I'd like to see a bit more humor from a comic with this book's pedigree though. In all, this is a solid super-hero team book; it just needs an extra something to make it stand out from the pack.


Rating: 3 (of 5).