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This was my first time reading anything by Brad Meltzer. I loved how his affection for these superheroes genuinely comes through the page. It was an interesting story and he was able to bring enough depth to the characters to make it a worthwhile read. ( )

This was my first time reading anything by Brad Meltzer. I loved how his affection for these superheroes genuinely comes through the page. It was an interesting story and he was able to bring enough depth to the characters to make it a worthwhile read. ( )

Yet another revival of the Justice League, this time by bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer. After his most recent physical demise, longtime Leaguer Red Tornado (who is actually an air elemental) acquires a real human body, with the apparent help of a supernatural ally. But it's a trick; a mystery villain needs Reddy's robot body for himself, and has enacted a complicated plan that will inadvertently draw the next League together.

There were a number of things I liked about this story. I liked the inclusion of a number of less well-known villains, even in their civilian guises. I liked the spotlights on Vixen and Black Lightning (though I'm not a fan of Jeff Pierce's new look.) I liked the homage to the original JLA's first foe. And the X-Men joke at the end was cute. Meltzer either has a great memory or has done his research.

But a lot of things bugged me, too. I can't stand the style of rotating first-person narration where the inner monologue boxes are color coded to the characters. It's irritating and confusing. First-person narration is fine but pick one for the sequence and stay with it! And the pseudo-realistic habit of characters not finishing sentences, also irritating. On the art front, I'm not a fan of Ed Benes' scratchy, overly-rendered style with its ridiculously-muscled men and their identical, angry, angry faces. He does draw a nice Hawkgirl, though.

All in all, it's not as good as [b:Identity Crisis|26085|Identity Crisis|Brad Meltzer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327948044s/26085.jpg|530148]. ( )

Uhm. It was okay, I guess, but ...

Sometimes reading comics is just too much work. I feel stupid saying that, especially given that I tend to tear through graphic novels at a rather ridiculous pace. But there are just too many damn characters with too many damn interconnected plots.

Just as a quick example, for a book that (among other things) is about the formation of a new Justice League, it spends perilously little time on a number of them. I guess I just don't need the Marvel or the DC Universes to be so all-encompassing. ( )