However, I am moved to write about Justice League: Rise and Fall Special # 1....because it is probably, without a doubt, one of the worst comics I have ever read.
Gratefully, I ended my reading of Justice League: Cry for Justice early on, because this book recaps the main thrust of the plot. Consider it another step towards the Meltzerization of the DC Universe - a process where characters are given much more complex personalities, highly improbable events meet rather purple first person exposition, and overall, a tone that this is serious stuff, people, so pay attention!!!
(And in all fairness, I liked five sixths of Identity Crisis)
It wouldn't be so bad if writer J.T. Krul was making an effort to write something unique, but this book hits all the over-the-top cliches. Superhero killing villain - check. Her declaring that villain never understood his "true nature - check". Hero hiding villains body - check. Significant other worrying about hero - check. Comrades finding out hero's secret through third antihero - check. And so on and so forth.
The art's OK - I'll give them that much.
I admit, this is sounding perilously close to a "they're-destroying-my-childhood" rant, and it's far from the truth. It seems as if DC Comics is stuck between two goals - appealing to the continuity-obsessed older fan (like me) and trying to be as "edgy" and "in-your-face" as Marvel. (I use those in quotes because, well, you get the idea). Unfortunately, books this Rise and Fall Special come across as turgid, overwrought, and really just unpleasant to read. I am all for bringing characters into the 21st century; I'm not for works that basically just engage in angst and drama for their own sakes.
I know there are nine more months in 2010, but I think we have our first candidate for Worst Comic of the Year.
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