Certain Developments
By: Andrew Hines
I know what you're probably thinking. "Why is Superman kissing Wonder Woman instead of Lois Lane?!" Well, simmer down a bit and I'll tell you. It all started a year ago, when the DCU got relaunched, ending up with Lois dating some dude named Jonathan and Clark being all alone. Skip ahead 5 years in comic book time and things have been heating up for the Amazon and the Big Blue Boy Scout. In this issue there's a whole big thing with Diana and Steve Trevor finally coming to terms with their relationship or lack thereof. Anyway, that's not really what this issue is about. For the last six issues the team has been battling the villain known as Graves, formerly a famous novelist who chronicled the League's formation and rise to prominence.
Geoff Johns brings his "A" game to the twelfth issue of Justice League. Cleanly wrapping up the last year's worth of story, it works as seamlessly as always. The villain, Graves, doesn't just show us how the heroes act when confronted by "ghosts", but gives us insight into the real tragedies of the characters' lives. We see that Flash is still haunted by the same demons as he was pre-New 52. We all know Batman's deal, but the real mysteries have always been Cyborg and Wonder Woman. Their ghosts, especially for Cyborg, hit a bit closer to home. Their demons are the ones that folks on the team have actually met. There is an interesting moment wherein one of the characters becomes a scapegoat for the team's decline. Johns, as always, keeps it true to the new canon and never glosses over the smallest detail.
Jim Lee's cover(s) as shown and his alternate cover, here: JUSTL_Cv12_var.jpg, show the dual story in this issue. The artwork is great on the inside as well. The men don't suffer as much from the "sucked in abs" as they did in a lot of Lee's previous works. The shadowing is great, as a result of both Lee's pencils and the inking team with too many names to mention. The coloring is great as well, particularly on the main cover.
With all of that going on, the "0" issue coming out next month and then a whole new arc beginning in October, this has really been a fun book to follow. I give this one an "A+" rating and urge you to pick up the entire year's run, either in single issue format or the first two trades.
