Justice, Volume 2

Justice, Volume 2

By Jim Krueger, Alex Ross & Doug Braithwaite (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-444-9

Warning: This is the middle part of one long story. It has no beginning and it doesn’t end here.

With the superheroes compromised and defeated, the lesser heroes of the DC Universe come into play as the triumphant villains divvy up their spoils. As the forces of good begin their fight back it becomes increasingly clear that Lex Luthor and Brainiac have their own agenda, and that it doesn’t include their erstwhile allies and pawns. Also, the supremely insane Joker is loose and he’s very unhappy about being excluded from the alliance of villains…

Once again this volume includes additional artwork, illustrated fact-files on the huge cast of characters and some of Doug Braithwaite’s pencilled pages before Alex Ross applied colours. Justice was originally published as a twelve issue maxi-series (this volume collects issue #5-8).

Visually spectacular, in story-terms this overly complex and convoluted tale falls far short of the halcyon material it references, possibly because the target audience is assumed to be too mature for the clear-cut simplicity of those child-friendly days and tales. There’s also a little too much of the Toys, Action Figures and Collectables catalogue about the whole affair, for my liking.

© 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.