I haven't read the Supergirl issues yet, and those, plus all the previous ones, will be reviewed in a separate article that is forthcoming. I have, however, read the two new releases.
Justice League 22 - This series has had major ups and downs. The previous issue, which concluded the Shazam! arc, was fantastic, as was the entire back-up feature about Shazam! It was also drawn by one of my favorite artists, Gary Frank. This issue brings Shazam! face to face with the rest of the JL, and starts off the Trinity War "event." (Sigh, another one.) Shazam! tries to take the ashes of Black Adam (from last issue) back to "Khandaq" to spread them in Adam's birthplace. The Khandaqi military thinks its being invaded. The Justice League goes in to get him out, but the JLA goes in to stop them, because the JL is not supposed to be going into Khandaqi space. During the confrontation between the JL and JLA, which is extremely contrived (the characters are all universally thick-headed and frankly stupid about their differences), Dr. Light accidentally "attacks" Wonder Woman with his out-of-control powers, and Superman appears, in a rage, to kill Dr. Light. This then starts an all out battle between the two JLs (JL vs. JLA).
I was really disappointed in the way the two JLs started battling each other. The scene is extremely forced, as well as rushed -- we go from Superman zapping Dr. Light to a giant panel showing an all-out battle, with no ramp-up, nothing in between. At the very end, we see that the Secret Society of Villains has been controlling things, and based on what is said in the last panel, Superman didn't actually kill Light (either Light is not dead, or someone else killed him and made it look like Superman did it -- great job by Geoff Johns in pulling out his second fake death in as many months... how original of him). Thus, we're going to end up with an all-out war between the JLs based on a mix-up. This is like a really bad episode of Three's Company. I'd give this a lower rating but the art wasn't bad. My score: 8/10 (with 6/10 for story but 9/10 for art).
Batgirl 22 - In a beautifully touching story, Gail Simone presents a Batgirl issue without Batgirl. Barbara Gordon spends most of the story on a date with Ricky, the young man whose leg was taken by Knightfall back in issues 10-11. We are treated to a wonderful piece of characterization as Barbara struggles with how to be "normal" instead of always having to be Batgirl. Then she meets with her father, who still blames Batgirl for the death of his son James. Gordon tries to teach Barbara to use a gun, for her protection. At first it seems as if he might know her secret, but then it's clear he doesn't. He meets up with Batman at the end, and asks Batman to turn over Batgirl. Batman refuses, and Gordon says he will find her anyway. Meanwhile, Barbara, realizing that every time Batgirl shows up or is featured in the news it will be painful to her father, decides to hang up the cowl for good, and go back to being just plain old Barbara Gordon.
This is one of the best issues of the Batgirl series to date, and it shows the importance of "secret identity time" -- time with the non-heroic side of a character. When Barbara finally does become Batgirl again, the emotional content will be ramped up that much higher because of this interlude with her secreit identity. Simone also uses the supporting cast (Jim Gordon, Aleysia the room mate, and Ricky the date) extremely well -- she both develops them in their own right, and uses them to reveal more of Barbara's character. I'd have given this 10/10 if the art had been better, but even so it is a darn fine issue. 9/10.
The contrast between these two stories, JL and Batgirl, could not be more stark. The story in JL feels forced, and one definitely gets the sense (whether it's true or not) that Johns was told "have them fighting by the end of the issue" and had to rush the battle's beginning. I'd be willing to bet that he planned to have the crossover last for another month or so, but DC forced him to finish it by the end of the issue 23 run so they could do "Villain Month" in September. Meanwhile, Gail Simone chose to focus on the deeply personal in Batgirl, and the events logically follow, one from another, with an inevitability that makes the story seem very real. The story in Batgirl seems to flow very naturally, whereas the story in JL is forced and very contrived. We can easily see which one is being written for its own sake, and which one is being written as a marketing tool.
To be honest I am starting to get fed up with Johns and both Justice Leagues. I don't know if editorial is interfering too much, or Johns is just burned out, or what, but the quality has definitely dipped. The only thing that saved JL from being knocked right off my pull list was the final panel, where it is strongly implied that Superman did not actually kill Dr. Light, but either someone else did or (more likely) he's not really dead. If they start having Superman kill people, no matter what the reason, I am done with JL. So, I will stick with it long enough to see what the explanation is, and as long as Superman didn't actually kill anyone, I may stick around. But if it turns out he actually did kill, even while under the influence of Pandora's stupid box, I'm gone from both JL titles.
That might happen anyway... I'm starting to get so fed up with DC that my ability to tolerate the stupidity of their editorial decisions is being ground down. One thing is for sure. From this point on, whenever a DC title drops off my pull list, I am replacing it with a non-DC title. I strongly suspect that by this time next year, my pull list will be 70% or more indy titles.
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