Forever Evil

Forever Evil is a great event book from DC Comics it takes place on a grand & small scale.  Grand in terms of global domination but small in terms of regaining control from the Crime Syndicate.  One of the major differences in this event verses other events of the past characters are not just subdued but they are eliminated.  I have to say as far as villains go some of the Crime Syndicate are very lackluster characters.  The real breakouts in this story are Lex Luther, Captain Cold & Sinestro.  The majority of the Justice League is restored to world at the end of this story but & the big reveal of who destroyed Earth 3.

Trinity War

I have to give DC Comics credit where credit is due this is a nice mini event the fact that they played this up as being some big crossover only to have this be the prelude to something much bigger was brilliant.  I like how Marvel sets everything up for its readers while DC plays it closer to the chest the result is always similar when it comes to events from the big two; you either hate them or you love them.  As for Trinity War this was a decent event I enjoyed it more I think because I was not familiar with the Crime Syndicate but what I did love about this series was the misdirection and in this area DC excels over Marvel.  I would love to read more Marvel stories with this level of misdirection.  Secret Invasion had a certain amount but not on the same level; bring on Forever Evil.

Justice League Dark Vol. 3: The Death of Magic

This third volume of Justice League Dark takes the team to another dimension.  Several characters have left in this volume Amethyst & Andrew Bennett.  I really like this group of characters however I would like to see more of the Shadowpact characters make an appearance in this title.  Deadman & Constantine are still my all time favorites of the group but Frankenstein is coming pretty close to knocking Constantine out of the top two spot.  In this other dimension something is reversed for each of our heroes, Xanadu is old, Deadman is alive, Black Orchid becomes a creature & Constantine can't tell a lie.  Timothy Hunter's destiny is revealed, the final part of this collection reveals a secret about Madame Xanadu.  Next up is Trinity War & then Forever Evil.

Justice League Dark Vol. 2: The Books of Magic

The second volume of Justice League Dark shows Constantine putting the band back together to take down a new threat to the world in Faust & his followers.  This team is also on the search for the books of magic & are on a mission to stop someone from Constantine's past.  This is the volume where Jeff Lemire takes over writing duties on these characters & it just shines through.  I really liked this title especially since I am unfamiliar with the majority of the cast in this.  I know who the main players are by name but I don't know what they are capable of.  Its refreshing compared to say Batman but lets be honest if you are reading this & don't know who Batman is there is a problem, bring on the next volume.

Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark

I can't say that I was totally enthralled when I picked up this volume.  I read Shadowpact back during the Infinite Crisis event which Enchantress was a key member in.  This book had a rocky start to begin with for one there is only a vague description of who these characters are.  Madame Xanadue is still a mystery to me.   I didn't know that Dove was in this & that she has a relationship with Deadman that was kind of a nice mix of a shared universe.  This book seemed to find its legs about half-way through most of that is due to the tension dynamic between John Constantine & Boston Brand.  I'll pick up volume two to see what happens next.

Justice League of America Vol. 1: World's Most Wanted

Geoff Johns has given DC Comics fans another Justice League title & it does not disappoint this series is a great companion piece to the main Justice League book.  A separate team set up by the American government to potentially take down the real Justice League.  However the premise is just the tip of the iceberg in this collection as more clues are laid as to how the puppet masters are behind a series of events.  This collection leads into Trinity War followed by Forever Evil.

Justice League Vol. 4: The Grid

This volume of Justice League revolves around the idea of bringing new members onto the team after the Throne of Atlantis story-arc.  Firestorm, The Atom & Element Woman are the new members of the league & on their first official day they have to take on Despero.  Meanwhile the Bat Cave is robbed & Superman & Wonder Woman step around American politics to rescue hostages.  However this whole story leads to a larger story in Trinity War.  One thing I don't like about this collection is the way the Trinity War story line is broken up & collected with part one & part six in this book.  That means if this was the only Justice League family book I was reading I would know how the story kicked off & what the conclusion was but I wouldn't have the meat of the overall story.  DC Comics really needs to get their butt in gear when it comes to collecting older & current story arcs.

Justice League Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis

The first story in this third volume is about one of Wonder Woman's main villains Cheetah.  The story delves into Cheetah's origin & in this two issue story she takes out all of the members of the Justice League well almost all of them.  It is amazing the she is fast enough to take out the Flash.  After the Cheetah story The Justice League book jumps into the Throne of Atlantis story arc.  Throughout this story Cyborg is the true savior of the Justice League when all of the rest of the League is incapacitated.  One of the things about the two stories in this volume is that they both show the Justice League taking some of its founding members villains.  This is something that Marvel doesn't really do unless the villain is really looking to strike out on a massive scale.  The Cheetah story was really not in that caliber.  There is some interesting fallout in this book from the Throne of Atlantis story arc.  The potential for new members to the Justice League.  Steve Trevor & Amanda Waller setting up a contingency plan.  Plus the biggest revelation of all that Batman knows about Superman & Wonder Woman while Cyborg & Flash suspect something.

Justice League Vol. 2: The Villains Journey

This second volume of the Justice League book moves ahead to present day from the origin issue of the League in the first volume.  A new villain is on the rise in this book, I kind of wished that DC had not put his image on any of the individual issue covers until the final issue of the story-arc because it takes away some of the mystery about who Graves is.  Jim Lee's artwork is superb in this volume giving hints as to what the villain looks like before he ambushes the League in their own home.  This is definitely a highlight of the New 52 compared to some of the titles that were released in the first wave.

Justice League Vol. 1: Origin

This is the premier book of DC's New 52 when it launched a little less than two years ago.  I was just starting to branch out into what I consider the Modern DC Universe, the one that has been around since I can remember.  It started with the epic event Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The trigger for the New 52 however is the Flashpoint event which isn't all the spectacular from what I have heard but over time will achieve probably the same type of standing as Crisis on Infinite Earths due to its long lasting effects on the DC Universe.  Enough of that on to this first volume of Justice League.  The book takes place five years in the past & shows how the team first formed.  Everybody acts arrogant which I think is a by product of reducing the age of all the characters in the DC Universe.  I mean Superman having a more violent streak than I've seen in the past depictions of him, Batman showing Green Lantern his secret identity seem out of character but work in the context of all of these heroes in their youth.  It seemed that Batman & Flash wear the only characters who spoke with the voice of reason throughout this entire arc as though they had more experience than any of the other characters in the story.  Wonder Woman is channeling her inner Thor as if she saw that movie when it came out.  Aquaman appears & is made fun of by Green Lantern from the get go but in just about two panels he proves how much of a bad-ass he can be.  Even if he didn't have his own book Aquaman this would be the premier book for him along with Cyborg.  Cyborg has a true origin in this volume.  Since I was not familiar with in in the Modern Universe other than the fact that he was a member of the Teen Titans; it was nice to see real jumping on point for this character.  The antagonist Darkseid is just a panel stealing villain in every way its like Apocalypse was mixed with Thanos for Marvel.  This was a good start hopefully the characters will have matured somewhat in the second volume.