Justice League, Volume 1: The Extinction Machines by Bryan Hitch

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This first story of the Rebirth Justice League has some good points.

I think it's a good idea for the Justice League, particularly Batman to be somewhat suspicious of the new Superman. The characterization on Wonder Woman and the two Green Lanterns aren't bad. Nor are the generic aliens who are invading the Earth. It's not great, but it makes sense for a first Justice League story not to feature a complex villain so we can focus on seeing our heroes work together.

Ultimately what made me not like this primarily is the characterization of Superman's son Jon and Lois in particular. Writer/Artist Bryan Hitch tries to have Lois give a big emotional talk to Superman to join the Justice League and it doesn't sound natural at all. There's one point where Superman has gone on a particularly dangerous mission and Lois tells Batman that she's holding him responsible if Superman doesn't come back. Lois Lane would never say that. And that's just the most egregious example of how Hitch doesn't get these characters.

Speaking of Superman's dangerous mission, the end of Issue 3 is a huge problem. Superman has to go to the center of the Earth an risk his life. He tries heat vision and realizes it won't work on the threat and then the thought caption has Superman saying, "I don't know what to do." Huh? Might want to think about that BEFORE you go to the Earth's core. It makes Superman and Batman both look like complete idiots for not figuring out a plan.

There are also a few spots on the art that seemed a bit off.

This isn't horrible and indeed if the book were otherwise superb, I would probably overlook the book's weaker points. But in the end, this is a mediocre story that becomes disappointing because it fails to do the little things right.



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