Justice League International, Vol. 1: The Signal Masters

Justice League International (2011)

by Dan Jurgens

As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics--The New 52 event of September 2011, the United Nations brings together Batman, Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, August General in Iron, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red-a new group called Justice League International!
With the growing presence of super beings around the world, the JLI are charged with promoting unity and trust-but if they're going to discover the mystery behind the giant alien Signalmen who are appearing all over the globe can they reach that goal without killing each other first?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Batman, Graphic Novels Comics

Paperback

First published May 15, 2012

About the author

Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 2 out of 5]

(B-) 71% | Satisfactory
Notes: Broadly bootless, it’s bloodless and bland: a barely bush-league bindle of blah, beyond bygone and bereft of buildup.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Back in the late 1980’s DC was trying to imprint the Justice League brand on other books, hence the Justice League International (JLI) was created: a smart, funny, take on superhero team dynamics.

Now, sadly, it’s been revived as a New 52 title.

The United Nations wants a team that they can control because the Justice League aren’t the kind of heroes that are going to lick the boot heels of politicians. So the clarion call goes out to some C-List heroes. “Be a member of a superhero team, maybe Superman will return your calls.”

The roll call:

Booster Gold – From the future, where he did something stupid. He’s put in charge. Question: Where’s Booster’s security bot, Skeets? Skeets is always good for some laughs.

Guy Gardner – In the original JLI, he was a lout, but he was a funny-comic-foil lout. Here, he’s just a quarrelsome ass. Who doesn’t get repeatedly punched in the face, more’s the pity.

Vixen – She’s from Africa. She can channel the power of any animal.

Clever names sub-division

Fire – From Brazil. She has plasma powers. I think she dated Guy Gardner.

Ice – From Sweden. She has ice powers. I think she dated Guy Gardner.

Godiva – She’s English. She can do things with her hair. She’s horny. “Is that a batarang in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

And the rest...

Rocket Red – From Russia. He wears some crazy data absorbing armor. In America, you wear crazy data absorbing armor. In Russia, crazy data absorbing armor wears you.

August General in Iron – He’s from China and I’m pretty sure his name has been the victim of bad translating. He and Rocket Red don’t get along for geo-political-ideological reasons. *sigh*

Batman – he’s not an official member. He’s hanging around in order to keep an eye on things as a sort of secret liaison to this kid’s table of superheroes.

This collection is DC hackwork at its worst. The story is something you’ve seen or read about a million times – New team at odds with one another, team gets it’s ass kicked, team learns to trust one another right around the time their clocks almost get punched. To make matters worse, by trying to squeeze too many characters into a shaky storyline – some get lost in the wash. Vixen, a character I like a lot, flew and did gopher power. Wow!

Did I mention Batman was in this thing?

Tom Jones, take me out of here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRZBa...

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the artist was good.

Thanks to Geoff Johns' Booster Gold, Vol. 1: 52 Pick-Up, I have a soft spot for Booster. And finding out that he was heading up a team for the New 52? It sounded like something I would enjoy, right?
Turns out, not so much.

Supposedly, the UN decided they need a JLA that they are in charge of, because nobody trusts the governments anymore.
Shocking!
Booster gets picked to lead since everyone thinks he's just a glory hound who wants to get paid, therefore he should be easily controlled. And then they tacked on some random heroes from around the world to represent.
So now they've got a team!


Except it's a team of D-listers...and Batman.
Batman?
What the hell was he doing with these dorks? I mean, when your BFF is Superman, you've probably got better things to do than join up with the Super-Nerds.
No. Really. I'm being kind.
The British "superhero" has the power of...hair.
Hair!?
Yes, long #@$!ing hair that obeys her commands. It's ridiculous!
There's the Russian version of Iron Man, Icewoman, Firegirl (no, these are not their real names, but who cares?), and some lumpy rock-like guy from China.
Oh, and Vixen.
Then, because they need someone to shake things up, they threw in everyone's least favorite Green Lantern...Guy Gardner.

Now that the team is in place, let's find them some bad guys to fight!
Wheeee!
Four giant robots pop up out of nowhere...and unsurprisingly kick the team's ass.
But our intrepid team comes back for more! They dig under the robots and discover tiny rock monsters...who unsurprisingly kick their ass, as well.
This leads to the discovery that the fate of the world rests in their incapable hands.
At this point Batman really needed to call up his JLA buddies, but for some unknown reason decided to chance it with the Loser Squad.
Meanwhile, somewhere in outer space, Guy was getting his ass handed to him by some powerful alien. Who by the way, plans to use the robots to suck the minerals out of the earth and sell them to the highest bidder.

It's physically painful to recount this plot, by the way.

This whole thing was really just...
You know what? Nobody cares.

There's also a goofy side plot involving some disgruntled (ex army?) guys who set fire to JLAI headquarters.
Oh, and at the end, their group apparently blows up Booster's team while they are on stage being introduced to the world.
Best part of the whole book!

Recommendation: Skip it.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dan Jurgens killed Superman in the 90s and he's returned to finish the job! In fear, DC threw Green Arrow to Jurgens as sacrifice whom he dutifully brought down, giving Volume 1 of the GA reboot "The Midas Touch" Jurgen's touch of death. Unsatiated and hungering for more comic book blood, he turned his attention to "Justice League International" featuring as leader Booster Gold, a character he created, and, with self-destructive gusto, managed to get JLI cancelled after just one story arc. That's right, this is JLI Volume 1 of 2.

I bought "Justice League International" not realising the comic book criminal Dan Jurgens had written it so I immediately knew I'd made a big mistake but, having paid money for this book, I was determined to finish it - another big mistake!

Apparently, the United Nations have looked upon the Justice League (the real JL with Superman et al.) with envy - they want a Justice League too! So some guy sets about recruiting for it, gathering superheroes from around the world to form a kind of international flavoured Justice League - hmm, what would be a good name for it?

The Justice League International are: Booster Gold (think an unknown Eurotrash Superman who was raised on ecstasy in Ibiza clubs), a Green Lantern (not THE, but Guy Gardner the most annoying GL of them all!), Red Rocket (Russian Iron Man), Fire (superhero who shoots, sigh, fire), Ice (Female Ice Man), an African chick with claws, August General in Iron (bizarrely named Chinese superhero, kind of like the Thing with Aquaman's trident), Godiva (she has super hair - really), and... Batman. Huh?! Why would the Dark Knight hang out with these losers? Oh, because no one would read the title otherwise.

Jurgens hastily sets up this group of misfits with all the enthusiasm of a school caretaker heading toward a puke puddle with his bucket of sawdust and a mop. This is the first story arc in this newly rebooted series and it feels more like the 50th. So the JLI have to fight 4 giant robots and an intergalactic scrap collector. Away they go. I'll stop there not because I don't want to give away any spoilers but because that's all the story there actually is.

Some might say this isn't so much about story as it is about the characters but it's not. The "characters" are barely there - anyone coming to these characters for the first time, and when they're as nondescript as this bunch that's nearly everyone picking up this book, will have no clue as to any of their backstories or why they would take part in this bizarre UN experiment. They just get together to fight giant robots - what do you mean you don't care about them? Oh right, because "The Signal Masters" is totally unimaginative, badly written, and completely uninspired.

Jurgens can't even make the argument that he's been given D-list characters, what was he supposed to do? Look at Jeff Lemire - he's turned Animal Man from a nobody to one of the most critically acclaimed series of the New 52 relaunch. But Lemire is a quality writer.

Maybe Jurgens knew they were doomed from the start. In one panel Booster Gold exclaims "but who else will stop the intergalactic scrap metaller from destroying the Earth?" (I'm paraphrasing, I refuse to open up that book again to get the real quote). Gosh, um, Stormwatch? The actual Justice League? The Teen Titans? Suicide Squad? Hell, even the Birds of Prey could probably pull it off. Superman by himself would be more than enough. Faced with that, why would anyone bother with the JLI?

I was looking forward to this title and, like all the New 52 titles, willing to give it a fair shot and I did. JLI turned out to be, for me, the worst series in the New 52 - I struggled to muster up the resolve to even finish this slim volume, taking over 3 days to get through it - and I love comics! You have been warned, dear reader, this book is toxic. DC, please, please, pretty please with marzipan and everything on top - stop giving Dan Jurgens work!

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is almost the same as back in the day! No, who am I kidding? It isn’t. The Justice League International of the 80s was a large, sprawling, veritable “who’s who” of DC lesser-knowns. This incarnation doesn’t come close: No Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, Elongated Man or Mister Miracle here. Fire, Ice, Booster Gold and Guy Gardner are the only remnants of the previous team that feature here (not counting Batman, he’s not a member. And Red Rocket doesn’t count, it isn’t Dmitri).

What made the previous version work so well was the interplay and bantering between Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, the relationship between Mister Miracle and Big Barda, the leadership issues between Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter… and all the other little things. Even though the New 52 version does attempt to recapture some of that, it isn’t so successful. That’s not say it’s terrible by default, just very different from the older (and, let’s face it, better version).

When I started reading this it immediately felt like DC was trying to pull a Marvel. Now, I have no way of qualifying what I mean by that, other than saying that the early bits of The Signal Masters felt like an assembling of an Avengers team. Perhaps it’s just the fact that Briggs looks like a latter-day Nick Fury sans eyepatch… or the fact that Peraxxus is, well, basically Galactus.

A trend that was started in DC’s 52 and Booster Gold: 52 Pick-up is continued here in the New 52. Namely, Booster Gold is being portrayed as a competent hero, and not just an attention seeker. This I did appreciate. What’s also ironic, is that the threat the little league faces here is just as big (if not bigger) than the threat the big guns face in Justice League, Vol. 1: Origin. Incidentally, despite the Galactus parallel, this whole thing also bears more than a passing resemblance to the Lord Manga Khan / Interstellar Barter arc (refer Justice League International, Vol. 3).

If this review lacks cohesion, it at least perfectly reflects how conflicted I feel about rating this book. I did enjoy it (despite my misgivings and despite the fact that it stands in the shadow of the 80s Justice League International), and the art is very good throughout. But it should have been spectacular, and it wasn’t. It’s another New 52 title that has since been cancelled, which is a shame since there is at least some potential here. We’ll have to wait and see what the suits have in mind for these characters… it would be a shame if they end up on some dusty shelf. Well, at least there is a second collection (Justice League International, Vol. 2: Breakdown) to look forward to before the big goodbye.

3.5 stars, but rounded down, because it just wasn’t all that.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminded me of the JLE I used to read in the early 90s as a kid. That's fun nostalgia wise, but also kind of damning-praise. It means it hasn't done much to grow.
I didn't connect that this was written by Dan Jurgens, who wrote the New 52 Green Arrow, which I didn't really like much at all.
I did like: Batman trying to support Booster Gold, and being on the team because he didn't trust the UN.
Booster Gold in general getting a chance to do something.
The throwback of having Fire, Ice, Rocket Red, Guy Gardiner and Booster all on a team again (JLE anyone?)
Interplay between Rocket Red and Iron General.

Didn't like:
Guy Gardner seems like he's the exact same character he was 20 yrs ago in this book, no growth at all, no nothing, which is sad given how well he's used in Blackest Night.

No namers: Godiva? Nympho with long hair that does stuff? Some random Chinese guy made of Earth/Stone? (though he actually has some of the best dialogue). Vixen? African chick who claws people and flies.

I suppose they did a good job representing the world, Brazil, US, Russia, China, UK, Norway, Africa (yes just Africa in general). I am amazed they didn't include Captain Boomerang and say he was an Aussie.

The dick jokes. LITERALLY, there's about 3 different jokes about penises. I suppose it is geared towards 12 year olds?

It was like I said, a fun nostalgia trip, but as comics have grown somewhat, this seemed to regress.
Overall it seemed like they wanted another excuse to throw Batman into a book to boost sales, when they maybe should have waited before launching this one.

It's not great, but it's OK for a few smiles reminding me of being 12-14. I half expected to see Max Lord show up.

[William Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Justice League International was the Nu 52 book I was most excited to read, because I like DC's misfits in a group more than their powerhouses. Unfortunately, Dan Jurgens turned out to be the writer and continued his trend of scripting completely forgettable, if not downright awful, books.

Which is sad, because this series has already been canceled. And we know now that these characters won't show back up in any meaningful way after this series. I was glad to see Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and Guy Gardner. I was not so glad to see Rocket Red or Vixen. I was disappointed that Metamorpho and Dr Fate were not a part of the book, although I understand the reasoning in that it was supposed to be a truly international team.

Anyway, as far as the book goes, it's like Jurgens stole an old Marvel Kirby script and re-drafted it- the giant robots here on earth for millions of years are threatening the earth. Sounds exactly like the set-up of the Celestials to me. On top of that, Jurgens pulls the character Godiva into it, whose powers mimic Marvel's Inhuman queen Medusa. Kirby worship galore here. But what Jurgens doesn't do in this book matters more than what he did. He didn't make any of it matter.

Nothing in this book mattered. In the end, it could have been a series lull around issue 50 when the writer is burnt out. It doesn't feel like a new book. From the outset it feels tired and old.

One thing Jurgens did get was the relationships. Although it's not on par with the original Dematteis run, he tries. Because JLI was always more about rivalries and love and soap opera drama than battling it out with cosmic menaces. They left that stuff to the JLA. I wish he'd had allotted more time to the human parts of the book.

In the end, it's sad to see such a lackluster script accompanied by such gorgeous art. I am in love with Aaron Lopresti's artwork in these issues. It's clean, sleek, and vivid. He has a knack for action sequences, even though he falters a bit in his compositions. He uses line sparingly and relies on positive and negative spaces to give us a clear look at his heroes. It's refreshing. I hope he gets a new book after JLI's cancelation.

Writing: C
Art: A

[Sans · Rating 2 out of 5]

We have a handful of D-listers that are basically poorly copied versions of the Inhumans, FF, and X-Men, all struggling to get off the ground as a team that was brought together solely for the use of the U.N., but actually just to stroke the spy dude's ego.

Then there's Batman, who is performing the roll of Booster's personal cheerleader. Which, if he's so intent on Booster leading this team, why did Bats tell Steve Trevor that he's worked with the JLI and wants them shut down (in JL: The Villain's Journey I believe)?

Maybe the Last Great Screw Up happens in the second volume. I just don't care enough to see what it is.

[Evan Leach · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book collects the first six issues of Justice League International. The United Nations decides it would be useful to have a team of superhumans on their side. Unfortunately for the U.N., all of the A-listers were taken. Ultimately the motley crew willing and able to defend the U.N. banner consists of Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Fire, Ice, Vixen, Godiva, Rocket Red, and ‘August General in Iron’.



If you don’t know who most of these characters are, you and I have something in common. I came into this book a relative DC newbie and did not find a lot of familiar faces (although Batman comes along for the ride, presumably to boost sales). For me, that was the biggest problem with the book. I liked Booster, the leader of the team, but I just wasn’t all that interested in the other players. This problem is compounded by the fact that the JLI contains a whopping eight members. Jurgens gamely tries to introduce the whole team and make every character feel unique, but six issues aren’t enough to flesh out nearly a softball team’s worth of superheroes.

Anyway, the gang is sent to investigate a bunch of giant robots that appear in a number of locations spread across the globe. It turns out that the fate of the world, quite literally, is at stake. Personally, as a citizen of the world I would be livid to discover that the JLI did not see fit to give Superman a call at this point, and instead decided to wing it themselves, but whatever. That’s international politics, I guess! This story, which the first five issues are dedicated to, is pretty generic but not terrible. The sixth issue dives more into character development and U.N. politics before ending on a total cliffhanger (something of a habit among these first New 52 collections, I’m noticing).

Thanks to a roster of uninspiring heroes and an unspectacular plot, this collection was pretty forgettable. But one thing I wanted to draw attention to was the artwork. I thought the visuals in this book were pretty darn good, particularly the coloring which really popped off the page (see the image above), or this shot of Booster:



Because the artwork is strong, longtime DC readers who have a deeper connection to these characters may really enjoy this collection. But for a newcomer, it was a little underwhelming. 2.5 stars.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the only New 52 titles that I tried but dropped after one issue, JLI is much more impressive than its first issue would have you think. The team are very individual, and whilst not every character gets time to shine (Fire and Vixen do very little), writer Dan Jurgens sets them all apart and makes them a compelling set of protagonists.

The plotline is a lot more far reaching than I'd anticipated, with the fate of the world at stake, and an interesting subplot about the lack of faith the world has in superheroes.

Aaron Lopresti's art is slick, shiny, and suitably superheroic, and the issue that Marco Castiello draws, whilst darker, stands up next to the other five nicely.

If you can take this book without comparing it to the other famous JLI series, you'll find something much deeper than you'll likely expect.

[Arturo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to give another Jurgens book 2 stars, since I grew up reading so many of his Superman comics, but he does not adapt. Still very much like the 90's, and too bland. Not all.... that bad, but still very skippable. He did do a good job in the Booster Gold series. Speaking of that, I liked how it showed that Batman had respect for Booster Gold, (probably cuz of what happened in that series) and August General in (of?) Iron came off pretty cool. Maybe another Booster Gold series by him I'd check out, but JLI has a high bar to meet... imo.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Collects Justice League International (New 52) #1-6

After all of the panning that this got from "Goodreaders", I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this title quite a bit.

This book felt like a return to the Bronze Age: we have a team of brightly-costumed superheroes that must work together -- and often have trouble doing so -- in order to save humanity from a planet-threatening villain from outer space that seems unbeatable. A classic Justice League sort of story, basically. Individual issues occasionally end in cliffhangers, including the volume as a whole ending with a big cliffhanger. For my money this was good, classic, comic book storytelling. And it's brought to you by Dan Jurgens, who wrote what is arguably one of the most famous (and/or most infamous) DC stories since 1985, The Death of Superman.

Besides the conflict with the villain bent on world-destruction, there was a lot of internal conflict as well that kept me entertained, such as arguments over who should lead the team, as well as a disquieting scene within the first few pages at the Hall of Justice (you know, that iconic white building with columned arches that will always remind me of watching reruns of Super Friends). After that Hall of Justice scene, I can honestly say I was hooked from the start.

To respond to some of the criticisms from other reviewers, I've noticed a chief complaint seems to be that these superheroes are "second string" (or even "third string"). But I think that is part of the point, and part of the fun. This isn't the same old Supes, Bats, WW, Flash Lantern,... it's a completely different team with slightly less impressive powers. They feel a little more "everyman" than the regular JL, and that's a good thing. When you have Superman on your team, it seems like you always have the muscle to get the job done. Not the case here! This superhero team feels like it's in over its head, like little brother trying to fill big brother's shoes even though the shoes are still way too big, and that kind of conflict makes it fun and interesting.

Overall I enjoyed this volume much more than I enjoyed the "big brother" superhero team's first volume, Justice League, Vol. 1: Origin. And I think part of the reason for that is that this book doesn't rely solely on "star power"; it's more than just a "role call of our favorite characters", which means it has to work harder and do more. And I think it succeeds in doing much more than "Origin" -- which is in fact little more than a role call. So it's a shame that this series got canceled, because I thought it was more enjoyable than the other JL series which is still ongoing.

Some reviewers disliked the premise of a JLI, but I thought the premise was fine: the pencil pushers at the UN know that the JL can never be controlled, so they create another team that they can manipulate. And they choose the team members such that no one with a secret identity is allowed on the team. The ensuing discussions concerning government control and transparency, and even some debate over what are acceptable losses of life in a conflict, are pretty topical and interesting, I thought.

Finally, I'll finish by agreeing with the other reviewers on one major thing, which is that the artwork in this book is really great.

I enjoyed this. It's nothing too deep but it's just plain fun, like superhero stories used to be.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.

Okay, every New 52 superhero team in the DCU (Other than the Justice League) seems to be all about how to protect the world from people like Superman, Wonder Woman, and all the rest. Everyone is obsessed with the Justice League turning evil.

Yeah, I think we’ve read about an evil Justice League before.



Anyway, the JLI is that same old deal again, but with a small twist.

Here the United Nations demands protection from the Justice League if (when) those guys ever go crazy and try to take over the world. So, they decide to get different superheroes from different countries together to form their own superhero team. Their mission to selflessly protect the world.

Sounds like a cool idea. So it really surprised me when the guy with the biggest ego gets made the leader of the group. I mean, Booster Gold doesn’t even want to be in charge and doesn’t even know who the other members of the team are. But when a surprising villain shows up trying to destroy the world, Booster takes charge.



Good things about the book.

1) Booster Gold is an interesting guy. Really liked his story of coming from the future.
2) This group is always throwing around insults and jokes. A lot of them are actually funny.
3) The art looked good, told the story well, and was easy to follow. Really liked it.
4) Even though the story was funny, it was pretty good with lots of action.

Bad things about the book.

1) Booster’s ego. Okay, it was funny at first, but I got tired of it fast.
2) Most of these characters are just names and faces. I need to know more about them.

When I started the book, I didn’t think I would enjoy it very much. But it actually surprised me. It might just be me, but this group was the kind of fun comic I like to read. Too bad more people didn’t feel like I did.

Well, I hope you liked this review, and friend me any time to talk about my reviews or comic books.

[Joshua Adam Bain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have learnt to not judge a book based on reviews on Good Reads, cause most of the time I find myself disagreeing with them anyway. I thought I would give this title a go and I'm glad I did. I won't spin lies and say this was a ground breaking read, but it is definitely worth a read if your into team books full of fun and action.

The UN decide to put together a team of metas because the Justice League are an independent organisation and can't be controlled. So they get together a team of mostly no-names heroes from across the globe in hopes of returning faith in the collected governments of the world. Lead by Booster Gold he is joined by a reluctant Guy Gardner, Vixen, Ice, Red Rocket, August General in Iron, Fire, and Godiva. I don't understand why Booster gets so much shit dished on him, I mean it's not like he's Guy Gardner or anything. This shows how much potential he has as a leader and I for one think he's pretty cool. As for the rest of the team we don't know much about most of them yet, but they all have my interest and I'm keen to learn more. The antagonist Praxxus was surprisingly good as well. I find the one thing that let's down a title the most, other than bad characterisation, is the villains they face. Lucky for these guys they got a good one, not only was Praxxus a formidable foe, who reminded me a bit of Galactus mixed with Darkseid, but his story didn't feel rushed as it was slowly unraveled. The book ends on a bang (wink wink) as well so it made me really keen to get my greasy hands on the next volume. To top it off the art was pretty top notch as well, which always makes things easier to read.

It's not a mind blowing read, but it's not bad by any means of the word. If you enjoy team stories then give this one a go. You might end up enjoying it as much as I did.

[Karli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! I don't know why DC decided to cancel this series! From what I've heard, it was doing pretty well in sales, and for good reason!

Booster Gold is one of my favorite DC characters, and it's great to see him leading a team. It's even greater to see that he leads the team well. Rocket Red is a fun character and I like his pseudo-rivalry with August General in Iron. Speaking of the General, I didn't really like him in "52", but this book made me really like him; he's one of my favorites in this series.

There are really only two things that I don't like about this book: 1. Vixen didn't do much of anything. I like Vixen, I think her powers are cool (although, Animal Man does it better in my opinion), and I think she's a good character. I would have liked to have seen more of her. 2. Godiva. I don't care for her. At all, really. But I'm not going to hold those things against this book.

Now I can go out and buy what remains of this series before it got cancelled, issues #7-12 and the annual.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up front the worse thing I'll say about writer Dan Jurgens is that he is a solid storyteller. I viewed this six issues collected here a setup for the ongoing series (which ended up being cancelled six issues later). As expected Jurgens handles his own creation Booster Gold well, but he also, within the space permitted, gives some added character to Rocket Red and Godiva (or more so than we've seen in the past).

The idea of the U.N. having its own super team isn't a new one, and it would have been interesting to see if Jurgens would have expanded the roster over time. The threat is honestly mediocre, and Batman was likely included in an attempt to hype sales.

[Ronald Esporlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading this. It has the potential to be great. If only it wasn't cancelled and finished with 52 issues.

[Torono · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real Justice League answers to no man, certainly not any government. Justice League International is the UN's version that will do their bidding, at least that is what Andre Briggs (head of UN intelligence) is hoping. His goal is to recruit superheros, who don't keep their identities secret, that will answer to the UN. We open with Briggs pitching his idea to the UN and naming a few prospective members. We end up with a group of heroes that I was largely unfamiliar with. I know Guy Gardner, the ass-hole Green Lantern, and I'd heard of their leader Booster Gold, but Rocket Red, Vixen, Ice, Fire, August General in Iron, and Godiva? I have no clue who they are. Rocket red may have popped up in Wanted: Hal Jordan, but I don' really remember. The thing is, Booster Gold doesn't really know most of these people either. He has no idea what their powers are or how to best lead them, so their first outing is essentially their test run. Booster is lucky enough to have Batman back him up, but the UN won't let him in their "Special" Justice League because the has a secret identity (and no one tells mother fucking Batman what to do). Giant robots have appeared in four countries across the world and JUI gets to deal with them, after being sent to investigate the disappearance of a research team. This is Volume One of a New 52 title, so this is really a pilot episode where we meet some new characters and see the conflicts. The sad news is that Justice League International was cancelled like 6 issues later, so we get this volume and then Volume 2 and it's over. Had I know this ahead of time, I wouldn't have been as stoked to start a new series, but it was still a competent outing that has an interesting plot and some pretty good artwork. The question for you is, is it worth getting invested in a series that only goes for two volumes? I think this first volume is good enough that I am glad I did.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very average, very conventional comic book. Dull, in fact.

Jurgens' dialogue seems juvenile, with zero subtext and everything stated outright. Basically the characters explain what they are going to do as they do it.... But isn't that what artwork is supposed to accomplish?

The story is over the top. Would have been better if it would have focused on more Earthly matters, like combatting terrorism, or confronting the angry media and public.... Instead we get some half-explained, random, alien-invasion story, and no chance for a team/character story. Booster Gold and Guy Gardner are shells of their former selves.

The New 52 would have been a great opportunity for DC to drop dinosaur writers like Jurgens and restaff their titles with fresh talent. Too bad for the JLI.

A begrudging 3/5.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. It should be interesting, a team of international, lesser-known heroes. Unfortunately, when your powers just suck, you can't be that interesting. I mean really...hair? Another mouthy Green Lantern? And I can buy the political angle, but do I seriously think that the real Justice League wouldn't be available for such a world threat? Not a chance. Villain was sort of interesting, just not enough to bring up the rest of the read. And the art wasn't bad. Other than these two factors, the only thing saving this from a single star rating is that I didn't loathe it like I do most my one-stars. Just disinterested.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the Justice League: International with none of the panache and zeal of the original incarnation.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

7th book read in 2014.

Number 165 out of 351 on my all time book list.

Follow the link below to see my video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzyVT...

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, very good.
I am happy with this JLI.
Funny but not cartoony.
Interesting seeing them as strangers to each other.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 / 5 for 'Justice League International Vol 1 - The Signal Masters' by Dan Jurgens & Aaron Lopresti

This book collects the first six issues of Justice League International, one of DC's New 52 comics. The United Nations decides it would be useful to have a team of superhumans on their side, so they gather together some d-list heroes, who all happen to have crap names.

Oh, and Batman (who doesn't sound like Batman at all) sneaks along too, against the UN's wishes, because...hmmm...no-one would buy the book otherwise? I guess.

What unfolds is a hackneyed rip-off of every other 'Misfit Team Who Don't Get Along At First, But Then Make Friends Just In Time To Save The World' story ever written, with awful national stereotypes, a couple of female 'heroes' who mostly talk about dating Guy Gardner or being horny, a Russian and a Chinaman who dislike each other because Russia and China don't like each other (is this 1986?), and some awful plotting and dialogue from Jurgens. I never knew this guy was as bad as he is...wow.

The art, to be fair, is pretty good, in fact, it's very good - Aaron Lopresti is a talented artist and the comic pages felt full vibrant and alive. The action shots were exciting, and the artist used some dynamic panel viewpoints and compositions to keep things interesting. Some of his distance work, especially faces, feels rushed and almost child-like, but otherwise, I was really impressed.

This TPB is somewhere between 'poor' and 'ok', with an awful story and awful dialogue from Jurgens, but some really impressive art from Lopresti. This is JLI vol 1 (issues 1-6), followed by JLI vol 2 (issues 7-12) after which the series was cancelled, which speaks volumes.

I will be reading vol 2 because Lopresti's art deserves to be enjoyed, but story-wise this is crap.

2 / 5

[Eric Cone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know exactly what I thought I was going to get in this book...I already know that the Justice League of America is a second-class Justice League under the control of the US government. I suspected this would be similar, but under the UN. I didn't know that Booster Gold would be the team leader (not a spoiler, it's pretty much on the first page).
So, this is the start of the New 52 again, but all o these characters are already established, almost like they had just continued on from the pre-New 52...but I also recall that the Justie League and Superman books are flashbacks to five years earlier. I guess I just need an origin story or two. Well, I know who these characters are from previous incarnations (exept for the Chinese hero 'August Emporer in Iron') and they are the same, but someone who actually is new to DC would be very confused I think.
I really did not expect to like this at all - I am not the biggest fan of Booster Gold or Guy Gardner - but it was actually interesting if you look past the enemy of the team to the teams intraaction and varioius characters with various motivations tying to get to know each other.

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL was one of the New 52 books I picked up only out of curiosity, but with no real intention of continuing with it. I had read the title in the 1980s and 90s and, toward the end of my time with it, had grown weary of the title and its comic tone. I know they’re “comic” books, but JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL (which became JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA when the spin-off title JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE premiered) began to feel too comicky for me. Too much focus on humor and not enough on action. I fully expected this version to be more of the same, especially since many of the same characters were appearing.

I was wrong, thankfully.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL and its first story arc “The Signal Masters”, tries to create a super team the public can believe in. Super heroes traditionally hide their true identities to protect themselves and their loved ones. This can also lead to many legal snags and public distrust, but Head of U.N. Intelligence Andre Briggs has a solution. He wants to create an international team, with heroes from all over the world to represent their respective countries, made of members who don’t hide behind secret identities. The hope is that the public will see these are government-sanctioned heroes, whose lives are public, and thus better win favor with the general public.

To this end, he recruits Booster Gold (US), Ice (Norway), Vixen (Zambesi), Fire (Brazil), Rocket Red (Russia), August General in Iron (China), Guy Gardener (US) and Go diva (Britain). And just as the team is being assembled, they’re sent on their first mission to investigate the disappearance of a research team in Peru.

Batman stows away on their plane to keep an eye on them, and when they get there, what they find isn’t a missing team, but a 50 foot giant robot. What’s worse, four more robots appear around the globe. The JLI has no idea what these things are or what they want, but as they’re trying to find out, they’re captured by the powerful alien known as Peraxxus. Peraxxus explains the Signal Men (the giant robots), were left behind millions of years before humans existed by a now-dead race of aliens that were using the robots to signal them when and if life on the planet developed to the stage where they could be a harm to them (the aliens). Peraxxus, however, has taken control of the Signal Men and used their locators to travel from world to world, scavenging planets for natural resources he then sells.

Bad choice coming to earth, though. The JLI may all be new to the concept of this team, they may not know each other’s names or even their powers, but they manage to work together to save the planet from utter destruction just in time.

Meanwhile, a group of militants have bombed the U.N. building where the JLI were supposed to be headquartered, and they have plans to bomb even more buildings until the JLI shuts them down as well. However, all is not bright and sunny where the JLI is concerned. That last panel, talk about your cliffhanger!

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: “The Signal Masters” was a better story than I’d expected it to be, however it was very much not without flaw.

For one, the characters were lacking for me. I’ve never been a huge fan of Booster Gold (first, that name sucks, and second, the gold safety goggles gotta go, dude!), nor have I been particularly fond of Rocket Red or Guy Gardener, and while Fire and Ice eventually started to come into their own back in the day, these new versions lack the personality of those previous incarnations. Vixen is a character I’m familiar with in name only, and, honestly, she might as well have not been here as useful as she was. Then there’s August General in Iron. Can we please get a dumber name for a super hero? August General in Iron? I kept hoping they would mention how that’s the English translation for something in Chinese which actually means something like “Badass Ass Kicker” or something. But if that’s the case, it was never specified. While this roster fulfills the mission of the group, I’m just not interested in them.

Also, this group is put together because, while the Justice League is out there fighting for Earth, they’re all independent heroes and can’t be “governed”. This means the Justice League still exists when this book takes place. And Batman, a member of the Justice League, tags along on their first mission. Now, given that Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman are alive and accounted for, when the story reaches a point where there are 5 giant robots and the planet is literally being torn to pieces, none of these heroes make an appearance. I don’t care what previous engagements there are, you’d think for something like this, Superman would at least pop in for a second. I think with a threat of this magnitude, the heavy hitters can’t just be ignored, not if you want the story to have any kind of authenticity. The regular Justice League is a part of this world, in reality, they wouldn’t just sit back and let the newbies handle it.

Dan Jurgen wrote the story, and I’ve always respected his work, he’s been one of my favorite Superman writers, and I think he did an excellent job on the script. It was more a plot issue for me, this one.

Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan tackel art duties and they’re definitely up to the challenge without being overly flashy. This book certainly wouldn’t be confused with a Todd McFarlane or Rob Liefeld book, but the art is solid and easy on the eyes.

While I found a number of plot holes and while the characters didn’t grab me, I stuck with the book through the first arc, and would have kept up with it, but the book was cancelled with issue 12. I’m going to guess I wasn’t the only one who found it lacking. Still, it was far from the worst offering in the New 52 line-up and “The Signal Masters” is certainly worth a look.

[Sean Sexton · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea behind the Justice League International is a bit fragile. The United Nations is tired of the "real" Justice League making decisions about where, when and how they'll take out the bad guys. So the UN recruits a sort of second string lineup of superheroes that agree to let the UN be in charge of them. It's not clear why we'd care enough about these lesser superheroes that we'd want to read this collection. These characters are not only mediocre as superheroes, they're also just sort of "meh" when it comes to reading about them. For real group-of-heroes stuff, go read the actual Justice League series.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty normal superhero stuff, including a mini-Galactus. I think they threw Batman in there just to get people interested. There were a bunch of other heroes I didn't recognize and none of them were really memorable. Guy Gardner (a green lantern) was especially irritating and Booster Gold, who is usually super irritating actually didn't suck as much as he has in the past. I don't think this series lasted very long.

The whole tRumper domestic terrorist thing was kind of disturbing, but at least they got their asses kicked, a couple times.

[Eugenio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Más bien 3,5. Soy consciente de que esta colección fue cancelada después del segundo volumen y sinceramente es algo que puedes ver venir en este primer arco.

Los personajes no tienen ningún tipo de carisma, solamente se salva Booster Gold y un poco Guy Gardner. El resto de personajes aportan más bien poco en toda la historia y algunos de ellos son excesivamente estereotipos andantes. Batman solo sale para poder vender más comics