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Justice League by Scott Snyder: The Deluxe Edition
Justice League (2018-) by Scott Snyder: Deluxe Edition Book One
The Justice League is reunited in these stories from issues #1-13, Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth #1 and Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth #1. First, the League is forced to make an impossible decision...and now it's time to face the consequences! And then, Hawkgirl takes wing against Lex Luthor; John Stewart faces off with Sinestro; the Flash must run down Gorilla Grodd; and Wonder Woman tackles Black Manta and the Cheetah-Underwater!
370 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 10, 2019
About the author
Scott Snyder
1,759 books5,329 followersScott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 8, 2020
A somewhat dull, bit too wordy, end-of-the-multiverse (again) story.
I'm sure some readers will care, but I simply cannot manage to muster up a lot of energy over this one, even if it is Snyder writing it.
Maybe if I had been able to read it in smaller chunks?
But I think all that would have accomplished, realistically, is that I probably never would have picked up the 2nd volume.
You usually know if you're going to love a comic by the end of the 1st issue, or at the very least, you know if you're going to enjoy the experience.
And I knew.
I wasn't sucked in.
I remember checking to see how much longer this thing was and felt that disappointed pang in my gut when I realized that I had another 200 or so pages to go.
I didn't hate-hate it, but I wasn't loving it, either. It was just another generic story about the Justice League fighting another generic World Ending entity.
Crisis on Infinite...whatthefuckevers.
There' the Drowned Earth crossover in here that I'd already read about (and kind of forgotten), so I did the skim/read of it in the hopes that it would help make more sense of the larger story. It really did help and now I have a better grasp on what happened in that event. Not that it was a particularly good event, but at least now I know why Aquaman had amnesia later on down the line.
The last bit of the story picked up and I was more engaged than I thought I would be by the power play between Lex Luthor and the Joker.
The villains were the stars of the show here.
The first part of this story right up to Drowned Earth was an absolute slog, Drowned Earth itself was a re-read (albeit a somewhat worthwhile one), and the last part was a pretty good time.
All in all, I think this was just too big and unwieldy to be truly great. Plus, the end of the multiverse stories are getting to be too commonplace to be really fun events anymore.
The Totality, the Source Wall, the Doomsday Clock, or Metal Crisis on Infinite Multiverses - it's all the same shit, different day. I really would like to see the Justice League team up and go after the Legion of Doom for real. Like, they're going to take a city hostage or blow up a train. No need to end all life in the universe to get my attention. <--does that sound stupid?
I don't know.
I hope the next book is a bit tighter and focuses on more of the Legion of Doom stuff.
I'm sure some readers will care, but I simply cannot manage to muster up a lot of energy over this one, even if it is Snyder writing it.
Maybe if I had been able to read it in smaller chunks?
But I think all that would have accomplished, realistically, is that I probably never would have picked up the 2nd volume.
You usually know if you're going to love a comic by the end of the 1st issue, or at the very least, you know if you're going to enjoy the experience.
And I knew.
I wasn't sucked in.
I remember checking to see how much longer this thing was and felt that disappointed pang in my gut when I realized that I had another 200 or so pages to go.
I didn't hate-hate it, but I wasn't loving it, either. It was just another generic story about the Justice League fighting another generic World Ending entity.
Crisis on Infinite...whatthefuckevers.
There' the Drowned Earth crossover in here that I'd already read about (and kind of forgotten), so I did the skim/read of it in the hopes that it would help make more sense of the larger story. It really did help and now I have a better grasp on what happened in that event. Not that it was a particularly good event, but at least now I know why Aquaman had amnesia later on down the line.
The last bit of the story picked up and I was more engaged than I thought I would be by the power play between Lex Luthor and the Joker.
The villains were the stars of the show here.
The first part of this story right up to Drowned Earth was an absolute slog, Drowned Earth itself was a re-read (albeit a somewhat worthwhile one), and the last part was a pretty good time.
All in all, I think this was just too big and unwieldy to be truly great. Plus, the end of the multiverse stories are getting to be too commonplace to be really fun events anymore.
The Totality, the Source Wall, the Doomsday Clock, or Metal Crisis on Infinite Multiverses - it's all the same shit, different day. I really would like to see the Justice League team up and go after the Legion of Doom for real. Like, they're going to take a city hostage or blow up a train. No need to end all life in the universe to get my attention. <--does that sound stupid?
I don't know.
I hope the next book is a bit tighter and focuses on more of the Legion of Doom stuff.
June 13, 2021
Fresh of the Death Metal crossover, Scott Snyder - along with frequent collaborator James Tnyion - helms an ambitious new Justice League run taking the universal threats as far as it can go. Lex Luthor and the familiar Legion of Doom are even heightened to cosmic villain status.
Snyder does tend to be hard to follow, and Tnyion may not be at his same level of scifi weirdness but at least reads smoother, and hopefully all this is worth the challenge. Right off the bat, the entire moon explodes and that's just a minor off the cuff moment.
There's shrinking Batman, the invisible Ultraviolet Lantern Corps, and a space gods transforming our heroes into half-fish creatures. If this isn't fun, what is!
The deluxe edition covers both the Totality and the Drowned Earth, the latter of which puts Aquaman in the center of saving the planet.
The art is inconsistent; Jim Cheung only draws like two issues. Regardless, whichever artist happens to draw a chapter the quality is still very high. Frankly, all the visuals are beautiful.
As always, knowledge of endless DC continuity is kinda required to even half understand what's going on. That just goes with the genre territory, this is either your thing or it isn't, it's the Justice League after all and the reboot era is over at least for now...
So, if it is your thing, this is pretty much as good as modern superheroes gets.
Snyder does tend to be hard to follow, and Tnyion may not be at his same level of scifi weirdness but at least reads smoother, and hopefully all this is worth the challenge. Right off the bat, the entire moon explodes and that's just a minor off the cuff moment.
There's shrinking Batman, the invisible Ultraviolet Lantern Corps, and a space gods transforming our heroes into half-fish creatures. If this isn't fun, what is!
The deluxe edition covers both the Totality and the Drowned Earth, the latter of which puts Aquaman in the center of saving the planet.
The art is inconsistent; Jim Cheung only draws like two issues. Regardless, whichever artist happens to draw a chapter the quality is still very high. Frankly, all the visuals are beautiful.
As always, knowledge of endless DC continuity is kinda required to even half understand what's going on. That just goes with the genre territory, this is either your thing or it isn't, it's the Justice League after all and the reboot era is over at least for now...
So, if it is your thing, this is pretty much as good as modern superheroes gets.
December 22, 2020
The coolest thing about this opening to Scott Snyder's run on Justice League is that the team resembles what many think of as being the classic roster. Snyder brings back the team from the 2000's Justice League cartoon, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and fills it out with my boy Cyborg. This is one of the best rosters and it's refreshing to see.
This story spills out of Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League: No Justice, which changed the DC universe and the Justice League in a big way. The Source Wall has been cracked, opening the universe to what lies beyond it. A piece of the Wall has broken off and lands on Earth. It's called the Totality and appears to have power over creation. And much of this story deals with Justice League trying to obtain it and understand it, but also to get it before Lex Luthor's newly formed Legion of Doom get there hands on it.
Snyder's writing seemed to have changed a bit going into this. I don't remember him being so wordy and overly complicated. While not as ridiculous as No Justice, his work here reads like a crazy combination of Grant Morrison and Chris Claremont, so if that sounds awesome to you, then you should jump right into this. While this tone and his constant show of love for this world really makes it feel like classic, wacky-fun comic book adventure, it can still get a bit tedious and confusing at times. And everyone interested in this should understand that this is ABSOLUTELY NOT a book you can just jump into successfully without a lot of previous reading and a large amount of DC knowledge.
One thing that I really don't like is how Snyder brings Lex Luthor back to being a villain without really fleshing out a believable transition from the earnestly heroic Luthor from the Superman/Action Comics Rebirth run. So while I do still enjoy the character now, and I love how dangerous Lex Luthor can be now that he believes in something bigger than himself, this seems like a missed opportunity for truly interesting character development. But if you've ever wanted to see Batman fly a miniature ship through Superman's bloodstream to fight an alien virus then this is a must-read!
Keep in mind, this ends with the lackluster Aquaman-centric cosmic fish-zombie crossover "Drowned Earth," but it doesn't include the Aquaman issues. You can read the crossover in its entirety here.
This story spills out of Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League: No Justice, which changed the DC universe and the Justice League in a big way. The Source Wall has been cracked, opening the universe to what lies beyond it. A piece of the Wall has broken off and lands on Earth. It's called the Totality and appears to have power over creation. And much of this story deals with Justice League trying to obtain it and understand it, but also to get it before Lex Luthor's newly formed Legion of Doom get there hands on it.
Snyder's writing seemed to have changed a bit going into this. I don't remember him being so wordy and overly complicated. While not as ridiculous as No Justice, his work here reads like a crazy combination of Grant Morrison and Chris Claremont, so if that sounds awesome to you, then you should jump right into this. While this tone and his constant show of love for this world really makes it feel like classic, wacky-fun comic book adventure, it can still get a bit tedious and confusing at times. And everyone interested in this should understand that this is ABSOLUTELY NOT a book you can just jump into successfully without a lot of previous reading and a large amount of DC knowledge.
One thing that I really don't like is how Snyder brings Lex Luthor back to being a villain without really fleshing out a believable transition from the earnestly heroic Luthor from the Superman/Action Comics Rebirth run. So while I do still enjoy the character now, and I love how dangerous Lex Luthor can be now that he believes in something bigger than himself, this seems like a missed opportunity for truly interesting character development. But if you've ever wanted to see Batman fly a miniature ship through Superman's bloodstream to fight an alien virus then this is a must-read!
Keep in mind, this ends with the lackluster Aquaman-centric cosmic fish-zombie crossover "Drowned Earth," but it doesn't include the Aquaman issues. You can read the crossover in its entirety here.
December 7, 2020
The JL gets a makeover by Scott Snyder. It is rather a hit or miss proposition. There are essentially two stories in this massive tome. The first story is not bad and carries the whole volume. This is the story about Luthor creating the Legion of Doom and trying to find the power behind the Source Wall. This story was good and worthy of three stars. The artwork is ok but not terrible.
Then there is the second story- The Drowned Earth and IMHO it is poop. Yeah apparently Posideon was a naughty god and pissed off some alien sea gods who now want revenge. So they drown the Earth (the fact that such huge catastrophes have such little real world fallout makes the story rather meaningless) and the JL must go fight various sea creatures and sea gods..it's rather bad. The art, while never descending into the realm of awfulness, seems to flirt heavily with mediocrity..but that is in keeping with the story.
My version had some really cool alternate covers (was there no way to get these artists to do the comic art? These guys are GOOD)..so the first story? Good..the Legion of Doom arc, even with the dumb Dark Metal crap, is at least entertaining. The Drowned Earth? Meh.
Then there is the second story- The Drowned Earth and IMHO it is poop. Yeah apparently Posideon was a naughty god and pissed off some alien sea gods who now want revenge. So they drown the Earth (the fact that such huge catastrophes have such little real world fallout makes the story rather meaningless) and the JL must go fight various sea creatures and sea gods..it's rather bad. The art, while never descending into the realm of awfulness, seems to flirt heavily with mediocrity..but that is in keeping with the story.
My version had some really cool alternate covers (was there no way to get these artists to do the comic art? These guys are GOOD)..so the first story? Good..the Legion of Doom arc, even with the dumb Dark Metal crap, is at least entertaining. The Drowned Earth? Meh.
January 4, 2020
A fun read, though I remember liking it more when I read it as single issues. Interested to see where Snyder takes the series (I know he's almost done with it and will likely write Dark Knights Metal/Crisis 2020 soon), because I do enjoy his take on the Justice League.
April 20, 2023
At a time when Scott Snyder was like the hot writer to be working at DC, largely from collaborating with artist Greg Capullo on their seminal Batman run, he was given the keys to the publisher’s flagship superhero team with a run that ran for thirty-nine issues. As DC has republished the series as three hardcover volumes, what was it like revisiting Justice League by Scott Snyder?
The first story arc is about a cosmic entity called the Totality, which crash-lands in the Nevada desert, nine heroes of the Justice League go out to investigate, discovering that everyone and everything that comes into contact with it comes out changed. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor assembles the Justice League’s arch-nemeses into the Legion of Doom, set out to take possession of the Totality, and use it for their sinister plans, beginning with a brand-new Lantern Corps.
In terms of comics influence, Snyder looks back at the work of Grant Morrison, who wrote JLA during the late 1990s, which were superhero adventures that explored huge cosmic ideas. No doubt there is a lot going on throughout as Snyder can be very wordy, not least in the over-usage of captions, but he never gets bogged down by those ideas as he clearly cares for the characters, both good and evil.
Nine heroes (and many other supporting players) to headline the comic might be too much, but Snyder knows how to use these characters in how they are split up or paired off to achieve their missions, while setting up interesting character dynamics — the most heartfelt of which is Martian Manhunter and the Green Lantern John Stewart. As for Batman himself, he is somewhat sidelined, which is probably due to Snyder doesn’t want to do another Batman-centric story and wants to focus on other characters, but there is a cool armoured look that Batman during his handicapped period.
As for the villains, they are not friendly, but they are a delight to read, no matter how nasty things can get. As with the heroes, Snyder also knows how to use all seven members (if you include the baby version of the Flash villain Turtle) of the Legion, whether it is the gleeful horror of the Joker or the monstrous telepathy of Gorilla Grodd. As the founder of the Legion, Lex Luthor is arguably the most compelling player of this volume as there is a playfulness in his evil puppetry. In fact, the “Legion of Doom” issues that are written by James Tynion IV are the standout issues, showing the different dynamic between one another, usually through a dominance of power. Issue #5, in particular, is a great character study of Lex Luthor, who forms the Legion after a trip to the future, discovering a world ruled by supervillains inspired by Lex’s tragic downfall.
After a great first arc, as well as the “Doom” issues, the book stumbles with the crossover event “Drowned Earth”, which falls into the typically problematic territory that most comic book events fall into, which is to juggle many moving gears to the point that readers can go cross-eyed trying to figure out what is entirely happening. You just wish that this book would take a breather and focus more on the character interactions that had potential, such as Aquaman and Wonder Woman, whilst the only sense of spark you get in terms of characterization is from the brief appearances of the Legion of Doom, who have more personality than the outlandish Ocean Lords.
Collecting fifteen issues in total, this volume features the work of ten artists, and it is absolutely a case of some artists are better than others. “The Totality” starts off well with the jumping between Jim Cheung and Jorge Jimenez, both of their work is slick and epic. But once you get to “Drowned Earth”, which can go from the vibrancy of Francis Manapul to the abstract nature of Frazer Irving, an interesting if not entirely successful fit for this superhero ensemble.
No doubt that Scott Snyder is upping the scale with what you can do with a Justice League story and the results can be mixed, but enough interest to see what he does next.
The first story arc is about a cosmic entity called the Totality, which crash-lands in the Nevada desert, nine heroes of the Justice League go out to investigate, discovering that everyone and everything that comes into contact with it comes out changed. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor assembles the Justice League’s arch-nemeses into the Legion of Doom, set out to take possession of the Totality, and use it for their sinister plans, beginning with a brand-new Lantern Corps.
In terms of comics influence, Snyder looks back at the work of Grant Morrison, who wrote JLA during the late 1990s, which were superhero adventures that explored huge cosmic ideas. No doubt there is a lot going on throughout as Snyder can be very wordy, not least in the over-usage of captions, but he never gets bogged down by those ideas as he clearly cares for the characters, both good and evil.
Nine heroes (and many other supporting players) to headline the comic might be too much, but Snyder knows how to use these characters in how they are split up or paired off to achieve their missions, while setting up interesting character dynamics — the most heartfelt of which is Martian Manhunter and the Green Lantern John Stewart. As for Batman himself, he is somewhat sidelined, which is probably due to Snyder doesn’t want to do another Batman-centric story and wants to focus on other characters, but there is a cool armoured look that Batman during his handicapped period.
As for the villains, they are not friendly, but they are a delight to read, no matter how nasty things can get. As with the heroes, Snyder also knows how to use all seven members (if you include the baby version of the Flash villain Turtle) of the Legion, whether it is the gleeful horror of the Joker or the monstrous telepathy of Gorilla Grodd. As the founder of the Legion, Lex Luthor is arguably the most compelling player of this volume as there is a playfulness in his evil puppetry. In fact, the “Legion of Doom” issues that are written by James Tynion IV are the standout issues, showing the different dynamic between one another, usually through a dominance of power. Issue #5, in particular, is a great character study of Lex Luthor, who forms the Legion after a trip to the future, discovering a world ruled by supervillains inspired by Lex’s tragic downfall.
After a great first arc, as well as the “Doom” issues, the book stumbles with the crossover event “Drowned Earth”, which falls into the typically problematic territory that most comic book events fall into, which is to juggle many moving gears to the point that readers can go cross-eyed trying to figure out what is entirely happening. You just wish that this book would take a breather and focus more on the character interactions that had potential, such as Aquaman and Wonder Woman, whilst the only sense of spark you get in terms of characterization is from the brief appearances of the Legion of Doom, who have more personality than the outlandish Ocean Lords.
Collecting fifteen issues in total, this volume features the work of ten artists, and it is absolutely a case of some artists are better than others. “The Totality” starts off well with the jumping between Jim Cheung and Jorge Jimenez, both of their work is slick and epic. But once you get to “Drowned Earth”, which can go from the vibrancy of Francis Manapul to the abstract nature of Frazer Irving, an interesting if not entirely successful fit for this superhero ensemble.
No doubt that Scott Snyder is upping the scale with what you can do with a Justice League story and the results can be mixed, but enough interest to see what he does next.
January 25, 2026
This is all the bad aspects of Scott Snyder’s writing. Too much Joker especially in a plot that actually suffers including him when we already have “The Batman Who Laughs” during this time in DC comics. And too much pointless dialogue and over explaining. Of course it is another potential end of the universe story and as usual this one wasn’t particularly good. I like them sometimes but not this time.
The Justice League just seems to be hard to write most of the time.
The Justice League just seems to be hard to write most of the time.
April 19, 2021
I have Scott Snyder's entire Justice League run on hand, so I'm going to do this - I'm going to subject myself to what I know is a bad series because, damn it, I'm curious to know what happens. The Source Wall, the Totality, the seven whatevers, Perpetua, the Legion of Doom. This series is, collectively, one enormous, weird event and I'm a huge sucker for such things.
I say that I know this is a bad series because I already read the first three books piecemeal and was disappointed in each of them. The first book (Justice League Vol 1: The Totality) even received a rare one-star rating! But I sensed all along that maybe, just maybe, if I read them all together, back to back, they would finally make sense.
This Deluxe Edition somewhat proves that theory. Packaging the first two volumes, it offers a sense of continuity between the hunt for the Totality and the reckoning with the Drowned Gods. That said, where I previously hated the Totality stuff, I found myself moderately invested. Where I previously liked the Drowned Gods stuff, I found myself bored. An unexpected reversal! At the very least, though, reading this big, handsome book has made me a little bit excited to be going down the rabbit hole.
I say that I know this is a bad series because I already read the first three books piecemeal and was disappointed in each of them. The first book (Justice League Vol 1: The Totality) even received a rare one-star rating! But I sensed all along that maybe, just maybe, if I read them all together, back to back, they would finally make sense.
This Deluxe Edition somewhat proves that theory. Packaging the first two volumes, it offers a sense of continuity between the hunt for the Totality and the reckoning with the Drowned Gods. That said, where I previously hated the Totality stuff, I found myself moderately invested. Where I previously liked the Drowned Gods stuff, I found myself bored. An unexpected reversal! At the very least, though, reading this big, handsome book has made me a little bit excited to be going down the rabbit hole.
July 14, 2021
Justice League by Scott Snyder Book One collects issues Justice League 1-13, Justice League/Aquaman Drowned Earth Special 1, and Aquaman/Justice League Drowned Earth Special 1. The series is written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by Jorge Jimenez, Francis Manapul, Jim Chueng, and many others.
The Justice League is in a race against a new League of Doom to capture the Totality, an energy that has the power to alter the universe as we know it. The second arc collects the Drowned Earth event - Earth is invaded by alien planets' ocean gods to get revenge on what Posiedon did to them in the past.
I wasn't crazy about either of these arcs even though I thought Drowned Earth started strong. The Totality was space mumbo jumbo featuring multiverse creating power/energy that seems to change after every major DC event. I haven't really cared about any of Snyder's Source Wall writing. Drowned Earth faced the same issue of being slogged down with exposition. I am just not a fan of Snyder's "epic" stories. I don't think it suits him. I thought Tynion's Legion of Doom arc was the best part of the series. There was also way too many different artists in this collection. I don't know why its so hard to have a consistent artist on a book, especially one of your flagship books.
The Justice League is in a race against a new League of Doom to capture the Totality, an energy that has the power to alter the universe as we know it. The second arc collects the Drowned Earth event - Earth is invaded by alien planets' ocean gods to get revenge on what Posiedon did to them in the past.
I wasn't crazy about either of these arcs even though I thought Drowned Earth started strong. The Totality was space mumbo jumbo featuring multiverse creating power/energy that seems to change after every major DC event. I haven't really cared about any of Snyder's Source Wall writing. Drowned Earth faced the same issue of being slogged down with exposition. I am just not a fan of Snyder's "epic" stories. I don't think it suits him. I thought Tynion's Legion of Doom arc was the best part of the series. There was also way too many different artists in this collection. I don't know why its so hard to have a consistent artist on a book, especially one of your flagship books.
August 27, 2025
My expectations have been building up, going through Scott Snyder's Batman run and the Metal arc, I dove into the Justice League with anticipation for it to be a masterpiece, and to be honest the story is super, and the amalgamation of previous arcs and adventures into a single coherent narrative was superb, yet my personal hunger for a JL adventure led by, and having at it's heart Batman and Superman was not sated.
The story gives the lime light more to the Legion of Doom, aminly Lex Luthor, more than the JL. Batman is crippled with broken arms and legs, thus his role is merely a strategic coordinator, more of a dispatch than an actual active leaguer, and Superman is not one of the primary characters, often sidelined by the martian manhunter. The focus goes to the Lanterns, and the world of Atlantis.
The Book's conclusion gives me hope, with the introduction of Brainiac to the game, that the next one will feature more of Superman.
MiM
The story gives the lime light more to the Legion of Doom, aminly Lex Luthor, more than the JL. Batman is crippled with broken arms and legs, thus his role is merely a strategic coordinator, more of a dispatch than an actual active leaguer, and Superman is not one of the primary characters, often sidelined by the martian manhunter. The focus goes to the Lanterns, and the world of Atlantis.
The Book's conclusion gives me hope, with the introduction of Brainiac to the game, that the next one will feature more of Superman.
MiM
January 14, 2020
It’s okay.
November 28, 2020
Scott Snyder is one of my favourite writers in comics today. He always has these big, crazy, sprawling ideas that aren't afraid to remind us that they're 'comic' stories!
January 14, 2021
1.5* This book was such an unwanted chore to read. The artwork within is great, but everything else was blah
January 20, 2024
This is all Grant Morrison's fault. Or, rather, writers wanting to morrison it.
It's like a recipe, "a cosmic shattering event with a lot of weird new lore where half of it is just really confusing sentences". And I'm not blaming Snyder, I like his Batman. I'm sure this is a DC thing. But I'm just a guy wanting to read a story.
So why four stars? Because I REALLY liked how Snyder wrote the characters and their relationships. Like, a lot. He does that really well. And it has awesome details like Jarro, that calls Batman "dad". I mean, give a whole storyline about that!
And also, the first arc is good. Convoluted and morrisoney, but not more than Metal, and it has Jorge Jiménez. That alone is an extra star. But then there is the whole Drowned Earth stuff. WHAT. WAS. THAT.
Don't get me wrong, I love Aquaman and I just read Abnett's run right before this and loved it, which probably made this crap feel worse. So long, so many Ted talks, so much stuff that doesn't go anywhere, sooooo long. And no Jorge Jiménez.
So here I am hoping that's the worst of this and things get back on track in the next volumes, because I already bought them...
It's like a recipe, "a cosmic shattering event with a lot of weird new lore where half of it is just really confusing sentences". And I'm not blaming Snyder, I like his Batman. I'm sure this is a DC thing. But I'm just a guy wanting to read a story.
So why four stars? Because I REALLY liked how Snyder wrote the characters and their relationships. Like, a lot. He does that really well. And it has awesome details like Jarro, that calls Batman "dad". I mean, give a whole storyline about that!
And also, the first arc is good. Convoluted and morrisoney, but not more than Metal, and it has Jorge Jiménez. That alone is an extra star. But then there is the whole Drowned Earth stuff. WHAT. WAS. THAT.
Don't get me wrong, I love Aquaman and I just read Abnett's run right before this and loved it, which probably made this crap feel worse. So long, so many Ted talks, so much stuff that doesn't go anywhere, sooooo long. And no Jorge Jiménez.
So here I am hoping that's the worst of this and things get back on track in the next volumes, because I already bought them...
September 23, 2023
3/4 of this book is outstanding. The story is compelling, and Jimenez's art is truly special. Then after it has a horrible dip. The story changes to Atlantis, with an on and off new team, and it's just not good. Disappointing, because before that turn I was debating between 4 and 5 stars.
January 8, 2021
Wow! What an epic story! And I really do love the over-sized format. Top-notch story-telling and art.
August 15, 2022
4.5 ⭐️
Scott Snyder never fails to blow my mind!
Scott Snyder never fails to blow my mind!
January 6, 2026
I picked this volume up based on the
JUSTICE LEAGUE
and Snyder generally being good.
I read 2 chapters in and just
Could not be assed
To find out what
In the muddled fuck
Was going on.
Maybe there is a great story
But it will take a better person than
I to find it.
JUSTICE LEAGUE
and Snyder generally being good.
I read 2 chapters in and just
Could not be assed
To find out what
In the muddled fuck
Was going on.
Maybe there is a great story
But it will take a better person than
I to find it.
May 29, 2022
This is essentially the first two volumes of Scott Snyder's 'Justice League' packaged together. Keeping that in mind, it's going to get a combined grade.
Vol 1. "The Totality" Strong start to a Justice League run and has potential after the "Metal" mega event. Great ideas layed out. Legion of Doom revitalized! ....4 stars.
Vol 2. "Drowned Earth" is just a hot mess. They knew that they had to give Aquaman and Wonder Woman something to do and this story can't live up to the highs of the previous arc. The art is passed around to several artists. The story wanders all over the place....2 stars.
Combining them saves the overall story, but that's a LOT to get through. This is a version for a collector who REALLY loves Snyder and his run.
Bonus: How does Superman need an eyepatch (one with his "S" logo, even) for most of the "Drowned Earth" run? He was depowered, not blinded.
Bonus Bonus: Batman is ambushed at the Hall of Justice by the LoD and left for dead. Giant suit. Arms and legs surgically repaired. Bam! Teleports an issue or two later to Diana's side in a different/smaller suit and he's AOK.
Bonus^3: Joker was right. Killing Lex would be too easy. He ruined all the fun.
Vol 1. "The Totality" Strong start to a Justice League run and has potential after the "Metal" mega event. Great ideas layed out. Legion of Doom revitalized! ....4 stars.
Vol 2. "Drowned Earth" is just a hot mess. They knew that they had to give Aquaman and Wonder Woman something to do and this story can't live up to the highs of the previous arc. The art is passed around to several artists. The story wanders all over the place....2 stars.
Combining them saves the overall story, but that's a LOT to get through. This is a version for a collector who REALLY loves Snyder and his run.
Bonus: How does Superman need an eyepatch (one with his "S" logo, even) for most of the "Drowned Earth" run? He was depowered, not blinded.
Bonus Bonus: Batman is ambushed at the Hall of Justice by the LoD and left for dead. Giant suit. Arms and legs surgically repaired. Bam! Teleports an issue or two later to Diana's side in a different/smaller suit and he's AOK.
Bonus^3: Joker was right. Killing Lex would be too easy. He ruined all the fun.
May 19, 2020
I greatly enjoyed the high stakes narrative and gorgeous art of Scot Snyder’s first Deluxe Justice League Volume. He really takes advantage of the 8 hero roster made up of some of DC’s most well known heroes. Snyder throws them into some epic battles that require the team to divide up and work in smaller units. The re-establishment of the Hall of Justice is a welcome addition to the Justice League world and a place I’d like to spend more time in.
Some of the dialogue gets overly wordy however and I think the primary storyline could have been streamlined a bit. The Injustice League is a pretty interesting concept especially with villains like Grodd, Black Manta and Cheetah but I think the Joker is misused and remains a stagnant and repetitive character. Batman, Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash really get some great moments to shine. Hopefully the second volume is released for this relatively short run of big superhero heroics.
Some of the dialogue gets overly wordy however and I think the primary storyline could have been streamlined a bit. The Injustice League is a pretty interesting concept especially with villains like Grodd, Black Manta and Cheetah but I think the Joker is misused and remains a stagnant and repetitive character. Batman, Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash really get some great moments to shine. Hopefully the second volume is released for this relatively short run of big superhero heroics.
February 19, 2023
This is a strange book for Scott Snyder who is normally a more in-depth writer, one who focuses on the psychology of the story and the mythology behind the characters. This justice league book is just a plot filled mess with little explanation of what and why it’s happening. The villains are used as chess pieces without any real motives for the villain art and even more, why they are teaming up. It seemed out of character for villains like joker to be paired up with other villains, working with a plan which again, made little to no sense.
I know justice league is a hard book to write which has been proven over the past decade with exception to Geoff johns run which still had a bad landing toward the second half. If you’re hoping for a good justice league story here, look further. Maybe settle for Zack Snyders man of steel, BVS and Justice league movie trilogy which I think is the best JL story told in many many years
I know justice league is a hard book to write which has been proven over the past decade with exception to Geoff johns run which still had a bad landing toward the second half. If you’re hoping for a good justice league story here, look further. Maybe settle for Zack Snyders man of steel, BVS and Justice league movie trilogy which I think is the best JL story told in many many years
February 4, 2022
Having read Dark Nights: Metal recently, and having finding it overstuffed, overlong, and kind of messy, I was expecting Scott Snyder's JL to be a dull mess or sorts. To further my expectation of dissapointment was the fact that I am kind of tired of Multiversial crisis in DC stories - they have been too frequent, wich rendered them kind of clichéd and less exciting.
Suprisingly, I loved Snyder's JL. It was a rollicking of a good time.
First of all, I love the roster of characters in this particular League. The best and brightest are here, but some less know characters as well, such as Hawkgirl, John Steward, and Martian Manhunter. Also really enjoyed how different heroes were shown helping through the crisis.
There are really essentially two arcs collected here - "The Totality" and the crossover "Drowned World", and while I enjoyed both, the first one is far superior.
"The Totality" aimed for extremely high stakes, and it felt as such. The legion of Doom was a properly justified huge threat in this, and its multiversial crisis very well handled. If often seems like everything is lost, and despite we readers know everything is going to work out in the end, the suspense and excitement is well built and reaches gasping heights. Also enjoyed how "long-form" the storytelling is in this. Events are mysteries are gradually revealed in a smart and engrossing way.
It's also bonkers in the most imaginitive way. We have a talking apes with a baby strapped to his chest that can acess the "slow" force, the anthisis of the speed force; a new emotional spectrum corps to add to the GL mythos, Jarro, which is a piece of Starro in a jar, amongst many other crazy stuff. But somehow it works. it does however require some knowledge of the DC universe in general, otherwise you'll be left scratching your head alot of the time.
The artwork for this arc, mostly by Jorge Jiminez is outstanding. It really brings this story alive, and adds immensely to its enjoyment. (4.5/5)
"Drowned World" fares siognificantly less better. Its still high stakes and enjoyable, but a bit dull, with excessivly "busy" artwork by Francis Manapul and Howard Porter. It's not awfull, but slightly dull. (3.5/5)
It's not wihtout its shortcomings, though. At times, the story is excessevly and unnecessarily wordy; and at times feels slightly overcrowded with events and additions to DC canon - do we really need a new emotional spectrum; or another "realm" for gods to hang around in?
But overall, it was a very fun read.
I am very excited to follow through to Volume two, as alot of threads are left dangling, and are to be resolved further along Snyder's run. But i can only recommend this to readers who have a good grasp of the DC universe, and don't mind over-the-top "cosmic" concepts.
Suprisingly, I loved Snyder's JL. It was a rollicking of a good time.
First of all, I love the roster of characters in this particular League. The best and brightest are here, but some less know characters as well, such as Hawkgirl, John Steward, and Martian Manhunter. Also really enjoyed how different heroes were shown helping through the crisis.
There are really essentially two arcs collected here - "The Totality" and the crossover "Drowned World", and while I enjoyed both, the first one is far superior.
"The Totality" aimed for extremely high stakes, and it felt as such. The legion of Doom was a properly justified huge threat in this, and its multiversial crisis very well handled. If often seems like everything is lost, and despite we readers know everything is going to work out in the end, the suspense and excitement is well built and reaches gasping heights. Also enjoyed how "long-form" the storytelling is in this. Events are mysteries are gradually revealed in a smart and engrossing way.
It's also bonkers in the most imaginitive way. We have a talking apes with a baby strapped to his chest that can acess the "slow" force, the anthisis of the speed force; a new emotional spectrum corps to add to the GL mythos, Jarro, which is a piece of Starro in a jar, amongst many other crazy stuff. But somehow it works. it does however require some knowledge of the DC universe in general, otherwise you'll be left scratching your head alot of the time.
The artwork for this arc, mostly by Jorge Jiminez is outstanding. It really brings this story alive, and adds immensely to its enjoyment. (4.5/5)
"Drowned World" fares siognificantly less better. Its still high stakes and enjoyable, but a bit dull, with excessivly "busy" artwork by Francis Manapul and Howard Porter. It's not awfull, but slightly dull. (3.5/5)
It's not wihtout its shortcomings, though. At times, the story is excessevly and unnecessarily wordy; and at times feels slightly overcrowded with events and additions to DC canon - do we really need a new emotional spectrum; or another "realm" for gods to hang around in?
But overall, it was a very fun read.
I am very excited to follow through to Volume two, as alot of threads are left dangling, and are to be resolved further along Snyder's run. But i can only recommend this to readers who have a good grasp of the DC universe, and don't mind over-the-top "cosmic" concepts.
October 18, 2021
So many cosmic and multiverse gibberish. Source Wall, Totality, Still Force, Ultraviolets Lantern, etc. I read Dark Nights Metal without understanding much, and here it continues. But for whatever reason, here it kinds of flow better, I was not strongly thrown off and could read at a good pace while somewhat enjoying it (which is not a given because this is very wordy), but not super loving it. I guess that is the trick only a great writter can pull off and we have to give that to Snyder. It still does not change my mind that simpler would have been much better though. How many end of the Multiverse threats can there be, this is getting insane... The heroes, moreover in team, got so powerful that an earthly / city level threat would not be believable (though I do not carr that much) and that is why it escalated that much, but it is just not special of fun anymore. Just give me a fun multiverse tournament like Dragon Ball Super, without all the "science" stuff. I would buy that every month.
And Luthor is a bad guy again? I missed that in Superman (did not read Bendis' run), but why not.
One of the highlight is the presence of the Batman Who laughs. He makes a great villain.
I also liked the Drawned Earth story, which is less cosmic and multiversy, but it still gets rather insane and over the top. I guess writters cannot helpt it...
It is regrettable that the book does not include the 2 Aquaman (and the 1 Titan) tie-in issues of the Drawned Earth crossover. Buying the collected edition of the cross-over itself (which is the only other way beside single issues) would overlap 70% with what we have here. Those ties-in are not super important as basically the 2 Aquaman issues gives more pages on things that take 1 or a few pages in the main event, but that is really not very important (and the Titan issues is never mentionned in the main event and is actually more confusing than anything else if you do not read Batman or Heores in Crisis as it heavely mention those events...).
The last issue with the Joker was my favorite of the book and a great surprise to end the reading on it.
And Luthor is a bad guy again? I missed that in Superman (did not read Bendis' run), but why not.
One of the highlight is the presence of the Batman Who laughs. He makes a great villain.
I also liked the Drawned Earth story, which is less cosmic and multiversy, but it still gets rather insane and over the top. I guess writters cannot helpt it...
It is regrettable that the book does not include the 2 Aquaman (and the 1 Titan) tie-in issues of the Drawned Earth crossover. Buying the collected edition of the cross-over itself (which is the only other way beside single issues) would overlap 70% with what we have here. Those ties-in are not super important as basically the 2 Aquaman issues gives more pages on things that take 1 or a few pages in the main event, but that is really not very important (and the Titan issues is never mentionned in the main event and is actually more confusing than anything else if you do not read Batman or Heores in Crisis as it heavely mention those events...).
The last issue with the Joker was my favorite of the book and a great surprise to end the reading on it.
April 12, 2021
3.5
This series is leading into the Death Metal saga that has effectively changed the DC universe. Scott Snyder may not have been my initial pick to be the lead writer but he ended up being the right choice in the end. I'm now going back to read these deluxe editions as my time in the Death Metal world is coming to an end. I read this book a few months ago and have finally found the time to review all these books.
Why the 3.5?
There's a strong setup here but I found the Drowned Earth not to be my thing. I'm interested to pick up the next volume as the building blocks are all here to explain some of the decisions Luthor made to help create Death Metal. I've never been a huge fan of the bad guys teaming up for their own Justice League but it's not all that bad here. The anti climatic stories tend to hurt more then deliver and this has been some of the large issues DC has had with rebirth. Overall this book is worthwhile, it's just not the best.
This series is leading into the Death Metal saga that has effectively changed the DC universe. Scott Snyder may not have been my initial pick to be the lead writer but he ended up being the right choice in the end. I'm now going back to read these deluxe editions as my time in the Death Metal world is coming to an end. I read this book a few months ago and have finally found the time to review all these books.
Why the 3.5?
There's a strong setup here but I found the Drowned Earth not to be my thing. I'm interested to pick up the next volume as the building blocks are all here to explain some of the decisions Luthor made to help create Death Metal. I've never been a huge fan of the bad guys teaming up for their own Justice League but it's not all that bad here. The anti climatic stories tend to hurt more then deliver and this has been some of the large issues DC has had with rebirth. Overall this book is worthwhile, it's just not the best.
April 2, 2026
The Totality.
A vast cosmic story full of nonsense. It had lots of cool elements, but none of our really came together very well. The art was pretty good overall though 2/5.
Graveyard of Gods/Drowned Earth.
This arc had a variety of artists, the Manapul art was great, the other artists were much worse. It started out similarly cosmic and chaotic, but settled down into more sensible story beats in the middle, before concluding with a crazy nonsensical issue. 2/5.
Legion of Doom.
These three issues were interspersed around the bigger arcs, and are more focused on Luthor's actual scheming. These definitely have the worst art, but they're written well 3.5.
Scott Snyder is the kind of writing that hates base hits and always swings for the fences. I'm sure this would resonate with some people, but for me the attempt to be epic throughout left me disinterested and ultimately bored much of the time.
A vast cosmic story full of nonsense. It had lots of cool elements, but none of our really came together very well. The art was pretty good overall though 2/5.
Graveyard of Gods/Drowned Earth.
This arc had a variety of artists, the Manapul art was great, the other artists were much worse. It started out similarly cosmic and chaotic, but settled down into more sensible story beats in the middle, before concluding with a crazy nonsensical issue. 2/5.
Legion of Doom.
These three issues were interspersed around the bigger arcs, and are more focused on Luthor's actual scheming. These definitely have the worst art, but they're written well 3.5.
Scott Snyder is the kind of writing that hates base hits and always swings for the fences. I'm sure this would resonate with some people, but for me the attempt to be epic throughout left me disinterested and ultimately bored much of the time.
March 10, 2025
A little bit messy, but I like a lot of the initial plot points being introduced, particularly the return of the Legion of Doom. Luthor in particular is at his best as an arch-villian with big plots and schemes.
The Drowned Earth plot felt a bit repetitive of other comic book events I've read. There's a new villian and they're going to destroy the Earth unless the Justice League can stop them first.
The art is consistently great across the book.
The Drowned Earth plot felt a bit repetitive of other comic book events I've read. There's a new villian and they're going to destroy the Earth unless the Justice League can stop them first.
The art is consistently great across the book.
February 11, 2020
Na Scotta Snydera vlastně trochu slabota. Pár super charakterizací a interakcí mezi postava, ale hlavní dějový linky o hrozbě konce světa (se kterýma samozřejmě nejde udělat nic zajímavýho, protože se to celý odehrává v primární kontinuitě) docela nuda. Hvězdička navíc za kresby Jima Cheunga, Jorgeho Jimeneze a Francise Manapula.
March 23, 2022
The first third of the boom had action but little meaning the middle was the entire “drowned earth” comic which I hated and the last part had some ok back and forth but over all my fan meter for DC didn’t geek out. I could have been just the same if I didn’t read it. Especially considering the time it took and the pricing. Though the art by Jimenez had all the classic feel to every character.
June 27, 2021
A continuation of Scott Snyder’s No Justice story but done better. Jorge Jiminez is a great and dynamic artist. The universe ending type stakes fit right with the justice league’s responsibilities. And seeing the dynamic between the Joker and Lex Luthor is always captivating. On to book 2!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2025
This omnibus is a collection of two stories that you don't want to put down. The arc surrounding the "Totality" is something that is truly a culmination of some of the greatest ideas. I am so excited to move through this Justice League story.
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