Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artists: Rags Morales and Mike Bair
Publisher: D.C. Comics
DC has made this miniseries into its big summer event, and the guessing game of who would be killed off in this opening issue has been the driving topic of conversation.
Now that I've read the opening issue I feel I have to say that I seriously wonder if DC might've been a little too confident that most readers would know who this character was. Truth be told, this character hasn't really been part of the DCU for the past decade so the emotional impact of their death on newer readers is going to be minimal at best.
Now, I'm going to try and keep myself from revealing who dies, but I will say that I personally feel that Brad Meltzer has made a huge mistake. He's effectively removed the one element of a character in the DCU that made them stand apart from the crowd, and it was also my personal favorite element of the character.
This time, at least, the genie can't be put back in the bottle despite the fact that comics are full of deaths that have been reversed, this issue deftly points out during a sequence involving the back from the dead Green Arrow and I really don't expect this character will be brought back, as the hype surrounding the death has been a bit much.
Now the one element that I do like about this issue is that if you're a fan like me who grew up on a steady diet of Justice League of America issues in the 1980s, then this issue displays a great understanding of the relationships that exist among the second stringer JLA characters.
The issue also manages to build up a real sense of dread as it progresses, and we see the reactions of the various characters to the mystery news. I also love the fact that in spite of being the big summer event, the stars of this story are largely secondary characters, most of who are more than deserving of this attention.
As for the artwork, I will say that I'm delighted to see Rags Morales has finally gotten himself on a project that is likely to be seen by a large number of fans as he's one of the better artists working under the DC banner and, while this isn't an action intensive introduction, he gets to display his other main strength to the audience.
For example the scene where the various characters react to the distressing news, and the emotional impact of that double-page spread is quite powerful.
However the largest impact visual in this issue is the big reveal as we learn once and for all who was killed in this opening chapter.
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