Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artists: Ron Garney, Dan Green(i), David Baron(c)
Publisher: DC
Kurt Busiek debuts his run on JLA, and despite his paying lip service to the current mess that DC calls continuity, he writes the issue as if it were a Cartoon Network episode of the Justice League. That's a good thing.
Although DC heavily promoted Ron Garney's double page grouping of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Lantern; this self-contained first chapter of a story that will bring back Grant Morrison's version of the Crime Syndicate actually focuses on J'onn J'onzz and the Flash. It is here where the Cartoon Network influence is strongly felt.
Busiek rejuvenates Wally West. Gone is the weight and age the character accumulated in his old book. The Flash sounds like Michael Rosenbaum's Flash. Again, a good thing.
This characterization better suits a team. The contrast of youth against the icons works beautifully, especially with a Carl Lumbly voiced Martian Manhunter spouting wonderfully dense technobabble that will make a Treker's heart sing.
Ron Garney, whose work impressed me on Captain America, hasn't changed his style but has incrementally improved with a more fluid understanding of body movement. His perfect depiction of the Flash being utterly bored amuses and visually characterizes.
I particularly like how Garney designs the Flash to be something of an amalgam of all the Flashes who wore that particular suit. The body structure and costume design are pure Barry Allen. The energy comes from the Wally West seen in Justice League, and the scientific ambiance is more in tune with the John Wesley Shipp Flash from television. Dan Green's inks are far more subdued than usual, and he allows a lot of Garney to come out in the art. He puts his stamp on the Flash with the blacks of the costume that create the illusion of a fabric similar to the Shipp Flash, and while David Baron's reds help make the Flash's presence ubiquitous throughout the panels, his pale blue eyes for the character are what really sets him apart from previous depictions of Wally West.
JLA is a good taste of what is to come from Busiek, Garney, Green and Baron. When I first heard that Busiek was coming aboard to fix the JLA, I nearly did a jig. This issue lives up to my hopes.
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