REVIEW: Justice League Red #1
Justice League Red #1 starts off teaming Power Girl and Green Lantern Simon Baz on a mission that raises more concerns than answers. Red Tornado seeks help in his quest to insure humanity’s survival, but is it truly the path necessary or is there something else at play?
The standard cover is by Clayton Henry and Matt Herms. Featuring the roster for this new JLR, we see Power Girl and GL Baz, but also Deadman, Red Canary, and Cyborg in front of the visage of Red Tornado. It’s obviously a cool way to introduce this new team and indicates the unusual circumstances they find themselves in as some of these characters haven’t been showcased for quite some time. There’s also a red foil edition of this cover that’s sure to be visually stunning.
Carmine Di Giandomenico’s variant is a more vibrant variation of the team’s debut. Where Henry & Herms leaned into the “All In” #1 styles, Di Giandomenico fills that white void with a psychedelic flair. It’s always fun to see the same concept visualized so differently.
The variant by Christian Ward has Deadman flying solo as he appears to be reaching out of a cosmic swirl. It’ll be interesting to see what dynamic Boston will add to this team and their mission once he shows up.
Clayton Henry and Colorist Arif Prianto do a fantastic job with the interior art. The facial expressions alone add a sense of intrigue to their entire situation and the action sequences are pretty fun. Other than that it’s pretty standard fair, but each panel is treated with the same high quality as any other, which is impressive on its own. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying this is a boring book, I’m saying it looks great even when there’s nothing hugely exciting happening.
Saladin Ahmed, lettered by Lucas Gattoni & Ryan Christy, sets up a compelling opening issue that leaves you wondering what’s truly going on. Red Tornado has ran a multitude of scenarios and believes the reformation of the Justice League has started a chain reaction of events that will eventually destroy all life on Earth. Sending a secretive Red summons, Simon Baz and Power Girl are partnered to begin setting things right. After handling a suspiciously easily mission, they discover not everything is as it seems. Having reason to believe Tornado is hiding something, they decide to do some investigating of their own. The last page teaser definitely suggests their intuition is correct, but has Red Tornado created a self fulfilling prophecy, or has he really set in motion Earth’s salvation?
(7/10) The art is as fantastic as you’d expect from Clayton Henry, but this premise feels a little overplayed. The roster is definitely enough to keep me interested for awhile and here’s hoping Saladin Ahmed has some twists and turns to throw at us to make this story feel more unique.
