Well at least no one in this issue is literally crying for justice.

That, unfortunately, is the only positive I can think of for this issue, but this is only a minor plus considering all the major flaws in both the writing and art department. It seems that James Robinson meant for this issue to be a character study that would be a deep introspective look at the team characters, while being a little light on action. While this formula has sometimes proved to be a success (read X-Factor #87 for one of my favorite kind of these issues, IMO), Robinson gets it all wrong here. This issue is filled to the brim with long and tiresome diatribes that doesn’t seem to make any of the characters interesting. I swear, watching a documentary on the production of shoe polish kept me more awake than reading this. However, there was one action scene in the book, but it was one of those stupid typical “misunderstanding superhero” fights that literally made me roll my eyes when I read it.

The art is another boon against this book, as it seems to enhance the glaring flaws of the script. Mauro Cascioli’s painted images are the very definition of static, as is sometimes the case with this style of drawing. The long diatribes of this issue are made even worse by the way the characters are depicted as standing like statues at every moment in every panel. It looks so unnatural, my action figures are more expressive than these characters!

I really want to like this series, as the characters that make up this team are ones that I really like in the DCU. Green Lantern and Green Arrow always play well off each other, Supergirl has been a great breakout character lately, and I’d love to learn more about Captain Marvel and Starman. This series hasen’t brought anything new or interesting to the table, however. I really hope this series shapes up, or if it doesn’t, I hope this team carries over to the ongoing Justice League of America series, where at least the team will be depicted by a competant artist.