I’ve always had a weak spot for superhero teams that may feature a big name or two but mostly consist of minor characters that you’ll never see anywhere else. Justice League International not only fits that description but offers up a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Dan Jurgens writes a pretty straightforward first issue that follows the formation of the team as well as their first mission. There are several interesting dynamics at play and it doesn’t take long to get a good feel of the characters. The team features a pretty varied roster with the potential for some good character development down the road. But not all of the characters are that interesting and Jurgens has his work cut out for him to make them so. But he does put together a solid first issue that I had a lot of fun with.

Aaron Lopresti’s art is really strong and he matches Jurgens classic old-school writing style with some really crisp, clean pencils. It’s a character driven book and Lopresti handles them well. His characters are sharply detailed and have a consistency about them. We get a little action as the issue winds down and those pages look fine. But it’s Lopresti’s fantastic final splash page that was really impressive. I love the decision to go with a more traditional art style for this particular book. It has a vibrant and polished look that I found to be very effective.

There won’t be many people that say Jurgens and Lopresti blew their socks off. But for me I simply had a lot of fun. I found the formation of the team interesting and I’m pretty excited to see what the next issue holds. There are some concerns about the roster but that’s something that we won’t know until we see what Jurgens has in store for them. Lopresti’s art is really strong and a near perfect compliment. As a whole, I was pretty surprised by this title. It’s not perfect and it’s not for everyone but it does get off on the right foot.