Writer

James Robinson

Artist

Mauro Cascioli

Letterer

Steve Wands

Associate Editor

Adam Schlagman

Editor

Eddie Berganza

Cover Artist

Mauro Cascioli

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE is the long awaited fully-painted JLA series by the new JLA writer James Robinson (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) and Mauro Cascoili (TRIALS OF SHAZAM). It was announced at last years Wizard World: LA as an ongoing title simply called JUSTICE LEAGUE that was to spin out of Grant Morrison’s FINAL CRISIS. However, it was cut back to a mini-series after it became clear that the painted artwork couldn’t be produced at a monthly pace. Events have conspired so that Robinson is still going to be doing a JLA ongoing, but first we have CRY FOR JUSTICE. It serves as a seven part mini-series that will set up Robinson’s run and it has also been hinted that it will set things up for next year in the DCU.

Spoiler… The guts of CRY FOR JUSTICE is pretty much what we’ve seen in the preview from DC Comics. Hal Jordan has a confrontation with the Justice League over their almost passive reaction to the murders of the Batman and the Martian Manhunter during FINAL CRISIS. This scene in particular takes place just before “Welcome to Sundown Town” the long Milestone/Starbreaker arc that’s just finished in the main Justice League title. Hal tells the League he’s going to take a stance against the supervillains, but his actual plans seem rather vague. Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) agrees to join him out of loyalty. Many years ago Hal joined Ollie for their “Hard Travelling Heroes” gig and Ollie is repaying the favour.

Elsewhere other heroes are confronted by the need for justice. Ray Palmer aided by Ryan Choi (the two Atoms) takes down the Killer Moth while searching for the stolen Time Pool. Palmer’s friend was tortured and killed for information about the Pool and he’s how hunting for Justice. In Opal City Mikaal Thomas, one of the more obscure claimants to the Starman codename, views the body of his dead boyfriend. He was killed in a supervillain attack on New York’s STAR Labs and Mikaal now wants Justice. In the Congo, the troop of gorillas that were Congorilla‘s family have been slaughtered. The local hero Freedom Beast and Congo Bill’s original body also died in the attack. Now Bill is trapped in Congorilla’s body and wants Justice.

The theme of the first issue is heroes individually wanting justice for some horrible crime or other committed against somebody they love. The supervillain Prometheus is name checked in the Atom scene and that feeds back into last year’s FACES OF EVIL: PROMETHEUS special by Sterling Gates so it’s fairly clear who the badguy is. How much his plans link the heroes individual pains isn’t clear.

We don’t see the entire team this issue, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Freddy Freeman don’t appear.  There is also a six-page text feature at the back where James Robinson introduces some background to the more obscure characters and explains some of his thinking. It seems we’ll be getting more text pieces in later issues. Lastly there is a brand new two-page secret origin of Congo Bill written by Len Wein (JLA #35-38) with art by Ardian Syaf (JLA #34).

The painted art by Mauro Cascoili in the main story is fantastic. For a 22-page story we sure seem to have seen a lot of these pages before – either as sneak peaks or as the main 8-page preview. It’s good to get the audience’s attention, but leaves the danger of showing too much too soon. I particularly liked the Opal City skyline at night and the blood red skies of the Congo at twilight. I don’t think a gorilla has ever looked quite so good in a comicbook.

Overall I quite liked the issue, but it didn’t really go anywhere. It was all about establishing the heroes and where they’re coming from. The plot should get more interesting once the group starts meeting each other.

The Verdict

The list of characters that appear in this series is quite large and changes as the series goes on. However, for reference to the original publicity materials, I’ve taken the list of featured characters as those heroes who appeared on the double-cover to the first issue.

Feature Characters

• Atom (Ray Palmer. Violently interrogates Killer Moth to find out why he murdered Mike Dante. Declares that he wants “Justice” for Mike. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Congorilla (William (Congo Bill) Glenmorgan in the body of the Great Golden Gorilla. His human body and the mind of the Golden Gorilla die this issue leaving Bill trapped in Congorilla’s body. Cries “Justice” for the murder of the gorilla troop he had been living with. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Green Arrow (Oliver Queen. Tagging along with Hal Jordan’s crusade for the sake of their friendship. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Green Lantern (Hal Jordan. Calls a meeting of the Justice League to declare his intention to found a more aggressive breakaway group. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Starman (Mikal Tomas. Opal City’s protector, visits his boyfriend’s body at the undertakers. Cries “Justice” for Tony’s murder. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Supergirl (Kara Zor-El. Superman’s cousin. Hears Hal’s argument at the JLA meeting. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)

Guest Stars

• Atom IV (Ryan Choi. He helps Ray Palmer hunt down and interrogate the Killer Moth after the murder of Mike Dante. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Generation Lost #1.)
• Freedom Beast (Dominic Mnawe, the successor to B’wana Beast. Killed by the villains while they were hunting for the Gorilla City scientist Malavar. He was an old friend of Congo Bill. First and only indexed appearance.)

Villains

• Prometheus (Behind-the-scenes. Mentioned by Killer Moth as being his employer in the Time Pool theft. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #2.)
• Killer Moth (Earth-Zero) (In the old costume. He killed Mike Dante, a friend of Ray Palmer, whilst stealing the Time Pool. Palmer finds him and forces him to reveal that the theft was arranged by Prometheus. First and only indexed appearance.)
• Henchmen (Killer Moth’s Henchmen. Beaten by Atom II and Atom IV. First and only indexed appearance.)

Guest Appearances

• Black Canary, Black Lightning, Doctor Light IV, Firestorm III, Flash III, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Red Arrow, Red Tornado II, Superman, Vixen, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna (As part of an enlarged Justice League, including reserves and recent allies, called to the Watchtower to hear Hal Jordan’s pitch for a more proactive version of the Justice League.)

Other Characters

• Congorilla’s Troop (A troop of gorillas. Slaughtered by the villains whilst they were looking for the Gorilla City scientist Malavar. First and only indexed appearance.)
• Opal City Undertaker (Looking after Tony’s funeral. First and only indexed appearance.)
• Tony (Mikal Tomas’s boyfriend. Killed off-screen during a super-villain attack on STAR Labs in Metropolis. First and only indexed appearance.)

Cameo Appearances

• Jake ‘Bobo’ Benetti (Mentioned as helping Mikal make arrangement for his boyfriend’s funeral. First and only indexed appearance.)
• Mike Dante (Professor Hyatt’s former assistant. Killed by the Killer Moth whilst he was searching for the Time Pool. First and only indexed appearance.)
• Professor Hyatt (The inventor of the Time Pool. A friend of Ray Palmer. Its mentioned that his memory isn’t what it was. First and only indexed appearance.)

Flashback

• Batman (Bruce Wayne. One panel flashback to his “death” during the Final Crisis. First indexed appearance. Next indexed appearance is Justice League: Cry For Justice #3.)
• Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz. One panel flashback to his murder in the Final Crisis. First and only indexed appearance.)