Future State: Justice League #2 Review

 

I'd Like to Get to Know You Well

Writer: Ram V, Joshua Williamson

Artist: Robson Rocha, Marcio Takara

Cover Price: $5.99

Release Date: February 9, 2021

I was not a fan of the first issue of Justice League.  It felt like Joshua Williamson used that we didn't know anything about most of the League to set up team rules as to why they didn't know each other. While that may have sounded clever on paper, it took away the main reason I was excited about this book: learning about the characters and seeing how they interacted with each other.  I hoped this second issue would change by having the team win the day because they learn about each other and use that knowledge to defeat the Hyperclan.  Did that happen?  Well...

So, what are the Hyperclan up to now that they sent the Justice League away to god knows where?  Well, they are impersonating the League so they can secretly grab a bunch of scientists and put together their plan to take over the world.  By using their Martian technology combined with the new Hall of Justice to connect their minds to humanity, you know, thus reverting them to a primitive state so they can easily enslave them.  WTF!?!?!?  Just because you say it Protex, it doesn't mean it makes a lick of sense!  Why did they need the human scientists anyway????  It is all just thrown out there to push the story ahead quickly, but because of how little is explained, you know that it will not come close to working.  By the way, it is pretty much left hanging right away.

While this is going on, the Justice League try to get their bearings in the hellscape they find themselves in.  Green Lantern, Jo Mullein's ring tells them they need to get out of their fast or they will all die, but then find a couple of huts the Hyperclan called home for a while, it seems.  Even if they were able to survive being White Martians, how is Batman able to survive at all?

We finally get to the part where they learn about each other and save the day, but it's not much at all and there is a huge flaw in the whole thing.  Jon tells everyone that he always hears Batman humming while he's fighting, and Flash calls Andi "princess".  The funny thing is that Andy talks about her parents being on the Justice League, so it's a pretty simple deduction of who she is, but Jon is still surprised by it!  LOL!!!  So, the team learns that Batman hums and Andy is a princess.  More on that in a bit.

Joshua Williamson needs to get things moving, so Andy declares that it was the Hyperclan that attacked them, and Flash shares her speed to get them back home.   So, this is where we get to see them use that information they learned to take down the imposter League, right?  Well, Jon spots the fake Batman because he doesn't hum, and Andy deduces the fake Flash because they don't call her Princess.  So, they did learn about each other!  Hold up!!!  They didn't learn shit!  Jon already knew Batman hummed before the Hyperclan showed up, and Andi already knew that Flash called her "princess."  To make this work, someone other than Jon and Andy has to use the information!  To add to that nonsense, Jo can figure the imposters because they know things she never told the Justice League since they are mind readers.  They somehow still use the victory as proof they need to open up to each other more.  Hmmm....  By the way, the Hyperclan gets defeated using a device Batman finds lying around.  Double Hmmm...

Robson Rocha's art is good, but the story was just a big, fat nothing.  Maybe with a couple more issues, things could have been adequately set up and explained, but that didn't happen.  Readers with no knowledge of the Hyperclan will probably feel a bit lost, but it doesn't matter since they never felt like more than a prop, and if you do know them, you will probably be annoyed at the way Williamson tries to fit them into the story.  I'd say it's a square hole/round peg situation, but the hole changes into a couple of different shapes!

The Justice League Dark backup story is a bit better, but Ram V spends so much time with exposition to give readers a non-ending.  Marcio Takara's art is good, and I like the characters and how Ram V writes them, I just wish they had a better story to bring it all together.

Bits and Pieces:

This book is one of my biggest disappointments of Future State.  Joshua Williamson fumbles through a Hyperclan vs. the Justice League story that never felt like it had any stakes at all.  It's all based on the Justice League getting to know each other, and the story ends right before they do.  I guess that's the order of the day because Ram V gives readers a non-ending as well.  The art in both stories is good, but there is not much else to recommend. 

5.0/10