New Characters Highlighted in 'Justice League' #3

The third issue of the newly rebooted "Justice League" steadily carries the action ahead and introduces us to a couple new members who will soon be "officially" taking up the fight against evil. They'll be lining up next to the rather dysfunctional quartet of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash. These four have already combined their strengths to battle the powerful alien forces of something calling itself Darkseid.

We get our first up close and personal look at Wonder Woman in "Justice League" Issue #3. The Amazonian princess shows up walking the city streets wielding a sword and golden lasso while slashing her way through the army of Darkseid. She already proves she can hold her own on the battlefront next to the other superheroes.

The villainous alien's minions begin to "invade" the waterfront, leading to Aquaman's first appearance as he wonders who dares enter his undersea world. His monstrous ocean vehicle surfaces, destroying all of Darkseid's winged creatures in its path. Let's just say that when we see him for the first time in all the character's full-page glory, he's not very happy.

We also get the continuing backstory of football star Victor Stone, who has been badly burned and injured in a lab explosion. His father attempts to keep him alive through fusing his body with cybernetic and nano technology. This brings about our first glimpse of Cyborg.

Speaking of Darkseid, we get our first look at him in "Justice League" #3. I guess I should say we get our first look at the "back" of him in this issue. We see his back and a shadow of him standing on top of a mountain on what appears to be Apokolips.

Writer Geoff Johns keeps the story moving ahead full speed, never giving the reader a chance to breathe. It's nonstop action from the first page to the last. He also does a great job of introducing characters very quickly without making the experience feel rushed.

Jim Lee's penciling is beautifully precise. It has the realistic look that comic book fans demand and want. He does a few full-page spreads that are immaculate. It appears he tries to give each superhero their own introductory page, as there is one for Wonder Woman and one for Aquaman in this issue.

There's also a very energetic two-page spread that easily could have been made into a pin-up poster. Colorists Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi, and Gabe Eltaes take the artwork to the next level with their incredible coloring talents, which perfectly accent each panel and page.

"Justice League" Issue #3 successfully carries this first action-packed arc in the relaunched series steadily forward. If you haven't checked out the first few issues already, you need to before the storyline gets any more intricate. My only worry is it feels like throwing Darkseid out as the first major villain of the newly rebooted book is going to make it hard to come up with a stronger second villain or force to battle. Besides that, I can't say I have any other complaints about the series so far.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

Writer Gregg Hurwitz Gives Us History of 'Penguin: Pain and Prejudice'

Writer Judd Winick Introduces Us to Africa's Batwing

Geoff Johns Convinces Us Why Aquaman is Cool

Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie and comic book news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Besides his three decades long obsession with everything sci-fi, horror, and fantasy related in TV and movies, Eric has what some would call an unhealthy love for comic books. This has led him to interviewing and covering legendary writers and artists in the medium like Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Howard Chaykin.