Justice

Artist Alex Ross returned in a big way to the Justice League of America.

With “Justice,” supervillains rise to the status of superheroes. And the members of the Justice League of America – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern – are in hiding or on the run  – literally on the run in the case of the Flash.

The bad guys are watering and foliating desert regions, building prosthetics for kids who have lost limbs in wars, teaching people how to live better lives, etc. These once selfish people with dreams of ruling the world alone are working together for the betterment of humanity.

They are also haunted by a communal nightmare that sees the world destroyed while the Justice League heroes are helpless to save anyone.

Meanwhile, the villains have rooted out the secret identities and relationships of the Justice League members by kidnapping Batman’s mind. Batman is only returned to himself by physically wearing Wonder Woman’s golden lasso of truth. 

Meanwhile, Green Lantern is trapped in his ring. Wonder Woman is disfigured and dying of scratches from Cheetah. Superman is beset by bad guys. And it seems only Shazam – the original Captain Marvel – can set the wheels in motion to stop this master plan of the one and only Brainiac.

But part of the plan includes an army of Brainiacs.

The epic should be no surprise for readers who followed Alex Ross’ ground-breaking work with “Kingdom Come.” The four-part 1996 mini-series by Ross and Mark Waid threw the League’s members into the future, an older group striving to deal with younger super-powered beings.

Ross is a dynamic story-teller both in terms of plotting and illustrations. His comic panels are a series of paintings. His characters look real but lose none of their grandiose heroism.

In “Justice,” Ross works with Jim Krueger in telling the story and with Doug Braithwaite in illustrating the story.

With the 12-part “Justice,” the creative team has free rein to have fun with the DC Universe. They do, and so do readers.