Confession: I didn’t really expect to like this “bi-weekly event”. I came to the JLI party at least 10 years too late. As a result, the “Bwahaha” League never held much appeal to me. I went back and read the trades of the glory days, but try as I might I could never much get into the JLI.
When the Brightest Day books were being announced, this one didn’t really make much of an impression. I was too busy jumping up and down about the return of Birds of Prey. And while I was mildly interested to see what Keith Giffen might do with the JLI after years of seeing these characters abused by others, the presence of Judd Winick soured the deal for me.
With my expectations set exceptionally low, I was pleasantly surprised by Generation Lost. Although there were some funny lines, the tone was more to my liking than the JLI tales of old. And the art by Wonder Woman’s Aaron Lopresti was a treat.
This issue is all set-up. After being resurrected at the end of Blakcest Night, Max Lord is on the run. The JLA has very publicly named him as public enemy #1 which seems appropriate given that he can bend Superman to his will.
If you’ve read interviews with the writers, the you probably know what Max Lord is up to. But even with that knowledge, I still enjoyed watching the manhunt go down. I enjoyed watching Booster apply his knowledge of Max to do what Batman couldn’t.
My favorite scene by far was the one in which Booster finally got to confront Max regarding Ted’s murder. Max’s response wasn’t at all what I expected. The dynamic between them was more complicated and intriguing than imagined. And it has me excited to see where things are headed.
The JLI may not be my League of choice. But this issue was better than any JLA story I’ve read in a long time. That makes Generation Lost a reunion worth having.
I also really liked this book. Everything I wanted Brightest Day to be but had the presence of mind not to expect. This book really feels like the true heir to 52, if not completely in storytelling but in tone. I am also super excited to see Jaime Reyes join this book!
[...] the old character remaining. It is interesting that it is this scene which caught the attention of read/Rant, who confessed they weren’t expecting great things from this series, before observing: My [...]
[...] couple of weeks ago, I was very pleasantly surprised by the first issue of this bi-weekly series. This was due in part to low expectations. So I wondered, with my [...]
[...] the old character remaining. It is interesting that it is this scene which caught the attention of read/Rant, who confessed they weren’t expecting great things from this series, before observing: My [...]
[...] started this book with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I keep waiting for my expectations to rise to a level where I will be disappointed. While not [...]