Review: Justice League of America Vol. 1- The Extremists

Quick Summary

Pros: The characters, both heroes and villains, are interesting and help enhance the book’s themes. The concept behind the story as a whole is well done. The conflict, physical and otherwise, is always entertaining.

Cons: Forced exposition makes the dialogue sound strange at times. The conclusion to both major storylines is not good. The book’s second half is lackluster in both story and art.

Overall: As a whole, this book presents some incredible characters and concepts that work to create a wonderful story. However, along the way, there are a number of small flaws that chip away at this story and cause its fall from grace. The final product is a book that is good but not great; a book that most fans will be able to enjoy but will certainly notice the flaws.

Review Notes

Justice League of America Vol. 1: The Extremists contains the Justice League of America: Rebirth #1 issue. This issue is also collected in Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth. Since we already covered this issue in our Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth review (found here), we will not be covering it here.

This review will cover Justice League of America #1-6.

Story

Justice League of America Vol. 1: The Extremists, by Steve Orlando, is a book that excels in concept and imagination but is wanting in execution. The plot follows complex villains each epitomizing an extreme end on the scale of government. It also sets a complex team of heroes after these villains, where each individual is overcoming a personal conflict in addition to the team’s goals. However, heavy handed exposition, a generic second half, and poorly paced conclusions cause the book to falter in certain areas. This is a book that is great to look at as a whole but suffers from a number of flaws when actually sitting down to read it.

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The first half of this book follows the JLA’s fight against Lord Havok and his Extremists. These enemies come from another world and insist that complete control is the only acceptable form of governance. It is an incredibly interesting story that involves interdimensional travel, political maneuvering, and clever pastiches of Marvel’s finest.

This part of the book is also the most action packed and imaginative. Every member of the team fights a high intensity battle against a member of the Extremists; Batman even fights with what is essentially Captain America’s shield in hand. However, it is Lobo’s battle with Tracer that proves to be the most bloody and entertaining. To contrast with this, is the equally entertaining, yet peaceful, story of Dreamslayer. His “defeat” comes at the hands of the Ray, who simply takes a moment to talk with him and help him discover a new path rather than fight. All of this makes the battles more enjoyable and gives the story a deeper sense of variety.

The book’s second half is more generic and definitely less imaginative. It details the current exploits of Nikos Aegeus, who has taken over a small town in Pennsylvania through weapons manufacturing. He provides weapons in order to foster anarchy and dissent among the general population and insists that “order is a lie.” There are some great moments for the League here, especially the Atom and Lobo, though the story itself is far less interesting.

The beauty, in this book, is the way it presents the villains as extremes on a spectrum. While the Extremists believe in strict totalitarianism and Nikos Aegeus believes in the success of mob rule, both believe that what they are doing is right. In their minds, they are not in this for personal gain, they are simply going about the course of action that they think will best ensure safety for the world. By writing them in this way, Orlando sets up the critique of both methods to be unbiased and empty of emotion. He instead points out the flaws through logic, giving more weight and meaning to the story’s morals in general.

Alongside this good comes the bad. The exposition throughout the book is clunky and forced most of the time, often causing the dialogue to suffer with it. For example, the Atom will ask Killer Frost a question and will receive a unnaturally long response that adds completely unrelated backstory into the conversation. This is not an isolated incident as it happens to others characters as well.

In addition, both major stories are summarily wrapped up and concluded in too perfect of a fashion. The Extremists cause intense political turmoil and physical destruction to the nation of Kravia, exposing the instability within the populace. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the job market forces people to do things they wouldn’t dream of. In both instances, the root of the problem is not dealt with, just the agitators. It makes the stories seem unfinished in a way and takes some of the satisfaction away from the conclusion.

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Art

The first half of the book looks great overall. All of the artists here provide an experience similar to that of Ivan Reis, who does two of the issues. This means that not only does the story look good, but it also is at least somewhat consistent, despite the change in artists. There are some great moments and intense battles to be found within these issues that are all amplified by how great things look.

The second half of the book is more troubled. Andy MacDonald draws a less detailed and more cartoonish Justice League of America, a stylistic change that takes some of the intensity away from the story. There are even moments here where the art makes an epic moment seem far less so simply in the way things are depicted. One example of this occurs when the League suits up in the Ray’s armor. It is a lackluster second half that adds on to the book’s problems.

Continuity

Justice League of America Vol. 1: The Extremists flows directly out of the events of Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth (Review) and Justice League vs. Suicide Squad (Review).

The story here continues in Justice League of America Vol. 2: Curse of the Kingbutcher (Review). 

• Lord Havok last appeared in a brief scene in Multiversity, though this version of Lord Havok appears to be different.
• Instead, references to a nuclear holocaust and other pieces of history, suggest that this version of Lord Havok and the Extremists are closer to the versions who appeared in Justice League Europe #15-19, a currently uncollected storyline.
• Though not a direct reference to DC Comics, all of the Extremists and people of their world are based on Marvel Comics characters.
  • Lord Havok=Doctor Doom
  • Dreamslayer=Dormammu
  • Death Bat=Green Goblin
  • Doctor Diehard=Magneto
  • Gorgon=Doctor Octopus
  • Tracer=Sabertooth
  • American Crusader=Captain America
  • Thunderer=Thor
  • Blue Jay=Ant Man
  • Retaliators=Avengers