Review: JLA Classified #1

JLA Classified #1
DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Ed McGuinness

The cover says "Where is the Justice League?" and that's a good question -- they're not in their own book. But it's not a bad issue.

Grant Morrison is the writer who got me excited about collecting comics again. Just over five years ago, I picked up his JLA run and it revitalized my enjoyment of the medium. Prior to reading JLA, I had not read many DC titles, and I was mostly an X-Men/Image comics fan. JLA changed that with Morrison's iconic portrayals of the heroes and big and strange story ideas.

This issue continues that tradition. The story is a "big idea" and right out of Morrison's storyline since it features some heroes he created, the Ultramarines. Batman shows up in this issue and it's great. Morrison puts a very fun spin on the Batman concept. The McGuinness art is great (I particularly enjoyed when Batman gets a phone call) and probably tops the art from Morrison's original JLA run because it's really kinetic.

JLA Classified is a good first issue for a series. Lately, DC has recently had many good first issues, including Superman/Batman, Teen Titans, Outsiders and Identity Crisis. The first three of these series slowed down quite a bit, in my opinion, after the first few issues. Hopefully JLA Classified will change that trend.