Look, I'm not about to hunt down any of Meltzer's novels, but I think he's telling an engrossing story here. I want to see how the new team comes to be; I want to see what happens to Red Tornado; and I want to know more about the shady mastermind behind it all. Dr Impossible seems pretty cool, too. Personally, this seems like a pretty easy comic to enjoy, which is what I want out of my DC stuff.

1. It took me a while to figure out which narrative boxes corresponded to which characters, and I'm a pretty sharp reader.

2. It was interesting to watch Batman, Superman, & Wonder Woman pick their team, particularly since it looked like they weren't going to get some of their choices.

3. I want to know what happens next with the Red Tornado-guy, although I wasn't too sure what Deadguy's story was, but I suppose that'll be covered in future issues.

4. I didn't have a hard time following the story, and am interested enough to read the next issue when you give it to me.

Obviously, this is a statistically insignificant sample, but I thought her comments were interesting. I'm sure I'm missing a few things she said, because it seems like we talked about it for a little while, but as I said, 18 hours have passed, and I'm about to doze off at the keyboard. Make of this what you will.

I also think that, due to the long story arc, we're just seeing several plot threads being put in place. No, there was no "action" in the traditional sense, but by the end we have two decapitated Metal Men, a stolen android body, some mystery as to that body's origins, the duping of John (Red Tornado) Smith, Vixen in trouble, and some disappearing super-villains (as explained to Black Lightning).

Do I think it might be arrogant and out-of-place for the Big Three to act as if they own the League? Yep. Is it worth it if some of the people they "invite" call them on their arrogance and sense of entitlement? Yep -- if it happens.

I didn't mind the "animal in me" thought phrasing -- it sort of helps those who are unfamiliar with Mari get an idea as to what her powers are and how they work.

I thought the purpose of Hal and Dinah showing up at Ollie's (and his reaction to their arrival) could have been more clear; I got it on a second reading, but at first I thought that they were part of the League reformation. My guess is that because they both care about Roy, they trying to boost him up a bit. There is line later about how proud Ollie is; I doubt that there'll be resentment displayed from him.

As far as the art, yes, it seems to be in some sort of Jim Lee tribute style, but there wasn't much that turned me off.

All in all, though, there was plenty to keep me interested and hopeful that the next issue will ship on time.

Batman is much more lighthearted now. He was even chuckling in the latest Wonder Woman. His parents killer was caught again. Wonder Woman has been in the game as long as Superman and Batman now and is no longer considered to have started superheroing after Legends. In fact, she's experienced enough to have been a founding member of the Justice League. So far those are major changes to me. I suspect as the year progresses we'll learn of more changes.

What changes? They acted like big shots before and they're acting like big shots now. The only real difference is that Meltzer is actively dwelling on the fact that they're big shots. I've said before that it was just as arbitrary in any previous lineup, but that lingering over the actual selection process makes the whole story seem stupid. You end up with a dozen pages of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman bickering like fanboys on the DC boards over whether Power Girl is cooler than Supergirl.

Power Girl and Mr. Terrific are obviously in the JSA still as we've seen them on the promo covers of the book coming this Fall, so are we supposed to get excited over the fact the Big Three have deemed Kara/Karen a member? They don't even know if she would want to be, it's just "she's in."

That really bugged me. Yes, they helped break up the League, and are now all founding members of the team, but the arrogance of the trinity to just decide by themselves who gets in the new league ticks me off.

I never bought Morrison's JLA early on because I didn't like how the Seven were in and anyone who wasn't god-like in super-hero stature was out. Here, the Big Three are just so full of themselves that they think any hero will be so excited and/or forgiving of them to just remake the League on their own?

I can understand if they feel Roy is worthy, but the fact that Ollie tried to keep the team together after the trinity split, and without any real reason why, they just ignore him.

It would have been nice if they spoke with Ollie and he said that he was a mayor now, but recommends his former sidekick, to Roy's surprise and honor. It give some sense to the whole thing, and what's up with Roy suddenly "Red Arrow" on the cover.

I liked Diana's vote for Supergirl, which actually threw in some continuity that Wonder Woman is close to Kara, for instance, but to say that Vixen "isn't there yet" is somewhat ridiculous. She's a veteran member of the Justice League, has served with the Suicide Squad, and is a "Bird of Prey"!

I liked the Red Tornado story, and that he really wants to be human, and gets it, but I dread the probable back to robot-mode in the coming months. However, it is good to see Felix Faust again, though I think it's time his costume's a tad updated.

Although overall the way the book was set up, it sort of worked, but I really don't know if I want to have to be "flipping" back and forth every issue. It wasn't the worst thing, but it did feel sort of like bad editing in a movie, and it felt like I was reading issue 0 again. Did we need to do that again?

Furthermore, it seems that Donna Troy isn't Wonder Woman for long if Diana is in the role here. I do not like at all how there's such lack of continuity in place. How far into "One Year Later" does JLA fall compared to "Wonder Woman"? [I did enjoy reintigrating the "I-Ching" Era back in Diana's life, and that it was just his code name, not just some poorly thought out sterotype.]

They still have yet to explain how Supergirl is both in the 31st Century and 21st, so how long will this take?

They talk about Carter, but Hawkman isn't even around right now in "Hawkgirl", so does that also spoil things over there. Hawkman will be coming back in no time?

They talk about Animal Man as past tense, so does that mean he doesn't make it back after all in the pages of 52? They also talk about him so fondly, but why, when they don't seem to care about Fire or anyone. Or, do we get to see them pick out more random pics of heroes for the next few issues? Do they suddenly care more about B-Listers and C-Listers because they feel bad about Ted?

Shouldn't the new Atom be shown instead of just Ray? Why don't they mention anything about J'Onn. But then, I guess, we can have more color-coded dialogue about the trinity's thoughts on their friends or co-heroes.

It's getting kind of tiresome to pick up a DC Comic and see "The Past", "Today," and so on.

I really wish they'd just "steal" Marvel's "Previously In..." as it would really help --especially a new reader-- to not feel so incredibly lost. I have a few friends who are trying to get back into or just into comics, but it's difficult to give them any DC comic without also having to give them trades and an immense history lesson of everything else. It also doesn't help, when you're kind of confused as well!

It was only after reading this review that I realized that Benes' art did kind of have a Jim Lee thing going on, which is kinda sad, but I think the art is all right. But yeah, if there's gonna be cheesecake, at least let it be equal. How about we see a word balloon coming out of a male hero's butt for a change!

Of course, there seemed almost like some sexual tension going on with Roy and Hal; I mean one can totally take "I've learned a few things since you've been gone" "Why don't you show me" into another context, so I'll forgive them this time. heh heh.

But, Hal acts as if he was never around to see Roy as an adult before or is this part of the Neo-New Earth thing?

If the lower row of the cover is indeed the new roster, well, how lame is that. It's not much different than any other time. Oh, but now Black Lightning can be the lone black man in the group as Hal has to be back and John Stewart can now just be read over in Justice League Unlimited.

Seriously, why couldn't they just have a mainstream unlimited, and we can have the Seven but also still have lots of other characters in it? Wouldn't it make sense to have as many people in on board overall? Dispatching heroes to where they're needed instead of just trying to round up the Super Friends from there own cities and countless subplots for a disaster?

In conclusion, after reading Zero and One, I don't care about picking up this book. It just seems redundant and too much of DC trying to throw out "cool" at its readers. Big Name Writer and Big Name Artist hasn't added up to a great book YET, anyway. Oh well, if the quality doesn't continue to be up to snuff, maybe we'll actually get the book on the shelves on time!

Actually, this issue was a lot like JLA #5. Not as good, but honestly, not many comics are. But it was similar in the way that the selection process did happen on-panel, and we were then given the story of Tomorrow Woman on top of that, much like Red Tornado's story is the focus here.

Look, I'm not saying Meltzer is a better writer than Morrison. He's not; and I much prefer Morrison. But Meltzer is telling a good story here, IMO, and I think some 'critics' are being a little harsh.

Meltzer has made a huge big deal out of the selection process itself; it's apparently going to get dragged out for six issues or something. Within the story Meltzer is trying to write, he needs to establish why Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman have the authority to call the shots like that. He can't just fall back on "because you like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman."

Morrison, on the other hand, started off his series after the team had already come together, and future recruitment happened either off-panel or remarkably quickly. The choices were just as arbitrary - again, in these sorts of teams they always are - but Morrison was smart enough to skip over the selection process itself and get onto the lineup itself as quickly as possible.

This isn't just a Meltzer vs. Morrison thing; it's just that Meltzer is dwelling on the weakest possible aspect of this story.

I also think the idea that you need to be up on decades worth of DC continuity to understand the story is rubbish. A friend of mine read JLA #0 and didn't have many problems with it, and I think this issue would be even easier. Generally, everything you need to know is explained in-story, and the little references (that aren't detrimental to understanding the story anyway) that might go over new readers heads might pique their curiousity in back-issues. Remember, DC has quite a strong reprint program at the moment, and are repeatedly emphasising the importance of 'history' in the new DCU. I admire Meltzer for the way he was able to incorporate this agenda in an accessible fashion.

It seems to me that, as much as I'm biased in that I want to like the League, there's an equally strong anti-Meltzer bias factoring into other critical comments. How often do critics complain about a lack of characterisation in their entertainment, and then when Meltzer gives it to them in beautiful spades, suddenly they're not interested?

And how does it make sense to basically say "well, Morrison didn't explain why the Big Seven were the Big Seven, but it's ok because it's Morrison" and then add to that, "and Meltzer doesn't explain why the Big Three are the Big Three, and I hate that." Morrison's Big Seven used the same arbitrary selection process when they rounded out the roster with Green Arrow, Steel, Huntress etc., Meltzer has simply narrowed down the characters taking part in the decision-making process to those that originally started the League (and broke the League) in new DCU continuity. Makes perfect sense to me.

Great issue; can't wait for the next one.

Not "Okay, I'll go get my bow" - "Not so fast, loser."

An adopted son and legacy hero
A recovering drug addict
A single dad
An ex-government agent
A serious ladies' man

Any one of these things makes him unique in the current League line-up. Throw in his "cool dad or older brother?" relationship with Ollie, which parallels the "hot mom or older brother's girlfriend?" relationship with Dinah. All of these things are unusual in superhero comics, and he should provide an excellent real-world perspective to the League's adventures. Which was often Ollie's role, now that I think about it.

Christ, I can't stop saying it.

Superman Jun 1938
Batman May 1939
Red Tornado Jun 1939 (android Aug 1968)
Green Lantern Jul 1940 (Hal Oct 1959)
Hawkgirl Jun 1941 (Kendra Aug 1999)
Arsenal aka Speedy Nov 1941
Wonder Woman Dec 1941
Black Canary Aug 1947
Black Lightning Apr 1977
Vixen 1981

I just thought this was interesting. This is the current, everything's-up-to-date modern Justice League, and six (or maybe seven; I remember there was something weird about the timing of Wonder Woman's debut) of the ten of them have arguably been around since before Pearl Harbor.

Looking at this list, I can't quibble with DC's evaluation that, now that someone's had time to be born, grow up, get a job, get married, have kids, get promoted, send the kids off to university, have grandchildren and prepare for retirement, all since Speedy's first appearance, maybe it's not too early to try Roy out in the JLA and see if he works out.

(As for how the storyline is treating the Hal/Ollie/Dinah/Roy relationship, well, I want to see how it plays out before I say yea or nay.)

Oh man, that was the greatest line ever.

"The Big Three" don't even have as much history with the league as Martian Manhunter does. Hell, I think Aquaman might have as much history with the League as they do.

they’re respected by the other heroes

But should they be at this point? Batman is indirectly responsible for the deaths of a ton of innocent people, including a number of his old Justice League colleagues. Has he ever even formally apologized for, y'know, the whole "superintelligent killer spy satellite" thing? And we're constantly being told that nobody trusts Wonder Woman after she snapped Max Lord's head. So again, why these people?

Wonder Woman gets it because she is similarly visible, being the Amazonian Ambassador and all

She's not the Amazonian Ambassador anymore, since there aren't any more Amazons to be the Ambassador for. And right now she's best known for killing somebody on national television.

And Batman gets it because all of the other heroes respect him

Why would that respect not be tempered by the fact that he has a history of being crazy and paranoid and making plans to kill them?

Honest to god, this sort of "subtext as actual text" writing does nothing more than remind me of that fawning description of Hal Jordan in Countdown that inspired Abhay's "just the tip" line.