Justice League: Generation Lost #1 Review

It’s been a while since the "Bwa-hah-hah" was silenced. Its seven years since the Formerly Known as the Justice League series, and its five years since Ted (Blue Beetle) Kord was killed at the hand of Max Lord. Once, you'd know these characters being in a book would bring a nice bit of frivolity and a smile to you face, but with the tragedy that surrounded these Super-Buddies during the Infinite Crisis, it’s incredibly difficult to anticipate what type of series we're going to get.

Thanks to Blackest Night, Max Lord is back from the dead, He's also now the most wanted and most hunted man on earth with the JLA and the JSA coordinating the search for him. A search that also utilizes every police, military and espionage force in the world. But when a person previously utilized his powers to control heroes and force them to commit the unthinkable, then there is nothing more imperative than making sure he can't do it again.

Giffen and Winick do an excellent job of getting the reader up to speed with a two page catch up on Max Lord's story; everything you need to know is there. There are also nice little overviews of the major players and their powers.  Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire and Ice are all introduced. It's a perfect introduction for anyone new to comics or DC in particular, but it manages to do it with without patronizing those of us who have been around the block with our comic books. The right balance of action and pacing of story is also there too, the highlight being a confrontation between Lord and Booster Gold where Max Lord lets us know what he truly thinks of the "Spandexed Costume Party".

Lopresti is his usual steadfast self over Giffen's art breakdowns. His male and female figures show heroic poise, but always in realistic proportions, and his ability to capitalize on subtle nuances in facial muscles make him one of the best in the business when portraying expressions.

It’s a shame that there was a small let down in DC's editorial. It’s extremely unprofessional to let establishing text read "Moscow, Russia. The Sight of the decommissioned JLI embassy. Now", especially in a high profile book like this. But in general this was a nice start to the series, there was still no "Bwa-hah-hah", but there was something to get your teeth into.