Adam Beechen finally hits his stride with this third issue of the series. His dialogue is both funny and inventive. His take on the Atom is refreshing and strong. What a shame that the regular writer's first strong issue is marred by the inclusion of a couple of old stock stories that were created long before this new Justice League was ever put together. It's clear that the two "bonus" stories included in this issue (and it doesn't feel like a "bonus" if the price is hiked as a result... just a tip, DC) are leftovers from the defunct Adventures in the DC Universe title from the mid 1990s. The fact that the editor credited in both of those stories hasn't worked for the publisher in years seems like plenty of proof to me.
The Atom leads a small team of his heroic colleagues -- Wonder Woman, Firestorm and Ice -- on a mission to prevent an other-dimensional alien invasion... one the other heroes can't see. It's all a matter of scale, as the Atom shrinks his teammates down to show them the microscopic invaders. Meanwhile, Mr. Miracle is blackmailed into helping a one-time crimelord escape from an inescapable prison, and Power Girl aids police and coastal authorities in bringing a gang of high-tech arms smugglers to justice.
If DC ever opts to launch a new Atom title, Beechen should be the one to write it. His imaginative descriptions of how shrinking works and the physics of it all are not only entertaining but bring plausibility to the science-fiction of super-heroics. The plot is rather generic, but the writer's characterization of the Atom as a savvy and confident leader is refreshing. The story reads a bit like a Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis humor-era Justice League story. The running gag with Ice and her problems with shrinking had me smiling throughout the story.
Barberi captures the perspective and scale of the miniature heroes and the oversized backdrop in which they find themselves quite well. I really enjoyed his presentation of an animated-style Firestorm. Delaney's line art in the other two stories pales in comparison. Where the animated style calls for a sleek and polished look, Delaney and Boyd's work is sketchy and rough. The characters look more goofy than dynamic, and Delaney's work, especially on the Power Girl story, is unnecessarily dark. The inclusion of some coloring pages for younger readers is a nice touch, though, one I hope is continued in future issues (though with a wider variety of heroes, rather than the core seven Justice Leaguers from the previous incarnation of the Justice League cartoon).
Steve Vance's plotting, on both stories, is awkward at best. The prison escape story is all about the gimmick ending, and the Power Girl segment is about a far-from-subtle moral. Also irksome -- though Vance can't be help accountable for this -- is the fact that the Power Girl story doesn't fit with JLU continuity, which retooled the character as a villain. That made her much more interesting, and younger readers who caught that episode are bound to be a bit confused by this much different take on the character here. 5/10
