Throughout this story, I've enjoyed the modern-day, new team aspects and not much enjoyed the past, big seven aspects. This issue is where they really start to come together, and it sort of drags down my interest in the book as a whole, although I'm still enjoying the story and the new team enough that I'm anxious to see how the whole thing ends and, more importantly, what the JLA team will look like when all is said and done. In addition to being a little disappointed with the elements I didn't like in the Atlantis story popping up in the modern era, I was also a little disappointed in the artwork, which looks somewhat sketchy and features weak storytelling at some points, even as the occasional panel shines on its own.
To be honest, if there's one thing that really makes me love this book, it's seeing Nightwing in the role of leader of the JLA. It's been a long time, and I had forgotten that Nightwing was ever a team player until a reader reminded me of his long-time Titans affiliation, such has been the focus on the character as a solo operator at DC. However, unlike Batman, Nightwing really works as a team player, and seeing him work with this unusual team, building them into the Justice League, whether it's in a combat capacity ordering around Green Arrow and Jason Blood or out of combat inquiring about Faith's abilities, has been a high point of the story.
Actually, the team in general has been a lot of fun, even those I wasn't sure about at first. Faith's powers are still far too undefined, but I've grown to like the character, and the use of Atom as scientific advisor, Blood as mystical advisor and Firestorm as heavy hitter has been an interesting dynamic. The "big seven" have grown a little dull, quite honestly, and Kelly's inclusion of new characters has sparked some life in the book.
I just wish I felt the same way about the plot as I do about the characterization. Strange time travel and truly bizarre villains with byzantine motivations have resulted in a poorly-defined threat, and in trying to make the whole thing feel big, Kelly has more often than not just made it feel confusing. I'm not sure who the big bad of this issue was, or how she relates to the story in the past, and though I get that the League is meant to be confused, I don't think it's the smartest thing in the world to keep the readers in the dark, as we then have no real idea what the stakes are.
Of course, some of that confusion comes from the artwork, and while I've been enjoying Guichet's work up until this point, I feel like he sort of dropped the ball this issue. The opening two-page splash is a good example. I have no idea if Atlantis is meant to be sitting on top of some sort of jet of water or on top of the ocean, because the perspective is so weird, and it seems a real waste of two pages of story. The fight between the League and their foe also seems confused and jumbled much of the time, jumping from one moment to the next without enough transition panels.
Though I have my issues with the way the story is done, however, I'm still interested in seeing what becomes of JLA after this story is all said and done. Whatever flaws the story may have, including an overly convoluted plot, some characterization that seems a little one-note and a couple characters who don't seem to belong in the League, it can't be denied that Kelly has shaken up a book that was badly in need of such a shake-up, and there's room for an interesting direction and new roster to come out of this story.
