The New Justice League United

DC has quasi-rebooted the DCnU after Convergence, bringing in new books, new perspectives, and apparently opening up all Earths and continuities to creators. And I have to give them some proper respect, DC gave free 8 page previews for many of the new books and new directions, sticking them at the back of the Convergence mini-series but making them available for free on line.

One I wanted to look at closely was Justice League United. For those who haven't looked, here is a link to the preview: http://ift.tt/1IgBh2M

Now I was interested because I liked Jeff Lemire's run on the book. And Jeff Parker, another writer whose work I love, was taking over so I wanted to see what Parker had in mind. But more importantly, or most importantly, I wanted to see if Supergirl was going to be part of the book. She was a big part of the initial stories. She seems to have been swept aside post-Convergence.

What was going to happen?

Well Parker does a great job showing what he has in mind for the book. The core team of Animal Man, Equinox, Adam and Alana, and Stargirl is intact. They are tasked with taking care of continuity anomalies which have sprung from Convergence. And, knowing the individual nature of each adventure, they'll put together a unique team suited for the threat. Everyone is a possible JL member if their powers match up. It is like the biggest team-up book ever.

And Parker does a great job of showing us how crazy this could be, giving us glimpses of unfortunately forgotten heroes like Firestorm and the Doom Patrol, as well as Swamp Thing, Deadman, and other interesting choices.

Perhaps the best scope shot is the ending splash. I mean, I want to read some Hawk and Dove. And the Marvel Family. And Blue Devil. Etc.

But still, look in that massive Who's Who sort of page. Who isn't there? Supergirl.

And that's a shame because Kara was a great part of JLU.

She was often a big part of the cover treatment, especially the variant covers!

And she grew over even the short time on the book.

She was far from the 'bull-headed, stubborn', dark hero Lemire initially described her as. She might be all business. But she knew enough to save Hawkman rather than chase Lobo. And she also became the muscle of the group, a powerful ally to the team, smiling as she jumped into action with her teammates.

And it isn't as if she didn't have her own little subplots going on.

Lemire set up a backstory with Brainiac 5 in the New 52 Universe. Will we ever see that play out?

And we see that she has become friends with Stargirl and Equinox.

But for some reason, DC has decided to pull the plug completely on this version of Supergirl, just as she was getting interesting and heroic. This seems to be a sort of recurring theme with DC, getting Supergirl to where she needs to be character-wise and then rebooting again.

Will Parker explain her absence? Have Equinox and Stargirl mention their missing friend? Or is Supergirl untouchable?

I will read the Parker book because it sounds like the sort of book I am looking for in the DCU.

But I'll miss Supergirl being there.

Posted in: Reviews