SPOILER ALERT: The following feature contains spoilers from Justice League Unlimited #1.
Some of my favorite DC books of the past few years are what I call “hang out books.” That is, you get to “hang out” with the characters, perhaps in one designated location, and they begin to feel like family to you. Jeremy Adams’ run on The Flash is a perfect example of this. It was my first proper introduction to the Flash Family, and after only a couple of issues, I was hooked. As a comic book reader, sometimes I don’t want my favorite heroes to go up against villains from beyond all comprehension. A lot of times, I just want to see how my guys live and where they spend their time. But so far, Justice League Unlimited #1 is a perfect blend of these two types of stories.
Written by Mark Waid with art by Dan Mora, Justice League Unlimited #1 catches DC’s central super team at the beginning of a bold new era. Previously, Justice League membership was limited to only a handful of heroes. But now, as the title of this new series suggests, Justice League membership is open to all the heroes of Earth. With the team’s base set in space, tailored strike teams can be mobilized at any moment, based on the needs of a specific situation. It’s a really wonderful ethos for the team, because it means that heroes with really specific power sets can get their moment to shine. (Has anyone checked in on how Animal Man is recovering since the events of Absolute Power, by the way?)
With this in mind, it shouldn’t feel quite so strange when I say that Justice League Unlimited will have a familiar feel for fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Everyone’s in space on one base, there are a lot of different personalities running around, there’s a security officer, and the hallways aren’t carpeted. If I had to choose to be in a sci-fi or superhero story, I would choose to be in one like this. I would probably roller skate around the hallways until Batman yells at me to knock it off. Personally, I hope we get more moments to hang out and catch up with some of the folks at the Watchtower. Who knows, maybe more of the New Gods besides Big Barda will show up!
Beyond the Watchtower, the Justice League’s Alpha team gets sent to South Africa to investigate “weapons of mass destruction” wreaking havoc on civilians and the military alike. Now, we all know that Dan Mora is one of the brightest stars in comic book art right now, but this issue will remind you all over again why he’s such a great artist. Mora keeps a distinct visual language for each of the Justice League members’ powers. After all, Firestorm’s powers shouldn’t look the same as Black Lightning’s. Seeing all these characters’ unique signatures converging on the page is exactly what we come to a Justice League book to see.
Beyond just showing how cool everyone’s powers are, Dan Mora can draw the heck out of a forest. Batman and Jaime Reyes’s Blue Beetle go to Costa Rica to investigate a “winged” creature that’s been kidnapping children into a nearby forest. Mora draws the forest with a blend of beautiful textures and shapes, some of which alert us to the unnatural creature at play. I have no idea what it is that Jaime and Batman actually stumble across in Costa Rica. It looks like a whole nest of ovomorphs (those xenomorph pods in Alien), only more brightly colored. I may not be a biologist, but I do know one thing: in nature, bright colors are often a warning. Whether these pods are poisonous, venomous, or crawling with scary little guys inside remains to be seen. I do love that Batman calls Red Tornado to report that they’ve “found something…unsettling.” The beautiful red-orange dots around Jaime and Bats start to look a lot like eyes at this point.
Speaking of eyes, what on Earth is going on with Air Wave?! It was good to see Waid continue to work with this character in the aftermath of Absolute Power. But I was not expecting this little dude to be plotting mass murder. Maybe the Flash should take Air Wave for another lap or two around the Watchtower, just to keep him on his toes.
It sounds like Air Wave isn’t used to people being nice to him, which suggests that someone’s put him up to this. This makes sense, because I can’t imagine that Air Wave would get very far on his own while trying to take down some of the DC Universe’s strongest heroes. I mean, these guys just took on Amanda Waller’s Amazo robots without any of their powers. They won’t be brought down easily! As for whom the person Air Wave’s working for may be—assuming they even exist, since I don’t actually know—your guess is as good as mine. Right now, I’m content to let the mysteries unfold. With a team like this, both the one on the page and the one behind it, the Justice League is in great hands.
Justice League Unlimited #1 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain is now available in print and as a digital comic book.
Jules Chin Greene writes about comics, TV, games and film for DC.com, and his work can also be found at Nerdist, Popverse and Multiverse of Color. You can follow him on Bluesky at @JulesChinGreene and on Instagram at @infinitevibes.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.