The Issue:
World’s Most Dangerous: Chapter 1 by Geoff Johns and David Finch
The story opens 5 years in the past in London. A shadow covered Professor Ivo is talking to a man off panel about all of the emerging Superheroes in the world. The man off panel makes a rather ominous remark about how the world will call them Super-Villains, then says he has a “map to make” and Ivo has “things to build”.
We then jump to present day and are introduced to this mysterious individual as he tries to escape through a forest.
He gets blasted by what looks like heat vision and take a tree branch through the side. As he recounts how little he has accomplished in life, we see that he seems to be running from Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. These clearly aren’t the genuine article as Wonder Woman says that their creator wants him dead. Our mysterious man says that he’s going to die today, just not yet.
Over at ARGUS, we find Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor having a conversation about the Justice League.
Steve tells Waller that a Justice League of America will never work but Waller insists that she has to make it work. After a little more arguing, Waller shows Steve the picture of Superman and Wonder Woman kissing. Turns out, the Government is worried about the ramifications of their relationship (or the ending of it) and want a team that can step in to fight if need be. From here, we get to meet our first set of recruits, Hawkman, Katanna, and Vibe.
After a few scenes of explaining their powers and backstories, we jump back to our mystery man as he continues to make his escape. His side wound has gotten much worse and all of the blood loss is starting to take a physical toll. After realizing that he’s lost, the man looks up to the sky and asks for help. Not because he needs to live but because the people he’s running from need to be stopped. When he gets no response, he tells God to go screw himself. He’ll find his own way home.
Back at ARGUS, we continue the recruiting process and meet Stargirl.
Waller seems to have something planned for Stargirl’s role that she won’t like. That doesn’t phase Waller since she knows the identity of Stargirl’s biological father. We then get a quick rundown of the other members planned for the team.
Steve apparently takes offense to Green Arrow being on the list and says that his “okay” skill set isn’t right for the most important part on the team. He then tells Waller that if she wants this to work, then she’ll need someone else.
Catwoman and Steve do the standard beating upon first meeting that seen so often in comics. It isn’t until he entices Catwoman with the identity of the woman that stole her identity that she finally agrees to join the team. And with that, we have the team that will take down the Justice League if it ever comes to it.
(Hhhhmmm there's something GREEN missing from this picture)
Before the issue can end, Waller is called out of the office and Steve tells J’onn that he can come out now. Martian Manhunter is a little taken back that Steve knew he was there but says that he’s in. He also implies that Steve has ulterior motives for being on the team and threatens to erase everyone’s minds if they make a move against him (Don’t mess with J’onn!).
Just then, a random soldier rushes into the room and informs Steve that he needs to get to the infirmary right away. Turns out our mysterious man has made it back to ARGUS after being lost in the Kielder Forest for days. Steve pushes the doctors out of the way and insists that he needs to talk to this guy before he dies (way to give him a fighting chance there Steve). He removes the man’s mask to reveal that it was Green Arrow all along! He’s able to inform Steve that these villains are calling themselves The Secret Society right before he starts to crash and the issue ends!
The Opinion:
This issue was kind of what I was expecting going in. It’s a lot of set up and introductions but not a lot of actual story to latch onto. That isn’t really a bad thing. This issue is probably great for someone that isn’t familiar with these characters and needs the backstories. I appreciate that all of this was packed into one issue instead of dragged out for an entire arc. It just makes me that much more eager for issue two, so we can get the ball rolling and really get into the meat of the story.
I’ve never had any real affinity for Vibe, Katana, Stargirl, or Catwoman but I enjoyed their introductions and I look forward to what Johns has planned for them. He was able to get everyone a decent amount of screen time to let their personalities shine through (except for Baz since he’s trapped in the Dead Zone. Read Green Lantern!) so I have hope that he’ll be able to continue that. Often times in the Justice League book, characters like Cyborg have been just lurking in the background or have two lines for the whole issue. Hopefully, this book won’t have those same struggles.
The strongest part of this issue for me was all of the “Dark Hunter” stuff. I promise that isn’t because it was Green Arrow all along (that actually did surprise me). Those were just the parts that dealt more with potential story opportunities with the Secret Society, so I think they resonated with me more. I’m very curious about what they have planned and how this new JLA will go about taking them on.
The artwork was a little hit and miss with me. I usually really enjoy David Finch’s art, and some pages were really enjoyable in here too, it’s just some other pages felt a little muddy to me. I’m not sure if it was different inkers on those pages or coloring or what. It’s still top notch artwork and nothing to scoff at so I’m reserving judgement.
All in all, it’s a good issue that is really accessible for new readers. There seems to be some strong ideas for future stories and I’m looking forward to reading them.
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