Comic Review: Justice League #9

Justice League #9

DC Comics

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artist: Jorge Jimenez

We’re only through the first arc of Scott Snyder’s Justice League and a lot has happened.  The moon was destroyed, Batman battled Lex Luthor inside Superman’s body, John Stewart became a member of a new lantern corps, Sinestro attempted to brainwash the Earth with a corrupted planet, and a whole lot of other crazy stuff happened.  After plenty of action and excitement, Justice League #9 is the perfect breather.

One of my favorite aspects of Snyder’s run is his reintroduction of the Hall of Justice.  Due to the world-ending threats in previous issues, the Hall kind of fell by the wayside.  Luckily, the Hall of Justice takes center stage in this issue.

Scott Snyder fleshes out the Hall of Justice in all of its superhero glory.  We start with an introduction to the hall, narrated by the Flash.  The public areas of the Hall are a pleasure to look at, full of costumes and statues.  But the real treat is the area that the public doesn’t get to see.  We get a great shot of the Justice League dining hall, with heroes everywhere.  When Snyder first started the series, one thing he wanted to achieve was to make the DC Universe feel more connected.  He wanted the Hall of Justice to serve as a base of operations for all superheros.  This issue is exemplary of this mindset.  Besides just the core League members, we get plenty of other heroes hustling and bustling.

Perhaps the most enjoyable and unexpected part of the Hall is the League members’ living quarters.  We get a look at each League member’s personal room in this issue.  Each one is totally representative of their character.  Aquaman lives in a sunken ship, John Stewart basically lives in a military tent, but perhaps my favorite room is Batman’s:  a giant steel door with “Stay Out!” sprayed onto it.

Although this issue doesn’t move the story forward, I think it’s issues like this that add more to the characters.  Seeing the League members interact in their free time is an absolute treat.  If you’re someone who wants to know what these heroes do in their free time, this issue is for you.

And of course, the Hall of Justice couldn’t look any more beautiful thanks to Jorge Jimenez on pencils.  This issue goes to show that Jimenez can handle beautiful architecture and layouts, not just action.

This issue is honestly a tour guide to the Hall of Justice.  Even though not a whole lot happened, this was the perfect breather between story arcs.  I hope Snyder writes more issues like this in the future because there is still plenty to explore in the Hall of Justice.