Harris Smith recommends Justice League #29
One of my favorite things about DC Comics has always been their less-used, oddball characters, and it’s been fun over the past few years to see how overlooked superheroes like The Creeper and The Phantom Stranger have been reintroduced into the New 52. Justice League #29 brings us another eccentric favorite, the Metal Men! Created in 1962 by comics legends Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, the bickering, often neurotic androids of the Metal Men have often brought a charming, ironically very human humor to their stories (although their excellent 2007 miniseries tended more towards the metaphysical than the comical) and fortunately writer Geoff Johns continues this tradition, ably aided by Doug Mahnke’s detailed, expressive artwork.
Particularly enjoyable in this issue are the Metal Men’s interactions with the Justice League’s Cyborg, partially a metal man himself. Johns has a history of imbuing his writing with a lot of humanity (particularly in his 2007 Justice Society of America series) and we get a taste of that here in the juxtaposition of Cyborg’s humorous introduction to the Metal Men against a more emotional face-off against his Crime Syndicate counterpart, Grid, a living computer virus made from Cyborg’s junked parts. Cyborg’s struggling with his own sense of what makes him human conflicting against Grid’s totally lack of humanity makes for a really compelling character dynamic in this issue.
If you’re a fan of the Metal Men or Cyborg, or if you’re gearing up for the finale of Forever Evil, or if you just enjoy well-written (and drawn) comics, Justice League #29’s got what you’re looking for in a superhero comic this week.
[Read Justice League #29 here]
For fans of: superheroes, team books, crossover events
Harris Smith is a Brooklyn-based comics and media professional. In addition to his role as a Senior Production Coordinator at comiXology, he edits several comics anthologies, including Jeans and Felony Comics, under the banner of Negative Pleasure Publications. He’s also the host of the weekly radio show Negative Pleasure on Newtown Radio.