Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Justice, Vol. 1 (Justice #1)

by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, Doug Braithwaite (Illustrator)

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 5,053 ratings · 57 reviews

Comic superstar Alex Ross's epic adventure featuring the World's Greatest Super-Heroes vs. the World's Greatest Super-Villains -- now in paperback.

The Justice League of America is reimagined by fan-favorite painter Alex Ross (KINGDOM COME) and writer Jim Krueger (Earth X, Universe X) with pencil art by Doug Braithwaite (Paradise X) in this new softcover collecting the fi

...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published June 10th 2008 by DC Comics (first published September 13th 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Graphic Novels

404th out of 1,501 books — 3,024 voters

Best Covers Ever

232nd out of 272 books — 208 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 31, 2012 Keith rated it 5 of 5 stars

So this is the sort of thing that will be like, A) totally irrelevant to most people, B) a head-nodder for some, and C) a head-shaker for the rest, but like, I'm never really gotten the Justice League.

I get Batman, you know, because I love Batman, and so I figure that if people can love other superheroes the way I love Batman, then sure, it makes sense for people to be big fans of Superman flying around having Superman adventures and Wonder Woman having Wonder Woman adventures and all the rest,...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2012 Justyn Rampa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

I almost loved the author's notes more than the entire story because I found his discussion of what makes a villain quite fascinating and thought provoking. His story, the story of Justice is told in three relatively short volumes so to be fair I think I will have to do a big review once I finish all three.

However, I am done with the first volume and would like to share some of my thoughts. On one level, the story is genius! Why don't superheroes just makes the world a better place and try and s...more

like · see review

Apr 14, 2011 Zainab rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recently I have decided I must branch out my reading of superhero comics to include characters other than Batman. The thought of going cold turkey terrifies me a little, so I've decided to begin with a foray into JLA titles in which Bats is still present. I got given the final volume of Justice a couple of months back and decided it sounded interesting enough to merit buying the preceding volumes. Two weeks of scouring Ebay later, I had the whole set in my clammy hands. First of all, I must admi...more Recently I have decided I must branch out my reading of superhero comics to include characters other than Batman. The thought of going cold turkey terrifies me a little, so I've decided to begin with a foray into JLA titles in which Bats is still present. I got given the final volume of Justice a couple of months back and decided it sounded interesting enough to merit buying the preceding volumes. Two weeks of scouring Ebay later, I had the whole set in my clammy hands. First of all, I must admit I am not Alex Ross's hugest fan. While I can acknowledge his talent and the time, effort and skill required to produce such art, I don't know whether I think it's best suited to the medium of comics. Having said that, I feel with Justice, they were going for an epic story, and his art certainly contributes to the feel of this.

The plot: All over the world, the JLA's greatest foes are experiencing the same dream: a vision which shows the demise of the universe's superheroes. Seemingly moved by this premonition, Luthor, Bizarro, the Joker, Riddler and others join forces to offer the world an alternative solution. Why is it, they ask, that with all the combined powers and abilities at the JLA's disposal, there is still the existence of poverty and famine and disease? We have joined together, they say, to offer you a cure for your diseases and a chance to begin life anew.

Needless to say things aren't as straightforward as they appear. As people around the globe are magically cured of cancer, paralysis and disease, the apparently reformed villains begin housing them in eight glorious new cities of their own creation. Even whilst Superman is furrowing his brow in suspicion and Batman is gathering his investigative wits, the members of the JLA are attacked one by one, individually incapacitated and unable to contact one another, leaving the world to assume that they have no response to the new alliance's challenge.

The good: This is a great story, very well written. Although a JLA title, ostensibly it's about two people- Green Lantern and Batman.The page where Hal escapes from his space prison:When you come to this bit in the story, you can hear the music rising to a crescendo and peaking at the page above. So Alex Ross must be doing something right. Green Lantern's incarceration and subsequent breakout are vital to the story. I've not read any Green Lantern stories, but I've ordered 'Rebirth' as a direct influence of his role here. Although Bats is more of an orchestrator here, it seems members of the JLA are as obsessed with him as I am, constantly worrying about what he will think. Or maybe I'm projecting. Also good- the Joker as a zealous preacher. You know some things you see and wonder why they haven't been done before as they just seem right? This was one of them.

The bad: The only criticism I have of this is the point of view narration. It switches between a lot of characters whilst there are many characters in the frame, so it can take a while to work out who is speaking. Also it is just me or does Batman's armour look decidedly feminine?

This review is taken from my blog on comics and books, please take a look http://comicsandcola.blogspot.com/

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2011 S rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithwaite do the seemingly impossible and told the Super Friends' first ever legitimately cool story.

Can't really say how without spoiling it, so I'll just talk about the pictures.

In Justice, Ross paints over Braithwaite's pencils but many of the characters (especially their faces) look like pure Ross. This has me curious about the original pencils: did Braithwaite draw the characters while aping Ross's style, or did Ross disregard Braithwaite's faces and do hi...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 14, 2009 logankstewart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-comics, library, 2009-read

Justice: Volume 1 takes everything we knew about in the DC comic world and turns it on its head. The Intro note from the author is intriguing and well written, and poses a few great points, most importantly that a well-written villain is acting "right" in his own mind, while a hero is acting "right" in his own mind.

That said, Justice begins with a thought-provoking mindset. The premise of the series is that the world's Super Villains decide to join together and do good in the world, kind of like...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 22, 2012 Sesana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, superhumans, cover-love

If all the world's supervillains, or even most, were to band together, the heroes would be in trouble. And that's exactly what happens in Justice. Inspired by a dream of superheroes being powerless to save earth from catastrophe, and lead by Brainiac and Lex Luthor, the villains systematically target the heroes one by one, while at the same time using their abilities to benefit humanity. Poison Ivy makes the desert bloom, for example. Of course, they're up to something.

Luthor himself raises an i...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2009 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned, comics, dc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Jun 04, 2012 Megan Nebeker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-lit-2

All the villains of the Justice League band together to start "saving" the world. They track down and try to destroy each superhero because they only saved people with their powers, and they did not try to make the world a better place. Now Luthor, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, and others have combined forces to discredit the superheroes and to become the next generation of good guys.

This was my first superhero comic, and my second graphic novel. I really enjoyed it. I can't say the story was particu...more

like · see review

Dec 24, 2011 Ubalstecha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

The villains of the DC Universe have been having nightmares about the end of the world and how the heroes can't stop it. So they band together for two purposes, 1) to save mankind by performing acts of good and 2) stop the apocalypse by stopping all the heroes.

In this first volume we see hero after hero fall to the onslaught of villains. It is a bit depressing watching the icons of my childhood fall so easily to the onslaught of the badguys. If it had been this easy, wouldn't it have happened be...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2013 Twohundred rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: gnovels

This is hands-down the best graphic novel I have ever read.
It is beautiful, terrifying, and real in both visual and emotional ways.

The moral lessons (the reason for mythic tales in the first place) are intelligent, true to its own history, and very well-done. They bring the characters and their motives back to their origins.

This is the book that sealed its authors' revered places in history forever.

I have it on my iPad, and the ability to zoom in on the vivid art is a major advantage over print...more

like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Rod Hilton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

"Justice" doesn't work for me. This is not a story about impending disaster, or some huge threat to Earth that the Justice League must band together to fight. Instead, what happens here is that all of the DC Super-villains get together and work out a master plan to destroy all of the Justice League. Page by page, their plan plays itself out, only to be thwarted with some hand-wavey powers of JLA members.

In other words, what's being attacked here is the JLA itself, not the planet which the JLA m...more

like · see review

Dec 27, 2009 Batsap rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, library

I had this book hanging around for ages before I finally decided to read it and when I did, I wondered why on Earth I hadn't gotten around to it sooner.

From the first page I was drawn in by the beatiful drawings - the line art and paints combining perfectly to make panels that I happily spent whole minutes poring over before remembering there was actually dialogue to go along with the scene; some of the most beautiful panels appearing in Aquaman's underwater scenes. Which is not to say that the...more I had this book hanging around for ages before I finally decided to read it and when I did, I wondered why on Earth I hadn't gotten around to it sooner.

From the first page I was drawn in by the beatiful drawings - the line art and paints combining perfectly to make panels that I happily spent whole minutes poring over before remembering there was actually dialogue to go along with the scene; some of the most beautiful panels appearing in Aquaman's underwater scenes. Which is not to say that the dialogue was forgettable or something that needed to be avoided.

For someone like me who has dedicated a lot of time to just one of the Leaguers (no prizes for guessing who, it's all in the name), I was a little worried that I would be overwhelmed by a storyline including so many different characters, and also that I wouldn't know all of them. Luckily, this book seemed like a perfect introduction to the Leaguers and their respective villains. There were even some handy files from the 'Bat-computer' at the back to fill the unlearned in on origins and major personality traits of the heroes and villains.

With so many characters to include as the 'villains' (for this is one of the themes raised by this book - that in the villains own mind he is the hero, this mindset being best illustrated by Lex Luthor) begin to take their effect on the world, it would be easy for the plot to become convoluted and confusing to follow, but the quality of the writing meant that I was able to easily keep up with the action and there was never an oppurtunity to get bored.

What stood out for me most however, was the characterisation of the Riddler. As a massive fan of his, I am often disappointed by his depiction as a camp, gimmick-y D-lister among Batman's rogue gallery. So I was grateful to see that in this graphic novel, his compulsion to truth-telling was handled in a mature way and he was given credit for his intelligence. It was also great to see him taking such a big part in the story and his conversation with Joker in Arkham Asylum was brilliant.

I will definitely be seeking out volumes 2 and 3 as soon as I can.(less)

like · see review

Jan 03, 2009 Joseph rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, fiction

It's hard to review this without being able to read the second half of the story. Alex Ross' art is, as usual, beautiful, and the premise of the story, that all the super-villains have banded together to save the world, is very interesting.

I assume that when this series ends, the status quo will be resumed, and the villains will again be working for the usual selfish or evil motives, but it would be interesting to see the DC Universe try to stick this out, with both villains and heroes trying to...more

like · see review

Nov 09, 2008 Peter rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: morons, idiots, and mental defectives

Recommended to Peter by: nobody

Shelves: comic-graphic-novel, library, science-fiction

I'm glad I got this out from the library, because I'd have been pretty annoyed if I'd paid for this utterly uninspiring and unmemorable piece of work.

What is it about DC and Marvel that they simply CANNOT publish a memorable or well-written comic or miniseries unless one of a very small number of writers is part of the project? At this point, if it's not by Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman, my expectations are virtually nil.

I read the whole series - volumes 1, 2, and 3. What was it about? The bad guys...more

like · see review

Oct 15, 2008 Erik rated it 4 of 5 stars

Imagine that Earth’s greatest super-villains – collectively known as the Legion of Doom courtesy of that great Challenge of the Super-Friends series from back in the late 70s and early 80s – decide to one-up their heroic better halves by offering humanity a chance for a better life. Yes, you read that right. The premise of this brilliantly executed 12-issue series, now reprinted in three beautifully hardbound volumes, puts the villains in the spotlight as the promised saviors of humankind’s ills...more

like · see review

Feb 10, 2010 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, 2010-reads

"When you write an antagonist, you always write him, in his mind, as the protagonist. That means, every villain of a story, to be a good villain, must believe himself to be the hero. Not the villain at all."

In his foreward in this book, Jim Kreuger speaks about how he writes a villain and what he has learned about writing effective villains. This really caught my attention because this is what I have always believed when I read a book that features a pronounced antagonist. I really can't stand...more "When you write an antagonist, you always write him, in his mind, as the protagonist. That means, every villain of a story, to be a good villain, must believe himself to be the hero. Not the villain at all."

In his foreward in this book, Jim Kreuger speaks about how he writes a villain and what he has learned about writing effective villains. This really caught my attention because this is what I have always believed when I read a book that features a pronounced antagonist. I really can't stand to read books where the villain "raise[s:] his head from his pillow that morning to consider what "evil" he might do that day." People in my reading groups and anyone who reads my reviews know that I hate Evil for Evil's sakes villains. I want to villain to be someone who really thinks what he is doing, from his perspective, is right. Yes, what he is doing is...,well,...evil. But he doesn't think so and he has a real motive of why he's doing it.

In this very well done and provocative first volume, Kreuger does just that. He takes some very well known DC universe villains, (Lex Luthor, Riddler, Black Manta etc.) as has them banding together to solve Earth's woes. Their reasoning is that the Justice League heroes (Superman, Wonderwoman, Batman, Aquaman etc.) haven't really made the world a better place with all their super powers. They haven't cured diseases, they haven't eradicated poverty etc. And in fact their presence has made man lazy. Their ability to save men from dangers hasn't allowed man to grow and reach for the stars themselves. And actually, this is pretty darned sound reasoning. Really, what have they done except fight each other and other supervillains? So Lex and co. actually go about doing all that stuff. And it is pretty darned awesome.

Of course the painful part is seeing the heroes number among the fallen now. Knowing that the villains are carrying out a carefully constructed and well orchestrated plan to remove the heroes for good, is kinda awful to read and see. And it is a plan that looks like it just might work.

Of course this is just the first volume. There are, I believe, four or five total. This means that eventually the heroes will possibly come out of top again. Because, frankly, no matter how well drawn or reasonable a group of supervillains are, they are, at heart, villains. Somebody is going to do something that will make their fragile alliance collapse. But that is for a later installment possibly.

For now, this volume really works for me.

And let me take a minute to talk about Alex Ross. I FLOVE his art. If his art were human I'd have it's babies. It is beautiful, almost living. I try to buy any books he illustrates because his art just speaks to me. I have the giant posters of Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and Captain Marvel that he did as a limited edition. And I love the character he puts in their faces. Especially Wonderwowan. She isn't just a pretty woman in satin tights. She looks like an Amazonian Warrior who just happens to be gorgeous. They all look like they've been fighting a lot and seen a lot.

Reccommend!(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 24, 2012 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, graphic-novel

This volume of Justice has a compelling story, but it'd be worth a read just for the art.

The pencils by Doug Braithwaite painted by Alex Ross are really beautiful. I'm used to painted covers on graphic novels, but having the whole comic painted gives it a different quality than most. I hesitate to call it more artistic, but the images feel deeper.

I can see the influence Norman Rockwell had on Ross. Very cool.

like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Derwin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel changed my views on Superheroes.

...imagine if the Supervillains are the cops and the authority, to help people in need.
...and imagine if the Superheroes are the terrorists and murderers, it's crazy I know.

*Spoiler*

...and to actually witness the death of Superman, using ones imagination, really is unbearable to continue on.
****

...a must for fans of DC Comics.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 18, 2010 Clay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great art BUT the story just drags on and on.
It's the Legion of Doom winning over the JLA and taking the heroes to task for never making the world a better place.
The problem I had was the entire trade was just the LOD attacking everyone and offering the public a better tomorrow.
If you want to find out what happens, get the next trade. Maybe. I haven't read that one yet.

like · see review

Jul 22, 2008 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Rian, Nat, all JLA fans

Shelves: graphic-novels

I need the next volumes.

Like, right now . I love, love, love the concepts they're tackling here, and honest to god, I almost started crying when I described the opening chapter to my friend -- something is just hitting me very hard about this series, about what it must be like for superheroes to feel helpless. Because then it means their entire freakin' purpose is gone.

The legitimacy of justice, the obligations behind superpowers, the reasoning behind the actions of supervillains... Man. These a...more

like · see review

Mar 08, 2012 Scott Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful peek into the world of the JLA and Legion of Doom from another Earth. So very much like the regular universe but slightly different and very Silver Agey. The writing was supurb, asking lots of questions and making great points. The art, as always with Alex Ross, was beutiful.

like · see review

Jun 30, 2010 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic_novel, superheroes

So this is the miniseries the LCS recommended when we said we wanted some superhero stories that didn't require 80 volumes to finish and Wikipedia to understand. After reading it, I realize I should have added "no nostalgia porn" to the "no continuity issues" requirement.

like · see review

May 03, 2009 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

The storyline is interesting enough...villains saying they will help the people of the world and do more good than the heroes ever have. However, it is the artwork that really shines. Doug Braithwaite pencilled this and Alex Ross' painting on top of his work is stunning.

like · see review

Aug 27, 2008 Jerry Pinkard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Awesome writing, awesome handling of the characters, and, as always, the life-like art of Alex Ross seems to bring more life to them than a lot of the current movies. When Ross handles the DC Universe, particularly the icons(Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, even the villians), I am often reminded of old Greek Mythology and how fascinating those stories and characters have always been. Could our comic book heroes be the same to us as the stories of Zues and Hercules were in ancient times? Hmm. Mod...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Rory (Nightwyrm) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Picked this up due to the Alex Ross cover an happy to see he did the internal art too. Some gorgeous imagery!

Story's intriguing. This is a three-volume series so a lot of setup, but looks to be better than the usual paint-by-numbers JLA tale.

like · see review

Jan 26, 2012 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, series, sf-f

So, I'm sucker for Alex Ross, but it's not like he doesn't make it easy. Fabulous art work, excellent story, great characterization. Wonderful way to while away a Sunday afternoon.

like · see review

Dec 04, 2008 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great art by Alex Ross. Story needed some fleshing out and the dialogue could be a little less choppy, but the underlying themes and idea kept me reading. Well worth a look-see.

like · see review

Jul 13, 2010 Matthew Jackson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

A lightning fast read that sets up what promises to be a killer story. It's really tough to be on the edge of your seat reading a comic, but this one pulled it off.

like · see review

Mar 18, 2013 Tiffani Worden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very good story. Interesting and great art of course. I read it a while ago. What I do remember is that I found it on par with Gods Among Us.

like · see review

Jul 13, 2012 Janet added it

So I read this... and found it very annoying. I couldn't figure out what was happening until the end of the book, so it was just very confusing.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

Sequential Art > Graphic Novels

118 users

Superheroes > Dc Comics

24 users

Comics > Comic Book

14 users

Comics > Superheroes

13 users

Graphic Novels Comics

12 users

Dc Comics > Superman

7 users

Dc Comics > Batman

7 users

Fantasy

3 users

Comics Manga

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Jim Krueger

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Justice, Vol. 1

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Justice, Vol. 1

“We could have touched the stars. Instead, you brought them to us. We didn't have to seek the heavens when we had you here with us now.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Justice, Vol. 1
avg rating	preview: Justice, Vol. 1 Goodreads rating: 4.06 (5053 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/616318.Justice_Vol_1?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347463986l/616318.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/616318.Justice_Vol_1?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Justice, Vol. 1 by Jim Krueger[/url]

Justice, Vol. 1 (Justice #1)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Jim Krueger

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Justice, Vol. 1

Quotes from Justice, Vol. 1