The United Nations decide that with the success of the Justice League, they also need a superhero team that stands ready to leap into action as soon as disaster strikes. The United Nations can't rely on the Justice League to save the day unless it directly effects those heroes, so a team is built that will appeal to the public. It consists of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Rocket Red, Godiva, August General in Iron, Vixen and Batman occasionally steps in to help out. Their first mission is to investigate four metal colossi that have landed on Earth and are sending a signal... somewhere. The team, filled with clashing personalities and people who cannot stand the others, have to learn to trust each other and overcome the threats thrown at them. After disaster strikes the team, leaving some members gravely injured and others killed, the team goes looking for those responsible, but what they find may be more than they can handle themselves.
The original series of Justice League International was released in the late 1980s under writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis. It was essentially the second-string heroes and had a much lighter style (something that Giffen and DeMatteis excel at). There are elements of that in the New 52 version, but to a much lesser degree. The main focus is on Booster Gold (which is great, because Booster Gold is amazing), but unfortunately, he loses a lot of pathos without his classic compatriot Ted Kord (the Blue Beetle). Booster is still a lot more comical than the others on the team, but that is really an indication of his incompetence as a superhero, rather than a theme of the book. Even this is dropped quickly as Booster becomes more of a leader, and by the second (and last) volume of the series, things have turned deadly serious. The last few pages of the second volume are brutal and essentially paved the way for Future's End, nearly two years later.
As a straight-forward action adventure, Justice League International is quite good. As an introduction of existing characters into this new universe that had been created, it wasn't great. Dan Jurgens is a solid writer and develops each of the characters enough early on that the audience will know how they will react to each situation – and that means there's room for surprises and twists from those assumptions. The overall tone of the books are similar to what Tony Bedard was doing with Green Lantern – New Guardians at the same time, and it's unfortunate that Justice League International didn't have the same success. After it was cancelled, Justice League of America took its place, dealing with a lot of the same themes, but using more high-profile characters. If you're after straight forward adventure, either series is a good place to start, especially if one of your favourite characters is making an appearance.
Justice League International vol. 1: The Signal Masters – 9781401235345 - $24.99 – 144 pages
Justice League International vol. 2: Breakdown – 9781401237936 - $24.99 – 200 pages
Justice League of America vol. 1: World's Most Dangerous – 9781401246891 - $29.99 – 224 pages [Available July]
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