Future State - Justice League#2 blows the doors off, leaving readers immediately wanting more from this next-gen JLA. The backup JLD story falters just a bit, though, by virtue of not doing enough to differentiate itself from its modern-day incarnation. Ultimately, though, this is far and away one of the best Future State comics, and is well worth a buy. Read Full Review

While the main plot involving the white martians is strong, what really impresses me about Williamson's story here is the way he changes the team's dynamic in only forty pages. Read Full Review

Reading Future State: Justice League #2 reminding me a lot of the experience I have whenever I watch an episode of the DC Animated Universe Justice League and JLU shows. Like those shows, you are immediately invited into the story being presented without feeling like you are missing out on earlier events. At the same time, if you are follow any of the other Future State comic books you'll get a lot out of references that are made. That alone makes Future State: Justice League #2 a winner. The fact both Justice League and Justice League Dark stories are fun just adds to the value this Future State series had as the premiere title in this direction DC Comics took. Read Full Review

Robson Rocha delivers some awesome action imagery throughout the story. Marcio Takara does a brilliant job of capturing the power of the characters and the emotion of the moment. Read Full Review

All in all, Future State: Justice League #2 served as a proper introduction to what we should expect from this new Justice League. The pacing was a bit off, but the conclusion was worth being patient for things to fall into place. Read Full Review

The common thread for both stories is they would have benefited from more issues. This abbreviated approach leaves the door open for more stories without feeling like anything would truly be missed if the teams weren't revisited again. Read Full Review

The future Leagues receive send-offs that fit their characters, but both stories feel like there's much left unsaid. Read Full Review

Like Future State: Justice League #1, the Justice League Dark portion of this issue provides the superior story. I'd love to read more about this team under the watch of Ram V (writing), Marcio Takara (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors) and Rob Leigh (letters). Etrigan takes center stage in Proheties Part 2, and it'd be great to dig into his vulnerabilities. (Justice League Dark brought up the grade of this issue at least a full point.) Read Full Review

Only read if you're invested or enjoy being driven mad. Read Full Review

On the one hand, you have a book that seems to tiptoe the line between Future State and the current DCU " on the other, you have a book that ATTEMPTS to embrace Future State, only to be held back by the same issues that plague mainline continuity. This is a great reminder that, while a change in characters and creators can be good, it doesn't automatically mean a positive uptick in quality " even though this book could have been a whole lot worse. Read Full Review

There are several elements of Future State: Justice League that work extremely well, including the core premise regarding the differences between this new League and the original. The exchanges between Yara and Jon highlight this core concept in an organic way, and I love the idea of Joshua Williamson showing us the team getting to know each other in real-time, but the execution is just a little clunky. Read Full Review

The back up story was much more interesting and if there is a place for the Future State stories to continue, I would suggest that Justice League Dark be that place. Read Full Review

This book is one of my biggest disappointments of Future State. Joshua Williamson fumbles through a Hyperclan vs. the Justice League story that never felt like it had any stakes at all. It's all based on the Justice League getting to know each other, and the story ends right before they do. I guess that's the order of the day because Ram V gives readers a non-ending as well. The art in both stories is good, but there is not much else to recommend. Read Full Review

Justice League:

This was a pretty good story. Glad to see the JL made it out alive and decided to change the rules, once more revealing their identities and adding members to the roster. Artwork was amazing!

9/10

Justice League Dark:

The first issue's backup was much better in my opinion and I felt like the JLD could've had their own Future State book to explore this world a bit more. It built up a lot of action and had many characters to use, however, the ending was a bit disappointing. Artwork was good nonetheless.

8/10

I actually liked both of these stories. Joshua Williamson did a good job working on the relationship of the new JL, and Ram V proved he can write JL Dark just fine without working off of James Tynion IV's existing outline.

8.4!

" SUPRISE !"
- SUPERMAN (JON KENT)

What made Justice League #1 so enjoyable to me were the characters' relationships and interactions or lack thereof given the rule the previous League set. While the narrative spun around the rule is still supposed to be front and center, it doesn't truly feel like it. Instead of seeing that most of the Leaguers don't know each other, the readers are told so.

This is an anti-climatic ending to a story that had potential because it needs to give too much of its focus to the external threat and even the pages that deal with our main-heroes fall flat. Their conflict plays out like something we have seen a thousand times before, and Jace is the worst offender. In this, he is no more than a carbon-copy of Bruce.

The art seems rushed. There is no panel that stood out to me while reading the story.

Justice League Dark impresses more. While it is obvious that the story would have benefitted from a few extra pages, the different conflicts play out well, and I loved to see Ram V use the "possible Future" aspect of Future State to his advantage even if only in such a small way. It's a great idea to connect this short JLD run with the up-coming one through Etrigan.

The art remains consistent but it truly shines whenever Takara is drawing magic, whether that be Etrigan and Chimps mindscape or Enchantress using her powers. more

The main story was extremely rushed, even if it does set up a plot for some possible future stories. The JLD one was really good, but could not save the issue.

The Justice League Future State filler story was contrived, simple, short. But it wasn't bad. It was OK, the art was OK, the story was at least a story. The idea that The New Batman "discovers" a way to defeat the White Martians by TO Morrow simply leaving something "around," is obviously contrived. Joshua Williamson clearly ran out runway as a writer on this and page space to come up with a credible plot, so he punts on contrived ending. I notice The New Batman's mask ("Jace" Tim Fox) keeps changing. I am hoping that is on purpose, as part of him "opening up," but we really don't know. The New Batman "humming" was (I think) intended to be funny. If so, then ha ha, OK? (eye roll).

But let's be honest, too many comics have done that at some point. And a filler story can be "OK." Not a lot have paid 6 dollars for such comics, however. If this were a 1960s/1970s 12 to 25 cent comic book, you would shrug, but, well, it's not. To be clear, a 25 cent comic book from 1970, with 605.2% inflation would be $1.76... so even a $3-4 comic would be average, but not $5.99. So basically, we are paying a premium to give Joshua Williamson some work during pandemic... or DC Comics is setting new pricing standards. Either way, this is an "OK" $2-3 book with a $6 cover price. DC is just normalizing "future state" of comic prices from $4 to $6-8. That's the true point of "Future State."

A lot of reviewers panned the Justice League Dark (JLD) second story, which I thought was much more entertaining. Problem is the heavy exposition makes it into a 2 day read. It got so boring at the beginning that I set it down and gave up on it. But the next day, it was OK to finish. No you shouldn't need 2 days to read a 20 page second story. However, if you read it that way, it is not so bad. It is always good to see Dr. Fate, in any of his incarnations, as I am a long-time Justice Society of America (JSA) fan. The other characters (meh), but Dr. Fate's sacrifice, knowing the many diverse multiverse futures, and his whisper to Etrigan at the end (point of the story), made it a good read. Staggering exposition and clumsy art at the beginning of JLD made it a plow, but there is something interesting revealed for the "past" of JLD in "future state." That was probably better than JLA. At least it had a point. The JLA story was really just filler.

JLA Issue 2 Rating: 5.5
JLD Issue Rating : 6.75
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I would read a spinoff of Aquawoman and the new Flash. They were the only ones that came across as interesting. The rest of the team's dynamic was just frustratingly childish. I felt like I was reading an old Young Justice comic.

I didn't think either story pulled through with a satisfying conclusion. It was a waste.

This review is just for the JLD story. So...that was anti-climactic. This was a lame ending to this two-parter. Doctor Fate pretty much just pulled a Doctor Strange move (from Infinity War), saying he has to make this sacrifice because he saw only one possible future where they win. Sad to say this about a story written by Ram V; who I believe to be a pretty great writer usually. Can't say I recommend this story at all and I have zero interest in continuing with the back-up feature in Justice League. So once again: goodbye JLD!

No matter how great you may be as a writer, you will have some undeniable strengths as well as some notable weaknesses. The best thing you can do about them is try to understand them and avoid exposing them. And I feel like Ram V just found his weaker side in form of Future State's Justice League. Hardly the first writer who found difficulties writing such a huge and important ensemble book (remember Priest's JL run?), but it always stings when someone you like and admire releases something bad, because it always feels worse than when someone bad releases something bad, am I right?

Ram V came up with the fantastic Swamp Thing story for this event, as well as with a really thrilling first issue of Catwoman which I hope will end on an equally high note. But his vision of Justice League is something that should be scrapped and forgotten.

It would be easy to blame this failure on the sheer fact the comic is only two issues long, yet has to tell a story featuring several characters. And okay, that would be a somewhat good point and a valid line of defense. The question remains, why wasn't this comic longer, then? One or two more issues could have change this mess completely, give the main characters enough time to grow, and we would get enough panels with them to actually care about them. Which I really can't bring myself to now.

Overall Justice League is one of Future State's biggest disappointments. A very, very mediocre (at best) comic which leaves you indifferent, unimpressed and unchanged. Oh, sorry, I take that back - I actually laughed once while reading it, seeing the last panel with candidates to join the League. Certainly better joke than an average one liner in a Marvel movie, eh? more

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• Miracleman92

REYNARD - Feb 9, 2021

Remember that Williamson wrote the first JL story and Ram V wrote the JLDark backup

Nihilist - Feb 9, 2021

Of course, and Ram V's JL: Dark was pretty good. He had more time to tell a story there, though, and characters that didn't need to established entirely. Ultimately I think this short doesn't fit his usual style and writing strengths. Possibly a mismatch, possibly a failed idea to begin with due to its length. Probably both.

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