Review by Ian Keogh

Although marketed as a Superman title, don’t expect him to be central as he’s only one of an ensemble cast, as this collection reprints Justice League comics from the early 1990s in which he’s the team conscience and mentor. At least at the start. Beyond that, for reasons of being dead, he doesn’t feature.

Volume 1 hasn’t aged well, but this material is better, starting well, dipping a little and then picking up for the best material of the run. While Dave Cockrum’s art is functional rather than spectacular, Dan Jurgens drops several surprises over an extended opening encounter with a troublesome Eclipso with a good role for Blue Beetle. The following idea of Superman being interviewed about the Justice League while contrasting them in action is better in concept than execution, and leads into the biggest superhero story of the era. That was Superman’s death, also devised by Jurgens, and the chapters deal with the Justice League coping with the fallout. It’s meant to be tragic, but it’s overwritten with some uncharacteristically poor figures from Jurgens and Rick Burchett. Also unappealing is their eventually settling on Blue Beetle being considerably shorter than anyone else.

However, the following chapters are a real surprise, injecting suspense and unpredictability. It starts with a recruitment drive supplying some surprising new members before Jurgens again fishes around in the Justice League’s catalogue of 1960s foes. Turn the page and it’s the return of the classic 1960s line-up, the cast Grant Morrison would restore later in the 1990s, but here sinister and aggressive without conscience.

Tom Taylor later wrote about an out of control Justice League in Injustice, but the version supplied by Jurgens remains strong. The introductory chapter was shocking in 1993 and retains that power, with a murderous Hawkman standing out. It’s accentuated by Burchett perhaps taking on more of the art, as there are fewer anatomical mistakes and greater detail. While the remainder doesn’t match the shock of the introduction Jurgens ensures there’s plenty to enjoy about the Justice League meeting twisted versions of their earlier incarnation, and manages to sustain the mystery of why it’s happening for some considerable while. This is amid a confusing stew of a skeletal villain, a clever revelation about one of the current Justice League and a well plotted solution.

A two chapter epilogue deals with the disclosures of the previous story, but what starts as a puzzle fails to hold the interest. The better parts have the smug Weapons Master dealt with and the Ray held in high esteem, but it sidelines most of the cast in favour of a dull villain, and the eventual revelation is hardly inspired.

This completes Jurgens’ run on the Justice League, and Dan Vado takes over for Wonder Woman and Justice League America.