DC’s Greatest Superhero Team Finally Reaches Its Full Potential—Justice League Unlimited (2024) #1 Review

Joe Meola ‘25 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Spoilers Ahead

The Justice League is finally back! At the conclusion of DC Comics’ 2022 crossover event “Dark Crisis,” the iconic team of heroes formally disbanded. After over two years of absence from both the publisher’s catalogue of regular monthly titles and the DC Universe as a whole, the Justice League has finally made its triumphant return to comic shop stands. The DC Universe was shaken to its very core by the recent “Absolute Power” event, causing its heroes to realize that the world needs the Justice League now more than ever. So, the Justice League is back, but with a significant twist to its roster. This version of the Justice League does not merely consist of familiar icons like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. This new Justice League roster has everyone. That’s right! Every hero in the DC Universe has a place in the League!

Part of DC’s “All In” publishing initiative, Justice League Unlimited (2024) #1 is penned by Mark Waid, the legendary writer behind classics like Kingdom Come and a tenure on The Flash (1987) that lasted from 1992 to 1997, in addition to modern-day hits like Batman/Superman: World’s Finest (2022). The art in this issue is by Dan Mora, who has become incredibly popular in recent years due in no small part to his work with DC, which includes the aforementioned World’s Finest, Absolute Power, and Shazam! (2023), all coincidentally collaborations with Mark Waid. 

The title and overall concept of this iteration of the Justice League take direct inspiration from the 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited. This series was—and still is—adored by fans, and many comic book readers have been hoping for the Justice League comic books to emulate the show’s status quo of every superhero imaginable gaining Justice League membership. Now, 20 years later, we have just that! Waid and Mora’s take on Justice League Unlimited is not a mere replica of the animated series of the same name, though, as it is firmly established within the greater shared DC Comics Universe, with several other comics tying in with this new status quo.

This issue is divided into three main plots, two of which converge towards the end of the issue. At the start of the issue, a team consisting of Superman, Wonder Woman, Kid Flash (Ace West), Black Lightning, and Star Sapphire are responding to a crisis in South Africa. A malevolent organization known as Inferno is launching an attack on the mining town of Balhauzer with the intention of plundering its natural resources, specifically ilium. Back at the Watchtower—the League’s base of operations—the young hero Air Wave is inducted into the Justice League and given a tour by the Flash (Wally West). He learns of the crisis occurring in Balhauzer and wants to help, but Red Tornado—a robotic superhero temporarily reduced to a bodiless AI—informs him that his ability to transform into electromagnetic waves would not be useful in this situation. 

Star Sapphire and Black Lightning discover a soldier, badly injured and bleeding out fast. Black Lightning determines that he would die before they could take him to the nearest standing hospital, which is 40 miles away, but Star Sapphire thinks she can use her powers to save him if they can find his wife, whose name he has been mumbling since they arrived. The only issue is that phone service in the area is down, meaning that there is no way to contact her. This is when Air Wave steps in, using his mastery over electromagnetic waves to restore phone service to the town, allowing the heroes to find the soldier’s wife. Kid Flash brings the woman to her husband, and Star Sapphire instructs the two to hold hands as she uses her abilities—mastery over the emotion of love via a power ring—to turn the couple’s bond into a “healing force,” restoring the man’s physical condition.

After the town is saved, Superman and Wonder Woman discover a device that plays a holographic message from Inferno with the ominous message that the League already belongs to Inferno, but they just don’t know it yet.

Meanwhile, Batman and the Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) are investigating a disturbance in Costa Rica, where civilians have been getting abducted by what can only be described as “A creature. Taloned. Winged.” The duo is led to a nearby forest, where they discover what appears to be a nest of large, hatched eggs of unknown origin. Batman contacts Red Tornado to request backup.

At the Watchtower, Air Wave is congratulated by his teammates for a job well done. Once alone, he begins to sob, revealing to the reader via internal narration that he was sent to kill the Justice League.

Mark Waid, as always, is a fantastic writer. He effectively juggles multiple characters and plotlines and has a really strong voice for all of the characters featured. Unfortunately, because this is only a single comic book issue—with three separate plots occurring simultaneously, no less—the Batman and Blue Beetle sections of the issue unfortunately feel rather pointless. Of course, they will be expanded upon in later issues, which will no doubt provide excellent payoff, but as part of a single issue it is quite underdeveloped, especially when compared to the other two plots of the issue.

Dan Mora’s artwork never disappoints. Mora has a talent for drawing recognizable, evergreen depictions of characters who have been around for decades, and in this issue the League’s members feel just as iconic as they always have, even lesser-known characters like Star Sapphire and Airwave. Some modern character redesigns feel a bit off in Mora’s artstyle, however, in particular the new design for the Flash. However, Mora did not design this costume himself, as it is also appearing in issues of The Flash (2023), and it doesn’t look any better there. Mora’s artwork is much more suited for characters’ more traditional and iconic looks, and truly it is amazing.

This issue is a great start to the new direction of the DC Universe! Not only does it serve as the starting point for what will most likely be another hit from the creative team of Waid and Mora, but it also serves as a great starting point for the new status quo of the DC Universe. We have already been treated with glimpses of this new structure of the Justice League in series like Titans (2023) and The Question: All Along the Watchtower, as well as October’s All In Special #1, which directly leads into both the All in Initiative and the Absolute Universe, but Justice League Unlimited (2024) is focusing entirely on the Justice League operating in the new status quo. This is definitely a comic book worth checking out for those wanting to dive into current DC Comic books!