It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but the series that got me to start thinking critically about comic book literature came out nearly six years ago. Identity Crisis was in many ways what helped restore my enjoyment of spending three bucks on printed pieces of paper. I mention that series only because the events of issue #3 parallel this issue of James Robinson’s entrance into the JLA. If you exchange Deathstroke for Prometheus, and take Dr. Light out of the equation, the stories are almost the same.

Not that I would throw stones at Robinson for the plot of this issue, it’s been copied over and over again over the years. I’m sure Thom Young had 20 covers come to mind just off the top of his head where this story takes place. I guess what rubbed me the wrong way about this incarnation was how bland it played out.

I realize it’s a bit hypocritical of me to not care for Prometheus as a character, being that he is an evil version of Batman (my favorite character). There’s nothing wrong with a man using his intellect and skill to start crime instead of stopping it, but the execution is where I draw a line. Not being that familiar with the character, I did some searching and learned that Prometheus stores knowledge of virtually every hero he could ever face on storage disks that he can access through a helmet. In this issue, his suit processes that information and dispenses the proper ammo to neutralize each hero in order. In essence, the suit does the heavy lifting and the man merely pulled the trigger.

To me, that’s really a cop out. When Deathstroke fought the JLA, he had a real attack plan that required correct timing and accuracy with each movement. Prometheus merely asked his suit to access info on a disk and tell him what to do. Each time he faced a new hero, the suit dispensed a “magic bullet” that took them out of action. The fight ends only when Shade, a villain who Prometheus had no knowledge stored on his disk, shows up.

I don’t mind being spoon fed from time to time, just make sure I can’t smell what you’re shoveling before it hits my mouth. As a rational reader, I just couldn’t buy into this fight in any way. I’m sure this bad guy is a badass, but this issue he was a boy with a really shiny toy.

It was a little disheartening to see Scott Clark’s name under artist instead of Mauro Cascioli, but that is not meant as an insult to Clark. I guess five issues were enough to put Cascioli behind to the point where he needed help completing the series. Rather than jumping back on the late-artists soapbox, I’ll just say that I enjoyed the style that Mauro was bringing to the series. Clark and colorist Siya Oum, however do an admirable job of mimicking the established look and feel of this series. If I hadn’t seen a different name on the cover, my untrained eye might not have known any different. Hats off to Eddie Berganza for keeping a sense of continuity between artists.

I really wanted to cover the rest of this series, seeing how this is the beginning of DC’s big year planned for Ollie and the Green Arrow family. You can almost see how it is going to play out, this issue just turned out to be something different. Cry For Justice looks to have a predictable ending, funneling into the JLA proper series. My disappointment in this series has more to do with how shallow the characterization has been rather than the script. If not for the great afterward that James provides on the team he chose, I wouldn’t really feel that invested into what has gone on thus far. I plan on giving his Justice League run a shot, hopefully we will deeper into the rift forming between the two factions of heroes that I was hoping to see in this mini-series.

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