Justice League of America's Vibe #1

"Not-So-Secret Origin"

Geoff Johns and Andrew Kreisberg Writers
Pete Woods Pencils
Sean Parsons Inks
Brad Anderson Colors
Carlos M. Mangual Letters
Katie Kubert Associate Editor
Brian Cunningham Senior Editor

The cover is by David Finch, which I feel is really unfortunate because he did not draw the inside art. I really hate when DC does this, especially on the first issue of a series. The cover art needs to reflect the inside art. Plain and simple. Anyway, this cover isn't bad, but the black-and-white version is a little weird, mainly because of the representation of Vibe's powers looks a lot better in color.

Before this issue, I knew virtually nothing about Vibe. I think all I ever saw of the character was a really cheesy DC Nation short where Vibe beat a robot in a break dancing contest. Not a great first impression of the character. But I did hear good things about this issue, and when I saw an image of the Flash, I knew I had to pick it up.

I do have to complain about the official title of this comic book, though. It's too long and clunky, and I'd imagine that many people have had difficulty finding this book because they were looking in the V section instead of the J section. From what I understand, Vibe's numbers are quite abysmal lately, and I'd have to put at least some of the blame on DC's insistence to call it Justice League of America's Vibe.

The story begins five years ago in Detroit, Michigan. Three brothers are walking down the street, and we learn that the oldest, Armando, has received a football scholarship to a school in California. His younger brothers, Dante and Francisco (or Cisco for short) are really sad to see him leave. Suddenly, a boom tube opens right on top of Cisco and this happens:

Armando was able to save Cisco, but he was killed by a parademon. Five years later, Armando is honored in a President's Day TV special recounting the events of Darkseid's invasion.

Cisco is now working at an electronics store, trying to save up money for college. Dante, however, is unemployed and out of school. Cisco is eventually contacted by ARGUS, and they explain to him that his internal vibrational frequency is no longer in sync with the rest of the world. They help him learn how to use these powers to track down inter-dimensional threats, like a parademon that's been hiding in Detroit for the past five years. ARGUS tells Cisco this is the parademon that killed his brother, so he uses his powers to kill it. Later, Cisco is given an outfit, the code name Vibe, and told he will be a founding member of the Justice League of America.

The Good:

Fresh origin story. Having no previous knowledge of the character, this issue really made me interested in Vibe and want to read more of him. Yes, it may have been a little cliche with his noble older brother hoping to use his scholarship to help his family, but they didn't play this point out so much that it became annoying. And I really liked how Vibe's origin was directly connected to the Darkseid invasion. That was such an important moment, everything connected to it instantly gains more weight and strengthens the overall DC continuity. The only problem with this story is, at this point, I'm not sure if I'm liking Geoff Johns' contributions more or Andrew Kreisberg's. Johns only stayed on for a couple issues, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The Bad:

No Flash. He just showed up on a TV monitor, which hardly counts as an appearance, active or passive. Later on, I think it'll make more sense why I'm reviewing this issue (and I'm still hoping there'll be a great payoff with Vibe and Flash down the line). But for Flash fans looking for a fun Flash adventure, I'd say you can skip this issue and not miss too much.

Final score: 5 out of 10

Next time: Justice League of America #1