Rise And Fall, or Trip And Fail?

I decided to take a look at the follow up to last week's "classic" Justice League: Cry For Justice #7. Could this week's Justice League: Rise and Fall Special improve upon that monumental storyline? Well, the answer is yes. But, a one legged midget could've cleared that hurdle. While this is a bit better, it's still nearly as big a wreck as Star City.

First, let's look at the art (since we must). This issue's three artists(Really, three? That makes six artists, just on these last two comics) are given the task of portraying some highly emotional territory. The characters cope with murder, betrayal, and grief. But, the art just bleeds "bland" all over the page. I felt kept at a distance, rather than sucked into the drama. As for the story, J.T. Krul is a talented writer. He has a love of these characters that shines through, and if he continues to develop his chops, he'll be a favorite. But, he'd make the Black Lantern Fiddler jealous with all the wrong notes he hits here.

Note#1- Green Arrow reasoning that at his core he's not a hero, but a hunter. Yes, i know that GA gained his skills by hunting on an island for months. And, yes I know that Mike Grell's run took him in the direction of "urban hunter". However, at his heart Ollie is a crusader. I've always thought of archery as a means to an end for him. That end being, spreading social justice and reform to the underdog.

Note#2- Batman and Wally's pow-wow. While it is always great to see these two together, and particularly vital to have an ex-Titans perspective on these events, these guys should be well past the point of worrying. Are they serious? They think it's just luck they haven't been maimed as well? They have more experience than 90% of the JLA membership. Besides, Roy's injury, and Lian's death had nothing to do with skill. Roy thought that Prometheus was Shazam, and Lian was one of thousands that had a building drop on her head. How would more training help with that?

Note#3- Barry and Hal- OF ALL PEOPLE-calling Ollie a killer. Let's see, when Coast City was destroyed Hal tried to slaughter the entire Green Lantern Corps, and of course Barry snapped the Reverse Flash's neck. Now, GA does call Barry out on this, and Hal's Parallax possession let's him off the hook. But, you would think they would set the hypocrisy ray to stun at least. By the way, Barry says he killed Prof. Zoom to save Iris. Nope. Iris was "dead" for years at that point. The Flash was actually rescuing his new girlfriend Fiona Webb.

Once again, Roy is the character most impacted, and he gets no panel time. Maybe the Arsenal mini-series will surprise me. But, as it stands, these issues managed to do something Green Arrow and Arsenal never do- miss the target.