Blitz review: Justice Inc #3- A good way to learn about 1930’s ‘Pulp’ history

Writer: Michael Uslan
Artist: Giovanni Timpano
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: October 22nd 2014


If you can get over the fact that all of the heroes in Justice Inc are establishment authority figures, thus legitimising the statist/corporate status quo, and if you can also put up with the narrative being largely based in Tibet, that safe comic book home of faux-western spirituality, then there’s some enjoyment to be had in this series.

The characters themselves, although corporate authority figures, are interesting because they are being developed as if they were brand new. The book has little contemporary relevance, but as an enjoyable diversion, and as a way to discover comic book heroes that were big time stars before the current age of Batman, Spiderman and the Avengers, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Issue #3 develops all three main characters, and we even see the birth of one of them, and an explanation of his new powers. The writing has some thought behind it as well. It’s book-ended with one paragraph of context explanation of the narrative so far, and ends with a few pages where writer Michael Uslan explains some of the references made within the story. That’s very reader friendly, and I give him huge credit for that.

You’ll be particularly interested in this book if you want to learn more about the comic book heroes of the 1930’s days of pulp, and Orson Welles on the radio. For that reason alone it’s more interesting than the majority of irrelevant comic books that are on the market today.

The art is fine, not great, but okay, the story has been well researched, and the characters are interesting as well. It’s nothing spectacular, nothing revolutionary, or even that thought provoking, but it’s enjoyable, and as a ten-minute comic book that doesn’t insult my intelligence too much I’m giving it a thumbs up as a good short dose of silly, learn about the history of comic books fun.

Rating: 7/10