Written by Michael Northrop
Art by Gustavo Duarte
Published by DC Zoom
Dear Justice League, the new DC Zoom Graphic Novel for kids is a charming and sweet take on the world’s greatest superheroes.
Written by Michal Northrop and illustrated by Gustavo Duarte with colors by Marcelo Maiolo and lettered by Wes Abbot, this book tells a series of short stories all based around the JLA answering e-mails from their biggest fans, children.
Each story centers around sometimes moralistic and sometimes mundane questions that these kids have for our heroes. Though mundane as they may seem they are important queries that are based on what each kid is going through in their life at the moment.
Superman is asked if he has ever “messed up”; Hawkgirl is asked if, as a “hawk” does she eat small mammals (One of my favorite ones in the book); Aquaman is requested he answer the ever important question of whether he smells like fish all the time.
You get the picture.
It is fun and cute and each story gives the readers a little insight into who they are what they do and what they are all about. Throughout the book there is a slowly building overarching plot involving a pending invasion from shock troopers form the planet Molt-On.
The stories build as the Justice League clear out their inboxes and deal with the looming threat of all out invasion.
The final chapter is a “Dear Justice League” where the team is asked a question from an elementary school class and they have to answer it as a team.
And isn’t that what the JLA is all about in the end? Teamwork.
I loved this book even though I am NOT the target audience. I love the loose and fast, super dynamic art of Duarte. I love the sweet and funny words of Northrop. The bright colorfulness of the colors only enhance the story and keep it fresh and engaging.
This is a great introductory book for all those budding superhero fans out there. I am always excited when a new book for kids comes out as I feel that they are such an important audience. Not just for the industry as a whole but as a member of this human race. If kids can read some really well written books about being a good human being then that can only help out the cause of goodness in the world.
Dear Justice League is just that book and I will recommend this to any of my new parents who are looking for age appropriate books for their kids. I look forward to the follow-up book, Dear Super-Villains coming out in the fall of 2020.
I will be very curious how they tackle having bad guys do the right thing without compromising who they are in the process. Till then, keep reading!
