JLA CLASSIFIED: COLD STEEL review

(Review by Melody Werner)
JLA Classified: Cold Steel is a 2005-2006 two issue miniseries following the most well known superhero team in comics in a cosmic adventure. Written and painted by Chris Moeller, and published of course by DC. I heard about it through Digital Bath from Comic Versus pointing it out on Hangouts, asking if anyone had read it and if they'd recommend it. The premise seemed interesting, and I've always had a soft spot for superheroes in mechs, so I figured why not be our canary in the coal mine and see for myself. So how does Cold Steel end up? Pretty great.

Moeller does a stellar job on the art. Always having a fondness for a painted comic every once and a while, this sated that. The aesthetic isn't groundbreaking but it's not bad by any means. The character designs are superb, not only are the alien designs which were new for the series but also the mechs for the Justice League. There are some parts where it can be a tad too visually busy, it's not perfect in melding visuals and writing like the recently reviewed The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn.

As for the writing, Cold Steel is a compelling little story. The narrative is interesting with some unpredictability to it. The alien factions both have some nuance and aren't just "good" and "bad" as it may first appear. The pacing is not phenomenal, with some flimsy parts towards the end. The finale especially feels lackluster and some plot threads just feel like they're ignored or dropped.

The new characters from the aforementioned alien factions are fairly interesting, the more prominent ones at least, and I appreciate the intricacies in each species. As for the classic JL team, they're well characterized enough, if you like Batman you'll find yourself liking some parts, if you like Kyle Rayner you'll find yourself liking parts, etc.. There aren't any more obscure characters on the team, which I find a little disappointing, but that's just my being partial to characters which are more oddball. The dialogue's fine, not particularly notable but alright.

JLA Classified: Cold Steel is a fairly entertaining little sci-fi superhero team miniseries. Would I say it's mindblowing? No. Exceptional? No. But if you just want to see the Justice League running around in outer space in badass mechs, the novelty alone makes Cold Steel a worthwhile read. JLA Classified: Cold Steel gets an 8/10.

Solid

Summary:
Cold Steel is exactly what it says on the tin: "Justice League in mechs in outer space". Stunning painted art, a compelling plot although it jumps the shark towards the end in regards to pacing, fantastic character designs, intriguing alien factions, decent characterizations of the classic team, okay dialogue, and a fairly neat if done before aesthetic.

(Originally posted: 12/14/2016)