Rating: - This series started out with a bang, finished with a whimper
Maybe Justice should have been published in one large omnibus because it certainly has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs throughout the journey. The goods news? Justice Volume 3 is a far better story than the disappointing Justice Volume 2. The bad news? While a superior product, it still doesn't come across as a classic. The epic beginning to Justice Volume 1 was never to be matched. The incredible art by Alex Ross saves this series but if it had been done by an average artist, I wonder if the story would have been enough to carry it?

Anyways.... this is it! This is where the superheroes bring it and fight back against the Legion of Doom. The entire volume is essentially one huge battle. Everyone gets a chance at payback although Green Lantern, Aquaman and Batman are probably the three most featured heroes. Realizing that they are susceptible to Brainiac's nanobots, the heroes cooperate with the seldom used DC team of Metal Men and use the group's ability to mold suits of armor that will protect them from mind control, and quite frankly, look pretty bad arse when drawn in the style of Alex Ross.

Many loose ends are explained in this book such as how the villains are able to come across as the second coming of Jesus Christ and heal the blind, paraplegic and other inflicted masses of the world. We also see which supervillains truly are behind the grand scheme and which ones are simply dupes. But perhaps the best trickery involves Batman's plan of attack. When the tables are turned, he always has an ace up his sleeve, and you'll admire the creativity behind the storyline as the superheroes usually seem to have a counter-plan for everything the Legion of Doom throws at them.

All in all, it's a decent JLA story. It's a little bit too happy for my tastes. Since the story in Justice isn't considered cannon (officially sanctioned) within the regular DC fictional universe, I was really expecting something dramatic with Ross & Krueger not having to follow the rules of continuity. Ross does explain in his introduction that the old cartoon Super Friends was his inspiration for much of this, so I guess it's to be expected. If you've already purchased the first and second volumes, it's worth it to take the plunge for the third book, but I might wait until all books are in softcover. I don't know if you'll be taking these out anytime soon for another read (much like I have for Kingdom Come and some other Alex Ross books) but it will certainly make amends for some of the weaker storylines in the current Justice League of America run.