I overheard a guy talking about this at the comic book store I frequent. I thought it looked interesting and bought it without knowing much about it.

First of all, it's a painted comic, and the artwork is stunning, if a little unusual. But mostly stunning.

The story itself is an interesting idea - the villains deciding that the superheroes have committed a crime because they never used their powers to really make life better for people, whether by watering the desert or healing the handicapped or whatever. The villains start doing all that while at the same time starting to eradicate the Justice League. I'm very curious to see how this'll turn out.

What I found *extremely* helpful were Batman's notes at the back of the book. I am still very easily confused when it comes to the DC Universe, and these notes made some things clearer, at least. ( )

Less than an hour's reading. This first in the series attacks superheroes for not bettering mankind. Now the supervillains have risen to do it, battering the superheroes in their path to world re-creation.

Another interesting stab at the "What if superheroes were real?" trope of the past decade or so. ( )

The story sucks, in my opinion; but the art makes up for it. Heck, it's Alex Ross! ( )

The basic premise of this story is that a villain must believe that he or she is the hero and that anyone against him or her is the enemy. All of the super-villains have had the same dream, that they can save the earth from eminent disaster by killing the super-heroes, healing the sick and injured and doing away with hunger and poverty, which are all the things that the super-heroes should have done a long time ago. They discredit the super-heroes by becoming the super-heroes. Once the human population believes the super-villains are helping them, they can take over the earth.

This is the first volume in a series. I found it a bit confusing to see the bad guys becoming the good guys. Alex Ross's graphic novels are always enjoyable, even though this one threw me off kilter ( )

This is the first chapter in a complex and ambitious story involving what looks like most of the DC superheroes and villains. The storyline is multifaceted and confusing; I hope subsequent chapters clear things up. As far as I can tell, the Earth's "villains" have been having nightmares about the end of the world by nuclear holocaust, a tragedy the "heroes" are unable to stop. So they take it upon themselves to save the world; part of the plot involves conquering the heroes and enhancing their own reputations by using their powers and genius to conquer disease and hunger. Braniac is involved in a subplot that isn't clear yet, although I suspect he is the prime mover here. Alex Ross' artwork is powerful and lovely, although it seemed "muddied" in some way, and it wasn't until I saw in the credits that he had done his painting over Doug Braithwaite's pencils that it became clear. I wish Ross had soloed, as he normally does. This is a promising book that may turn out to be the beginning of an epic, but the multiple jumbled and apparently unconnected storylines are quite frustrating. If an old hand like me gets confused, what of the younger readers? ( )