Final Crisis Aftermath - dance #1 - DC

I really had no idea what to expect from this title. These are the characters . . the Super Young Team . . that was introduced to us during Final Crisis. There was such a build-up about these characters, and Grant Morrison's involvement in their inception, but then . . they really didn't play that big of a role in the whole Final Crisis. I mean, they did, but . . it wasn't nearly as much as I expected from the hype. So I guess it was just natural that they were going to turn up somewhere afterwards. Hence . . this title. Joe Casey writes it, and Chriscross does the pencils. First of all let me say that the cover, by Stanley Lau, is simply incredible. It's really sharp looking. I also enjoyed Criscross' pencils on the inside. He has a perfect style for these characters. They're a bunch of teen-aged Japanese super-heroes. From left to right, in the cover, we have Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash, Most Excellent Superbat, Shiny Happy Aquazon, Big Atomic Lantern Boy, and flying over their shoulders is Shy Crazy Lolita Canary. I don't know how I'm going to remember all those descriptive names. Anyways, this issue is basically the 'set-up' issue. The team has some backers and they have hired a publicist. They've also constructed a huge orbital satellite headquarters for them. "As you can see, state-of-the-art all the way. Makes the JLA's Hall of Justice look like Gabriel's horn." But we find out, like our 'Bat' character, Superbat is also extremely wealthy. He doesn't really need these 'backers', but . . he's willing to go along with the ride because of the rest of the team. We also see that although these characters appreciate the attention that's being lavished upon them, really all they want to do is be heroes. Anyways, long story short, by the end of the issue we find out that Japan has some big secret that it's trying to cover up. These heroes, this team, was put together as a distraction to focus the world's attention on them, rather than their homeland. "We hired you to use these false idols to distract the world from the current plight of our homeland. They have their own brand of ambition . . which makes them dangerous. The world must never know the truth about Japan. Even our own citizens must not know. We are counting on your organization to ensure this obfuscation. Do what must be done." All in all, I thought it was an interesting first issue. It'll be interesting to see where we go with all of this, and what exactly the 'big-secret' is that Japan is trying to hide from the rest of the world. I'm looking forward to this one.