Justice #22

Justice #22, published in 2007, represents the penultimate installment of the twelve-issue limited series written by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, with stunning painted artwork by Ross and Doug Braithwaite. The series was conceived as a modernized homage to the classic Super Friends aesthetic, bringing the full roster of the Justice League into a cohesive, high-stakes narrative that pitted them against the Legion of Doom in a global conflict. By the twenty-second segment of the overarching story, the tension reaches its zenith as the heroes attempt to dismantle the complex technological and political infrastructure constructed by their antagonists.

The aesthetic of this series is defined by Alex Ross’s hyper-realistic, gouache-painted style, which grounded the surreal nature of the Justice League in a tangible, cinematic reality. Each issue, including this one, was meticulously structured to balance large-scale spectacle with intimate character development, reflecting the creators' desire to provide a definitive, timeless take on these iconic archetypes. Upon release, the series was widely praised for its visual ambition and its ability to blend nostalgic reverence with contemporary storytelling sensibilities, cementing its status as a significant work in mid-2000s comic book history.