60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 6

Justice League #6
Oct. '87
“Massacre in Gray”
Keith Giffen: plot & breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis: script
Kevin Maguire: penciller
Al Gordon: inker
Bob Lappan: letterer
Gene D’Angelo: colorist
Andy Helfer: editor


Okay, so the format here’s been jumping around a bit these past 6 weeks, and having paused for a moment of reflection, I’ve decided to slim this column down and make it something of an exercise in pithiness. Streamline 2009, as they say.

Picking up right where issue 5 left off, this issue begins with the Creeper leading the League into Stone Ridge, Vermont, which has become a physical manifestation of the Gray Man’s blues, so to speak. Speaking of the Gray Man, he possesses Captain Marvel for a fight scene that’s pretty well summarized on the cover, before Doctor Fate finally decides to flex his mystic muscles and clean house, taking himself, ol’ Gray and most of the League into another dimension, and thereby providing this book’s cliffhanger ending.

The book was once again a good read, with increasingly well-executed interactions among the team members and with continuingly stellar art from Maguire and Gordon. However, Fate’s actions at the end of the book are straight up deus ex machina. Granted, I don’t know how things are gonna shake out in this other dimension, but if all he had to do was snap his fingers and take the Gray Man away, why did he wait for Stone Ridge to go all to hell? There'd better be some explanations in issue 7. Otherwise, it’s time someone takes Fate’s badge (or amulet, or whatever) away.

On a lighter note, the letters page ends with this add, which amuses me to no end:

That's right, boys and girls--know him. Know him well.


The complete 60 Weeks with the Justice League on The Danger Digest:
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25/1, #26/2, #27/3, #28/4, #29/5, #30/6, #31/7, #32/8, #33/9, #34/10, #35/11, #36/12, #37/13, #38/14, #39/15, #40/16, #41/17, #42/18, #43/19, #44/20, #45/21, #46/22, #47/23, #48/24, #49/25, #50/26, #51/27, #52/28, #53/29, #54/30, #55/31, #56/32, #57/33, #58/34, #59/35, #60/36


All images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.