60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 37

Justice League America #37
Apr. '90
"Furballs!"
Keith Giffen, plot
J.M. DeMatteis, script
Adam Hughes, pencils
Art Nichols, inks
Albert De Guzman, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin Dooley, still thinks he's editing "Amazing Heroes"
Andy Helfer ... well, the less said about him, the better
Special thanks to Joe Rubinstein & Jack Torrance for invaluable inking assists

Justice League Europe #13
Apr. '90
"Furballs II"
Keith Giffen, plot + breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis, guest scripter
Chris Sprouse, guest penciller
K.S. Wilson, inker
Bob Lappan, letterist
Gene D'Angelo, colorist
Kevin Dooley, dances divinely
Andy Helfer, always leads

As you've no doubt inferred from the titles above, this week brings us a two-part crossover event, although I use the word "event" loosely. After the serious tone JLE adopted for the Metamorpho & Son story, DeMatteis returns for a lighthearted romp that finds a group of schoolchildren on a field trip to the Paris embassy. At the same time, would-be super-thief Jean-Jean de Jean infiltrates the embassy in a doomed attempt to relieve the building of its art collection, generously donated by the French government. Everything comes to a boil when the JLA arrives in Paris, summoned there by an alleycat who took a nap on the JLE's priority-one alert button.

Three Stooges references strengthen the bridge between the two titles that's built on the cat that lives in the alley behind the New York embassy. The "Furballs" adventure begins when Guy absent-mindedly leaves the back door ajar and the cat slips inside. After the cat frightens Fire and gives Guy a run for his money, Guy tosses the cat into the teleporter, making it the JLE's problem. That's teamwork for you.

JLE's guest penciller, Chris Sprouse--very early in his career at this point--does a passable job, although I wish he would have laid his panels out to a tighter grid. Meanwhile, despite the feline funnies, JLA sets up a number of important threads that'll come to fruition over the next handful of issues, beginning with the return of a mysterious alien ...

... continuing through a reporter for Spy magazine absconding with the League's refuse ...

... and winding up with Booster--who's gone all A.J. Simon with his look--meeting with one Claire Montgomery, which in turn leads us to the issue's surprise finale:

Finally, let's remember that in April of 1990, we were seeing ads for what remains one of the most significant events to ever hit pop culture--and here I use "event" with all the import the word can bear.

The complete 60 Weeks with the Justice League on The Danger Digest:
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #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, #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


TMNT ad copyright Golden Harvest, New Line Cinema and Mirage Studios. A.J. Simon frame grab from Simon & Simon, copyright Universal TV. All other images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.