60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 56

Justice League America #56
Nov. '91
Breakdowns Part 7
"Look Homeward, Leaguers"
The never-ending JLA-JLE "Breakdowns" crossover continues, courtesy of those burned-out old hacks:
Keith Giffen (plot & nervous breakdowns) & J.M. DeMatteis (recycled dialogue)
Aided and abetted by
Chris Wozniak, pencils
Bruce Patterson, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Produced by Kevin Dooley
Directed by Andrew Helfer, Esquire
With special thanks to Mark Badger's pal, Gerard Jones

Justice League Europe #32
Nov. '91
Breakdowns Part 8
"The Center Cannot Hold"
Keith Giffen - plots and breakdowns
Gerard Jones - dialogue and cheap W.B. Yeats references
Darick Robertson - pencils
John Beatty - inks
Willie Schubert - letters
Gene D'Angelo - colors
Kevin Dooley & Andy Helfer - paper trafficking


I wouldn't even know these issues were part of "Breakdowns" if not for the label on the covers. Gone is the breakneck pacing of recent months, replaced with some laid-back plotting that feels like it could have been plucked from any point of the JLI run. In other words, I thought these issues were terrific. JLA presents a "getting the band back together" story, wherein all of the Leaguers--from both sides of the pond--make their way to the cave on the outskirts of Metropolis to formulate their plan of action going forward. It's a fitting location, since the cave was the first home to this incarnation of the League.

As J'onn mentions, the Doom Patrol has been using one of the cave's darker recesses, and in JLE, Ralph, Ted and Wally decide to go looking for it, setting up a wonderfully absurd 6-page romp through the surreal that stands among the best moments any of the JLI books have ever offered. Indeed, this is one of my favorite issues I've read during this "60 Weeks" adventure--during which I probably haven't given due credit to Gerard Jones' terrific scripting. He's been knocking these JLE scripts out of the park ever since he joined the book's creative team, and he's showing no signs of slowing as "Breakdowns" rounds the halfway point.

JLE also sets up what are sure to be some significant plot points in the coming issues: Manga Khan hires Lobo to track down Despero, and the Extremists go missing from the museum where they've been on display. Oh yeah, and Maxwell Lord wakes up from his coma.

Once again, JLA's art does nothing to impress me, while Robertson and Beatty's work in JLE is on par with the best of the Kevin Maguire and Adam Hughes eras. JLA's cover does shine, though, and this time L-Ron gets the credits right in "Justice Log," too: "Humans Chris Sprouse, Bruce Patterson, Bob Le Rose execute pencilling, inking, coloring manifestations." In "Europinion," L-Ron lets us know, "Our cover was rendered by the following Earthlings: Darick Robertson on pencils and John Beatty on inks, with assist from Uranian Bob Le Rose on colors." Also from JLE's letters page come these fun facts: BlueJay's "real name is Jay Abrams, Sorceress's name is Laura Cynthia Neilsen."

And here's another classic movie from '91.

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, #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, #57/33, #58/34, #59/35, #60/36


Star Trek ad copyright Paramount Pictures. All other images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.