60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 9

Justice League International #9
Jan. ‘88
“Seeing Red”
Keith Giffen: plot & breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis: script
Kevin Maguire: pencils
Al Gordon: inks
Bob Lappan: letters
Gene D’Angelo: colors
Andy Helfer: editor

Backup story:
“Brief Encounter”
Giffen: plot & pencils
DeMatteis: script
Gordon: inks
Mas: letters
D’Angelo: colors
Helfer: long lunches


Despite being a tie-in to a crossover event that I ignored at the time and continue to ignore now--and despite the way-lame cover--this was probably the most exciting issue yet of this incarnation of the Justice League. Consider what happens:

Rocket Red reveals he is a Manhunter:

Oberon does his best Harvey Pekar impersonation:

Pelé organizes the official Tang soccer team, which went on to not make it to the 1990 World Cup :

Mr. Miracle quotes every character from Star Wars at the same time:

Ms. Wootenhoffer guns down Maxwell Lord:

On the other hand, the backup story--which reveals that Bialya’s Colonel Rumaan Harjavti is trying to organize his own super team, starting with the Global Guardians’ Jack O’ Lantern (and which, despite the title, has nothing to do with the David Lean film)--plays kinda like this panel stretched out over six pages:


The complete 60 Weeks with the Justice League on The Danger Digest:
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #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.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 1

Justice League #1
May ‘87
“Born Again”
Keith Giffen: Plot & Breakdowns
Giffen & DeMatteis: Script
Kevin Maguire: Penciller
Terry Austin: Inker
Bob Lappan: Letterer
Gene D’Angelo: Colorist
Andrew Helfer: Editor



And so begins an epic journey, not only for the Justice League, but for The Danger Digest as well. For we’re about to go through the entirety of the Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire run on Justice League--60 issues that ran from 1987-92--book by book, one book per week, for a total of 60 weeks. (Along the way, we’ll also cover the 36 issues of Justice League Europe that began around the middle of that run and fell chiefly under Giffen’s guidance, with DeMatteis contributing to a goodly number of issues as well.)

Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire’s Justice League represents a series that I think I really love. Clearly I’ve gone to the trouble and expense of acquiring all 60 issues (96 counting JLE), but I’ve only ever actually read maybe a handful of them. I enjoyed that handful enough that I tracked down nearly the complete run a couple of years ago, but I’ve only just filled in the final issues I’d been lacking, and I’m only now getting around to tackling this beast from the beginning. Here’s hoping that 60 weeks from now I can say it was worth the time and expense…



JL #1 picks up after the events of DC’s Legends crossover event--which itself followed Crisis on Infinite Earths--and the cancellation of the previous Justice League of America series with issue #261. DeMatteis, who had worked on the last issues of the League’s previous incarnation, stayed on to script, and he was joined by Giffen, who prior to this assignment was best known for his work as an artist.

In addition to scripting, Giffen contributed the breakdowns for Maguire, whose pencils perfectly complement the writers’ emphasis on action, comedy and the personal interactions between grownups who spend the better part of their days wearing costumes.

Which brings me to the team’s members in this first issue. Presented roughly in the order in which they appear, they are:


Guy Gardner: If all of these characters are childlike in their wardrobe choices and good-versus-evil worldview, Guy’s the only one completely incapable of at least acting like an adult. When I was younger, I hated him and didn’t have a clue how he could be a Green Lantern. Now, I love to hate him, which was of course the point all along.



Black Canary: She rolls into the headquarters with a deep respect for the League’s history. Also, she looks just like Sarah Connor at the end of The Terminator (1984).



Mr. Miracle and Oberon: Gardner’s incessant jokes regarding Oberon’s short stature might grow old in a handful of issues, but here it’s all good fun. Also, there is always room, on any team, for characters created by Jack Kirby.



Captain Marvel: At least this guy’s alter ego really is a little boy.



Martian Manhunter: The consummate veteran of the League’s many incarnations, J’onn J’onnz grimly carries the memory of recent tragedy. He’s also, arguably, the most powerful member of the team, but with this bunch, he just can’t no respect.



Blue Beetle: I tried reading a few issues from this run of Justice League when I was a kid, and I totally did not get it. However, I instantly thought Blue Beetle was terrific. That impression has not changed.



Dr. Fate: Growing up, I used to read his backup story in the monthly Flash series, so I’ve always had a soft spot for him. Also, apparently reassembling the League was his idea.



Batman: It’s up to Batman to actually reform the re-formed League, and babysitting the likes of Guy Gardner really gets his cape in a twist. But you know what? Angry babysitter Batman is funny.



Dr Light: Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, she was asked to be a member and given a “signal device,” which beeps at the darnedest times.



Maxwell Lord: This guy loves watching TV.


Despite Batman’s desire to keep a low profile at first, the new League is forced to make its public debut when a ragtag band of terrorists holds the United Nations’ General Assembly hostage; the League is alerted by Dr. Light, who, in her secret identity as Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, is among the captives. Batman sends Fate and Marvel ahead of the rest of the team, who follow in Beetle’s flying “Bug.”

Naturally, hiccups occur in this team’s first outing: Dr. Fate mysteriously “disappears,” perturbing Batman something fierce, and Guy continues to be a pest at every conceivable opportunity. All the same, the team easily dispatches the mercenary misfits--too easily, in fact, for Batman’s tastes. Comedic touches season the action, but the story ends on a rather dark note, with the leader of the terrorists actually killing himself. It’s an action it seems Batman could have easily prevented, and as such I’m not sure it totally jibes with Batman’s character. (Also, it’s pretty ridiculous that this motley assortment of terrorists could have infiltrated the General Assembly, but then again, it’s also ridiculous that the people who come to save the day arrive in a giant flying beetle, so I’m happy to roll with it.)

Of course, some growing pains are to be expected as this new creative team finds its footing, but on the whole, I closed the first issue in eager anticipation of the next. Questions linger, most notably surrounding the mysterious Maxwell Lord (who is confirmed on the final page to have some significant ties to the U.N. attackers). So come on back next week, maybe for some answers, probably for more questions, and most definitely for more danger. Yo-ho!



The complete 60 Weeks with the Justice League on The Danger Digest:
#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, #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.

BAG IT AND BOARD IT: WEEK OF AUGUST 1, 2007

Every week, Jon blows his rent money on comics. Here, he spills the beans on whether or not it was worth it. But to paraphrase LeVar Burton, don’t take his word for it—you should buy comics too. And then bag ‘em and board ‘em.

FAKER #2

Mike Carey, writer
Jock, arist & cover
Clem Robins, letterer
Lee Loughride, colorist
Angela Rufino, asst. editor
Shelly Bond, editor

I’ll be honest for a change. After reading issue #1, I wasn’t terribly excited to keep going with this miniseries. In fact, I’d only picked up the first book because Jock’s work over in Green Arrow Year One is consistently (albeit after only two issues) sending me to fanboy heaven and because I like to think that, in the midst of all the cape-focused books I read, I manage to maintain some thread to the indieverse. (And yes, I do realize the issues inherent in what I just said, that one: my tie to indie comics apparently is Vertigo, and two: the very term ‘indieverse’ harkens to the notion of ‘universes’ presented by the Big Two publishers, with especial reference to DC’s now-it-exists, now-it-doesn’t multiverse. But I digress.)

Whether it was Jock’s fault or my own, I just couldn’t connect to the art in the first issue. Compared to Green Arrow, the lines felt rushed. Plus, Mike Carey gives Jock a lot more to put on a page than does Andy Diggle, and while I’m generally down for six or more panels per page, I feared that perhaps Jock was not quite so hip to draw squares.

All in all, by page 22 I felt I’d been presented with a lot of potential that was never really lived up to. Knowing, though, that not every book can get off to as raucous a start as Milligan and Allred’s revamp of X-Force back in the early aughts, I decided to give Carey and Jock the benefit of the doubt. And what do you know, I’m glad I did, ‘cause issue #2 hit me like straight gin on an empty stomach—it knocked me on my nethers and sent my head swimming, and best of all it’s got me thirsty for more.

Everything clicked in this issue, from Carey’s writing to Jock’s illustrations to Loughride’s colors. For serious, Loughride reminds me of a jungle-rules Dave Stewart; there’s a jaggedness to his work and an almost geometrical approach to separating colors that’s bold, energetic, and jibes well with the tone of the story and Jock’s lines especially.

And speaking of the story, this issue delivered in spades on the weirdness I was hoping for. It’s a slow build for the first 21 pages as Nick puts together that he’s essentially an amalgam of his closest friends, but on page 22 the flood gates open wide and the guy literally seems to melt (which, understandably, makes him slur his speech even worse than my buddy Mike when he starts hitting the sauce early on a Tuesday).

In the parlance of gym-class volleyball, if most books strive for a bump, set, spike delivery, I sense that Carey and Jock and are already in the midst of executing the feared—and more oft than not fabled—set, spike, kill maneuver. Here’s hoping, anyway.


DAREDEVIL: BATTLIN’ JACK MURDOCK #3


Story by Carmine Di Giandomenico & Zeb Wells
Script by Zeb Wells
Art by Carmine Di Giandomenico
Letters by Artmonkeys’ Dave Lanphear
Cover by Carmine Di Giandomenico & Richard Isanove
Assistant Editor, Alejandro Arbona
Editor, Warren Simons
Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada
Publisher, Dan Buckley

So far as I know, I may be the only guy in the world reading this title. Seriously. I have heard not one word from anybody about Battlin’ Jack. But as soon as this book was announced, I was on board, and I can tell you exactly why. In the great tradition of Champion, The Harder They Fall, Rocky, and even that Three Stooges classic, Punch Drunks, Battlin’ Jack Murdock presents us with a human story set to the rhythm of jabs, uppercuts, ten-counts, and of course the judge’s bell. Yes indeed, I’ll say it proudly: If boxing’s your backdrop, gimme a ringside seat.

The creative talent behind this miniseries is also a nice draw for me. I’ve been a fan of Wells’s since he busted onto the scene a few years back with his one-two punch of back-to-back “Direct to Video” wins for Wizard magazine and then his K-O special of getting signed to Marvel. And while I was unfamiliar with Di Giandomenico’s art before this series, his illustrations of Jack Murdock’s final bout have a timeless quality that bleed with feeling; the art captures the story’s grit just as it also transcends it, and it’s in transcendence that all these boxing fables become so poignant (see again Punch Drunks).

Another perk to this story is the vaguely Catholic bent. Apparently, Daredevil’s mom left home to become a nun (who knew?), but this isn’t the part of the story I particularly care about. Having grown up in the Catholic Church, I always find it especially affecting when presented with a character estranged from the faith who maintains some abstract sense of the spiritual, and Jack Murdock could hardly be more textbook. Take, for example, this bit of narration:

“I ain’t so much as smelled a drink or thought about a fight while I wore her cross…

“…But that’s not to say it never came off.”

Along a similar line, there’s Josie the bartender, chagrined because all she wants is for Jack to like her, and he does so much so that he can’t bring himself to go up to her apartment. “I’m not a saint, Jack. I’m just another person,” she almost pleads. “No you’re not, Josie,” Jack responds. “Not to me.”

Lastly, if you’re still not convinced, this issue presents a pre-Daredevil Matt Murdock in mask, come to his own father’s rescue. Revisionist history? It’s all fiction anyway, but even if you are a stickler for continuity, Bendis is currently making his career rewriting what we’ve all believed is true in the Marvel U, so why not let Wells have his shot at the title?


This week’s other reads (presented in alphabetical order):

ACTION COMICS #853
Knowing that the burden of guilt for the derailment of their first story arc lies on the shoulders of Adam Kubert, I’m jonesing to have Johns and Donner back on this book. These fill-ins are getting old, and seriously, Countdown comes out every week—does it really need to bogart other titles with tie-in issues?

BLACK CANARY #3
While I still don’t have the impression that anyone not reading this is missing something earthshaking, it remains a solid comic book. And Green Arrow just frickin’ rules the school.

COUNTDOWN #39
The story’s building momentum and I’m starting to honestly be interested, but the art still feels weak, week after week.

DETECTIVE COMICS #835
I die a little bit on the inside every time somebody fills in for Dini on this title. And Mandrake’s art just looks too much like 1993 for my tastes.

THE NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #4
Either retconning the Marvel Universe is loads o’ fun, and that explains the freewheeling jump from the Illuminati talking about their respective special lady friends to Namor kicking Marvel Boy’s ass, or else Bendis is really getting bored with it all. Either way, the king of Atlantis kept me entertained through both extremes.

THOR #2
For reasons incomprehensible even to me, I really dig the god of thunder kickin’ it in Oklahoma.

UNCANNY X-MEN #489
God only knows what the point of Endangered Species is, but fortunately it doesn’t affect the quality of the story Brubaker’s laying out.

WORLD WAR HULK #3
JRJ draws a wicked Doctor Strange, and while this was the first issue in this story I’ve enjoyed, it still feels like there are no consequences—Thunderbolt Ross really should’ve bit the big one when the Hulk pulled him outta that chopper.

All images copyright their respective publishers. Text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.