60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 58

Justice League America #58
Jan. '92
Breakdowns Part 11
"Mayhem"
No--"Breakdowns" ain't over yet! So, drop to your knees and say a prayer for those forgotten, overworked souls:
Keith Giffen, plot & breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis, script
Bart Sears, penciller
Beatty & Elliott, inkers
Bob Lappan, letterist
Gene D'Angelo, colorer
Kevin Dooley, slave driver
Andy Helfer, slave owner

Justice League Europe #34
Jan. '92
Breakdowns Part 12
"Blood-Dimmed Tide"
Keith Giffen--plot & breakdowns
Gerard Jones--dialogue
Darick Robertson--pencils
Randy Elliott--inks
Willie Schubert--letters
Gene D'Angelo--colors
Kevin Dooley--associate editor
Andy Helfer--editor


After the lackluster performance of December 91, the "Breakdowns" team rings in 1992 with what is hands down the best issue yet of this storyline. I was hesitant going into JLA #58--it's one of those dreaded "punch-up" issues, continuing the three-way battle between the League, Despero and Lobo--but then DeMatteis upped his game significantly, turning in a phenomenal script with some of the best (and most consistent) humor of this book's entire run. Then, making things better still, Bart Sears tackled the penciling duties (with inking responsibilities shared by John Beatty and Randy Elliott), and man-oh-man are his skills a sight for sore eyes after the Wozniak debacle. Here are some of the issue's highlights:

J'onn finally uses his ability to shapeshift in a fight...

...and then he gets fed up with the whole show. Yet again.

Metamorpho gets in a one liner at Guy's expense...

...while Guy and Lobo knock the blue blazes out of one another.

Blue Beetle achieves, but fails to recognize, spiritual illumination...

...and then goes on to destroy the Lord Havok robot, who's been terrorizing the cave.

And most poignantly of all, L-Ron sacrifices himself so that Despero can be stopped.

JLE then picks up the thread, but the package isn't quite as dynamite as JLA. Most regrettably, despite some fine penciling, Darick Robertson does a lot of unnecessary breaking of the grid, and the layouts strike me as looking more "forced" than "creative." Happily, though, story-wise, L-Ron lives on ... after a fashion: In JLA, he had Kilowog turn him into a controller for Despero's malfunctioning collar, and in this issue, when Kilowog uses said controller, it zaps L-Ron's "consciousness" into Despero's body. It's all pretty wacky, I know. And speaking of wacky, Dreamslayer (in Max Lord's body, don't forget) has turned the inhabitants of KooeyKooeyKooey into a mindless army.

"Europinion" marks L-Ron's final lettercol, since he'll be rejoining Manga Khan to scout the stars for bargains, and so we can forgive him for neglecting to note that Robertson and Patterson did the cover (with colors, I presume, by Bob Le Rose, but I could be mistaken). Also, he advises that to say "G'nort" correctly, "Hold your nose and pronounce it like the 'n' in onion (and because G'nort stinks when he's wet)." In "Justice Log," the erstwhile robot notes, "Cover pencilled by Chris Sprouse and inked by Bruce Patterson with colors by Bob Le Rose." Additionally, when asked "why we never see Guy charge his power ring," L-Ron answers, "Because his oath won't get past the Comics Code." I'm gonna miss that robot.


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, #56/32, #57/33, #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 40

Justice League America #40
Jul. '90
"Hell on Earth"
Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Adam Hughes, José Marzan Jr., Bob Lappan, Gene D'Angelo, Kevin Dooley, and Andy Helfer present perhaps the strangest Justice League tale ever! (And considering how weird this book usually is, that's saying a lot!)

Justice League Europe #16
"The Extremist Vector Part Two: Conquest"
Keith Giffen, plot & breakdowns
Gerard Jones, dialogue
Bart Sears, pencils
Randy Elliott, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin Dooley, sound
Andy Helfer, fury


First, a confession: I was remiss in my duties last week and failed to mention the debut, in JLE, of Power Girl's new threads. Of course, looking at the outfit, perhaps you'll wish I'd continued to spare you from acknowledging this embarrassing historical footnote.

So long as we're taking people--myself included--to task for clerical errors, let's also note that JLE's cover credits mistakenly name DeMatteis in place of Jones. Inside the book, I failed to recognize that Randy Elliott took over inking from Pablo Marcos this issue, but I suppose that just goes to show you that editorial did a bang-up job finding a replacement for Marcos. The story itself finds the JLE boarding a borrowed JLA cruiser to fly to Moscow, lest the Extremists slaughter them as they materialize in the transporters. By the time the League arrives, however, Moscow--and her protectors, the Rocket Red brigade--have been laid to ruin, and it doesn't take long for the Leaguers themselves to be incapacitated, leaving the Extremists to go destroy the next city they encounter. This is gonna be an ugly, protracted battle, I suspect.

Most bizarre in this issue of JLE is a completely unnecessary retcon of the Blue Jay/Silver Sorceress/Wandjina backstory. I understand that the creative team is trying to work in the Extremists, but saying Blue Jay and co. jumped back and forth between worlds a couple of times, and then showing them trading punches with Hal Jordan, is completely uncalled for. We know how this stuff played out back in Justice League #2, and boy howdy, this ain't the way it was:

Over in America, I'm not entirely sure the book lives up to its title-page promise of being stranger than ever--Kooey Kooey Kooey is still fresh in my mind--but it is a pretty fascinating read, ably complemented by guest inker José Marzan Jr., who does a fine job filling in for Rubinstein, although I hope the latter returns soon, all the same. Divided evenly into two acts, the book's first half finishes the Despero storyline, with J'onn infiltrating Despero's mind and offering the alien villain "mayavana," a once-in-a-lifetime Martian offering that creates a perceived reality in the receiver's consciousness that's even more convincing than the actual reality in front of his eyes; with this gift, J'onn convinces Despero that he's succeeded in defeating the Justice League and destroying the Earth in toto. The whole experience reduces Despero to a fetus-like state of suspension (from which he'll no doubt be resurrected again down the line).

Complete with costumed heroes attending a funeral and bold black borders lining every page and panel, act two is all about mourning for Scott Free, a.k.a. Mr. Miracle, whom Despero blew up last issue. Forgive me if I sound callous here, but JLA and JLE's letters pages run solicitations for Mr. Miracle's book, so I feel confident he's not actually dead. However, my confidence isn't shared by the cast of characters. Barda blames Max and lets him know with a powerful haymaker. Superman tells Batman (who in turn tells Max) that the League hasn't got enough muscle, and unless it gets more, Scott will be the first of many casualties. After thoughtlessly trying to recruit Gypsy for his new team at the cemetery, Booster gets scolded by Beetle and returns to his new Conglomerate office, where he's in no mood for Claire Montgomery's news that Praxis has sent "a confirmation." And then, there's Guy and Ice:

It's time once again for cover credits! From "Justice Log":"Adam Hughes did pencils 'n' inks, Bob Le Rose did colors 'n' stuff." From "Europinion": "Bart Sears on pencils, Joe Rubinstein on inks, Bob Le Rose on colors, Andy Helfer on lead guitar."

Meanwhile, the Dick Tracy marketing train keeps chugging along:

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, #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


Dick Tracy ad copyright Disney. All other images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 39

Justice League America #39
Jun. '90
"Blow Up"
Giffen, DeMatteis, Hughes, Rubinstein, Lappan, D'Angelo, Dooley and Helfer have done it again! (We're not exactly sure what they've done, but if our legal department doesn't complain, we guess it's okay...)

Justice League Europe #15
Jun. '90
"The Extremist Vector Part One: Kings of the Dust"
Keith Giffen - plot & breakdowns
Gerard Jones - script
Bart Sears - pencils
Pablo Marcos - inks
Bob Lappan - letters
Gene D'Angelo - colors
Kevin Dooley - patter
Andy Helfer - pitter


We're a long way from "Furballs" this week, as both books deliver heavy hitters with no punches pulled. In other words, there's a lot of fighting, and almost none of it's between Leaguers. First up, in JLA, the battle against Despero intensifies significantly. After taking down J'onn with a mental attack, Despero gets booted into the Atlantic by none other than Guy, and the kerfuffle--joined by Fire, Ice, Blue Beetle and Mr. Miracle--finally lands in Midtown Manhattan, where the whole shebang ends (for now) with Despero blowing up the League's shuttle, with Miracle still at the controls. As the pages turn, a few interesting revelations are made, as well. For instance, although no one should be surprised that Guy feels like this about J'onn--

--I had no idea J'onn felt like this about Gypsy:

Also, Beetle finally gets some respect ... sort of:

JLE, meanwhile, shows us what's left of Blue Jay and Silver Sorceress' homeworld, as the latter wanders dead streets only to run into the Extremists, the cabal of criminals who apparently caused the nuclear holocaust: Lord Havoc, Dr. Diehard, Gorgon, Tracer and Dreamslayer. While the villains' designs remind me of the worst excesses of the '90s, Giffen and now apparently regular scripter Jones provide some nice character beats amongst the Extremists, all of whom are slipping deeper into madness as a result of being alone together in the big, dead world.

Of course, the Extremists all cheer up when they find Silver Sorceress, whom they promptly beat to a pulp. Then, in her weakened condition, Dreamslayer has no trouble infiltrating her mind and exfiltrating the spell used to bridge dimensions, thereby bringing the fight to our world and, namely, the Moscow embassy of the JLI, where Metamorpho has arrived to retrieve Blue Jay. The Extremists might not look like much, but they make short work of Metamorpho, apparently letting him live only so he can warn his teammates. The next few issues should be doozies.

I know I've raved about Adam Hughes' art in the past, and while I don't mean to minimize the considerable talents demonstrated by JLE's dynamic duo of Sears and Marcos, I've just gotta say that Hughes' storytelling is absolutely first rate. You can take away all the words in this issue of JLA (of course, coming from Giffen and DeMatteis, you wouldn't want to) and still clearly follow the story just with the art. If I had more time on my hands, I'd mess around with Photoshop to prove it to you, but since I don't, you'll have to take my word for it--or track down this issue and see for yourself.

Both books offer cover credits in the letters pages; from JLA's "Justice Log," we learn: "Adam Hughes, pencils; Joe Rubinstein, inks; and Bob Le Rose, colors"; and from JLE's "Europinion": "Bart Sears did them pencils and inks, and Bob Le Rose did that color thang." Also noteworthy from "Justice Log" is this humdinger of an esoteric question from Jonathan Ezor of New Haven, CT: "Could you explain how Booster Gold managed to get a Legion flight ring, if all time travel from the Legion period back was shunted to the Pocket Universe by the Time Trapper?" I don't understand hardly any of that question, but it seems I'm in good company, as Kevin Dooley responds, "We can't explain Booster's flight ring, so we have him use it infrequently." Dooley was the king of keeping it real in these pages.

1990 was a good year for movies, and here's another one that helped define my youth:

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, #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


Dick Tracy ad copyright Disney. All other images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 38

Justice League America #38
May '90
"Spy"
Story by Giffen & DeMatteis
Art by Hughes & Rubinstein
The parody of "Spy" in this issue is published with the permission of "Spy Magazine." "Spy" and "Separated at Birth?" are registered trademarks belonging to Spy Publishing Partners, LP.

Justice League Europe #14
May '90
"You Oughta Be In Pictures"
Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns
Gerard Jones, dialogue
Linda Medley, pencils
Jose Marzan Jr., inks
Albert De Guzman, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin Dooley, best boy
Andy Helfer, key grip
And who says you can't do film in comics?

Judging by the letters pages all these many months, it was a minority of readers who wanted JLA to abandon its jocular tone in favor of grim 'n' gritty, no-holds-barred punch-ups. Nevertheless, being the giving people they are, the creative team decided to give that minority its day in the sun, beginning with issue 38. The book starts innocently enough, with five pages of Wally Tortolini's reportage for Spy magazine, laid out to look like the real publication. Basing his story on the clues found in the League's garbage, the journalist manages to connect a lot of dots, correctly identifying, for example, the alter egos of Fire and Blue Beetle. Fortunately for the League, the DCU's version of Spy is owned by Vivian D'Aramis, a.k.a. Crimson Fox, and she quickly and quietly kills the story before it hits the presses.

The JLA's problems are far from over, though. First, Booster and Claire Montgomery start laying the foundation for their own super-team by recruiting Maxi-Man to the cause. Far more seriously, though, the alien that emerged last issue is now clearly identified as a reconstituted Despero, and he wastes no time returning to Earth seeking revenge against the old members of Justice League Detroit. First, he rips what's left of Steel out of the life-support tube that had kept the hero hanging on by a thread, and then, without batting his third eye, he flies off to suburbia and kills Gypsy's parents. When Gypsy returns from studying at the library, Despero chases her across town, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. All hope for Gypsy seems lost until, on the last page, J'onn intervenes.

For anyone needing a bit of levity after all that carnage, things don't get any lighter than JLE #14. Unfortunately, there's too much fluff even for me. The story hinges on a nameless milquetoast who's basically married to his VCR and extensive library of VHS tapes (yeah, this one's a bit dated). One day, he receives the ability to transfer bodies with anyone--or anything--he sees onscreen. The sauce thickens when he travels to the Cannes Film Festival in the guise of movie star Flint Clintwood; when he finds himself in a pinch, he then becomes in turn a giant Godzilla-esque monster, a chainsaw-wielding murderer and "Winki" the dog. Lest you wonder what the hell any of that has to do with the JLI, Flash, Power Girl and Elongated Man (and his lovely wife, Sue) have also traveled to Cannes for a bit of PR, and once there they bump into Fire and Ice, who happen to be in France because, I don't know, nothing happens in America I guess.

Linda Medley's pencils shine when dealing with the Japanese monster, but her Flash looks like he fell out of an Archie comic. The worst offenses, though, lie with the plot, which is flimsy and riddled with holes I find hard to ignore even for a genre that consistently stretches the limits of suspending one's disbelief. Just one example: Movie-Man (my name for him, and I know it's not a good one) manages to outrun the frickin' Flash.

Anyway, and apropos of nothing, there's been something very strange about Mr. Miracle these past two issues of JLA.

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, #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 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.