60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 43

Justice League America #43
Oct. '90
"If You Play Your Cards Right..."
Kevin Dooley, DC Comics' finest assistant editor, proudly presents
Keith Giffen, plot
J.M. DeMatteis, script
Adam Hughes, pencils
José Marzan, Jr., inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Andy Helfer, editor
(There, Kevin--isn't that better than a raise?)

Justice League Europe #19
Oct. '90
"The Extremist Vector Part Five: Pushing the Button"
Uncle Keith Giffen, plot & breakdowns
Gerard Jones, words
Bart Sears, pencils
Randy Elliott, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin D'Ooley, stuff
Andy D'Helfer, nonsense


As mentioned last week, JLA #43 was one of the two issues of this series I actually acquired during the book's run, so there's a certain degree of nostalgia involved in turning its pages again now. However, I don't think I pored over this issue quite as intently as I did the previous book--once again I no doubt wondered who these characters were, and even Blue Beetle's not as prominent this issue. Nevertheless, reading the book now, the story's a winner. (Hughes' art is also a welcome sight, although Marzan's inks give it a different flavor than I'd been used to with Art Nichols--there seems to be a stronger emphasis on dense shadows, for one.) Giffen and DeMatteis dug deep into DC's back catalog to unearth such forgotten villains as Sonar, Crowbar, Black Mass, Blackrock, Brainstorm, Cavalier and Quakemaster. Rather than forming their own Injustice League, however, they all get together to play cards at the hole-in-the-wall bar known as The Dark Side, whose clientele exclusively comprises super villains. Earlier in the issue, intrepid garbageman/journalist Wally Tortolini rescues Sonar from a run-in with the League, and in return Sonar (a.k.a. Bito Wladon of Modora) brings Tortolini to the card table. Hoping for a story, Tortolini instead leaves armed with the villains' myriad accoutrements.

Meanwhile, JLE presents a jumbled mess of a conclusion to "The Extremist Vector." I trust you're sitting down for this. The explosion set off at the end of last issue by Carny--who, it turns out, was also a robot--does indeed awaken "the Visionary," otherwise known as "Uncle" Mitch Wacky, the creator of Wacky World. Back in the day, Uncle Mitch caught the flu, which is fatal in his dimension, and so he placed himself into a cryogenic slumber. Now, of course, he awakens to find his world destroyed, but making things really convoluted, the nuclear holocaust actually wiped out the Extremists who caused it, and it turns out the Extremists currently terrorizing "our" dimension are robots built after the Armageddon to lend an air of excitement to Wacky World. Naturally, the robo-villains went rogue. So, Silver Sorceress (who survived last issue's blast unscathed) transports everyone--including Uncle Mitch--back to our Earth, where Mitch uses a kill switch only he can operate to shut down the Extremists. Well, except for Dreamslayer, who turns out to still be the original and not a robot duplicate. Then Dreamslayer tries to cast a spell on Crimson Fox, but she turns out to be Silver Sorceress in disguise. And so on and so forth. Anyways, the good guys win, but I think Uncle Mitch bit the bullet along the way. Ah well. The pictures are pretty; I really like Elliott's inks over Sears' pencils.

Oh, yeah, and apparently Dr. Light's been hanging out at the League's Japan embassy. I'm trusting that was covered in an Annual somewhere along the way and this wasn't as out of the blue as it first struck me.

"Europinion" gives us these cover credits: "Bart Sears, pencils; Randy Elliott, inks; Bob Le Rose, colors." No cover credits mentioned in "Justice Log," but there are some other noteworthy nuggets. In the spirit of transparency, Dooley responds to Mike Alleni of Staten Island, NY, who wonders why Fire's clothes don't burn: "Do you want a made-up science answer (unstable molecules, I'm sure) or can we just point to that stamp on the cover?" And in response to Greg Schienke of Charlottesville, VA, Dooley offers this insightful summary of what this whole Justice League experiment is all about:

[Justice League] was set up as a sitcom. Read JL #1--most of the action is bickering. Read Andy's intro to 'A New Beginning.' JUSTICE LEAGUE always was about 'the environment our characters inhabit,' 'the simple interrelationships of heroes,' and making the heroes 'act just like people,' funny, silly. As we've said, in this industry of 'normal' seriousness, JL is the aberration. And as Will Rogers put it, "We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can.'

Lastly, remember this show? Boy howdy, was I excited.

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, #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


The Flash ad copyright DC Comics, Inc. and CBS, Inc. All other images this post copyright DC Comics. Original text copyright Jon D. Witmer/The Danger Digest.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 2

Justice League #2
June ‘87
“Make War No More!”
Keith Giffen: plot & breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis: script
Kevin Maguire: penciller
Al Gordon: inker
Bob Lappan: letterer
Gene D’Angelo: colorist
Andrew Helfer: editor


Picking up the day after the events of Justice League #1, “Make War No More!” throws the reader headlong into late ‘80s Cold War politics as only a comic book of the era could, with the introduction of a galaxy- and dimension-spanning trio of “heroes” who have tasked themselves with ridding the universe of nuclear weapons, the likes of which destroyed their own home world. First things first, though: Batman has to be an insensitive dick.



Despite Dr. Light’s help taking down the terrorists at the U.N., Batman’s peeved that she’s in possession of a signal device of unknown origin, and he’s determined to figure out from whence it came. His interrogation of the good doctor takes a coffee break when Blue Beetle calls the gang around the TV for the latest episode of Jack Ryder’s Hot Seat (misspelled “Rider” in one panel). The TV-screen panels certainly owe a debt to Frank Miller’s serious (some might say “decadent”) The Dark Knight Returns, to which this series’ comedy stands in response.



Beetle and co. aren’t the only ones enjoying the show: Ryder’s commentating serves as an “aural” bridge to the mysterious Maxwell Lord’s one and only page this issue. A potent page it is, though, portending of things to come as Lord welcomes Booster Gold into his office.



Following the Ryder episode, two pages reveal the whereabouts--metaphysical though they may be--of Dr. Fate, who up and disappeared during the first issue. It seems trouble is brewing with the Gray Man, and Fate pays a visit in an effort to keep the old-timer in check.



Page 8 takes us to that smallest of nuclear powers, the backwater country of Bialya, nestled somewhere in Eastern Europe. There, the Silver Sorceress, Wandjina and Bluejay have arrived to send the small nation’s nuclear arsenal into another dimension. Apparently successful in their mission, the three are welcomed by Bialya’s scheming leader, Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, who entices the heroes to make camp with him, and by issue's end directs their attention to the U.S.S.R.




By way of a two-page flashback, the creative team explains that these three characters hail from a world surprisingly like our own, only one that finally teetered over the brink and into nuclear Armageddon. In fact, the parallels between the worlds are so pronounced (beyond even a common species and language) that these three survivors mourn the loss of Captain Speed, “the fastest man on two legs,” which would have rung a number of bells back in ’87, not too terribly long after “the fastest man alive,” Barry Allen, lost his own life.




Thanks to a newscast, the trio’s actions finally catch the attention of the Justice League, and the two groups face off over Bialya. The conflict finds a temporary resolution (at least for this issue) when Batman accepts that the League is violating Bialyan airspace and leads his team away.



Throughout the issue, Batman stands firm as the team’s leader, even if his fellow members respect his guidance rather grudgingly. Significantly, though, J’onn takes his own place as a sympathetic, levelheaded and ultimately strong second in command. Regarding the story itself, it feels quite dated anymore, very much a product of 1987. Otherwise, the characterization and dialogue continue to entertain, although Guy Gardner’s insistence on referring to Captain Marvel as “Captain Whitebread” reads terribly--and even embarrassingly--stilted.



As for the art, the cover is a true weak link, a real step into mediocrity after the bold and now rightly iconic cover image from issue 1. Inside the book, however, Maguire and Gordon’s work again shines, with Maguire’s penchant for facial expressions perhaps best manifesting itself with a group of Bialyan soldiers, awestruck by the power of the Silver Sorceress, Wandjina and Bluejay.



Speaking of Bluejay, I was at first utterly confounded by his actual size, but upon a closer read or three, it seems he can shift his size, shrinking down to the approximate scale of his namesake, or growing to roughly the size of his compatriots. (Also, on the subject of artwork and as an addendum to last week’s post, it was unfair of me to credit Maguire for the run of the book when he was in fact off of the title for much of its run. However, in the 20-plus issues he did pencil, he undoubtedly developed the Justice League style, to which his successors would lend their own touch.)



The issue ends with the space that will become the letters page, now simply titled “Justice League” to match the book. Only being issue number 2, however, the space eschews letters in favor of a piece penned by editor Andy Helfer, who details this reboot’s genesis. Here are what strike me as two especially noteworthy passages:

“The JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA defines the greatest of DC’s heroes in a way which ‘solo’ superhero books can not--that is, it defines the individual heroes in the context of their peers--it deals with the FRATERNITY OF HEROES, and allows readers, for a few brief moments, to enter into that private world, and see how heroes interact with EACH OTHER, rather than the ‘ordinary’ people the heroes are sworn to protect, or the villains they are duty-bound to battle [....]

“Even in the old days, the emphasis on America was down played. The JLA saved the WORLD, the UNIVERSE, every month--the considerations of America were almost petty in comparison. Even though they consistently stated their national affiliation (and even though there always seemed to be at least one MARTIAN in the group) the JLA always represented the interests of more than a single country. They played for the BIG STAKES--and perhaps the insistence on maintaining the ‘America’ led to some confusion on the part of the readers. Perhaps. We don’t really know. Either way, though, we immediately dropped the ‘Of America.’”

BONUS!

Boy, did I love The Centurions back in the day, especially the green dude who I swore was an animated Tom Selleck. It’s a real shame I missed out on this miniseries, advertised opposite page 17 in this issue…




The complete 60 Weeks with the Justice League on The Danger Digest:
#1, #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 plus Andrew Helfer quotes 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.