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 53

Justice League America #53
Aug. '91
Breakdowns Part 1
"Blown Away"
JUSTICE LEAGUE LEADER GUNNED DOWN ON DOORSTEP OF NEW YORK EMBASSY by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Blood stained the steps of the New York Embassy of the Justice League International this morning as police searched for clues to the identity of the would-be assassin who pumped four bullets into Maxwell Lord. Police inspector Andy Helfer noted that Lord was found in the library after Professor Plum was seen leaving with a gun. However, this testimony came from a dubious Miss Scarlett who had spent several hours working over a large bottle of V.S.O.P. (continued on page 3)
SCHUBERT AND D'ANGELO ARRESTED IN BRAWL
"I've never seen two men so wildly out of control," said witness Kevin Dooley, as he stood on the street outside the Machismo Club in the West Village. "It was wonderful," Dooley added. The fight allegedly started in the back of the club's main phone booth when the two men dived for a quarter which fell out (continued in Lifestyle Section, page 4)
Photo: Chris Wozniak and Bruce Patterson

Justice League Europe #29
Aug. '91
Breakdowns Part 2
"Turning and Turning"
Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns
Gerard Jones, dialogue
Darick Robertson, pencils
John Beatty, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin Dooley, associate editor
Andy Helfer, editor


The JLA creatives get, well, creative with their credits this week, peppering them throughout the text on a splash page made to look like the front page, above the fold, of the Daily Planet. And the creative energy stays high throughout the first chapter of the paradigm-changing "Breakdowns" story, which features appearances from the Injustice League--and we all know I'm always happy when they turn up--and Manga Khan. More importantly--plot-wise, anyway--the U.N. General Assembly replaces the comatose Max Lord as head of the JLI with the mysterious Kurt Heimlich, whose leadership will not bode well for the cast of characters we've grown to know and love in both JLA and JLE.

Chris Wozniak takes on penciling duties in JLA, with inks by Bruce Patterson, and the team does a fine job; I would have been perfectly happy to see these two do some fill-in issues earlier in the run, either here or in JLE, but considering the importance of this storyline, it feels all wrong to not have Adam Hughes--or even Kevin Maguire--on pencils. Furthermore, Willie Schubert takes over lettering responsibilities, following the completely dynamite run of Bob Lappan (since issue #1!), and man, it just looks wrong. (To be clear, Schubert's work here is fine, but his style ain't the same as Lappan's, and after 52 issues--not to mention JLE--the change is jarring.)

Fortunately, Lappan's still doing what he does best in JLE, but there again (despite what the cover says) penciling and inking are handled by a different team than Sears/Marcos or Sears/Elliott, who set the visual tone for this title and should be aboard for the last big story. Instead, Darick Robertson does pencils and John Beatty inks; their work is strong, but it would have been better suited to a fill-in. Anyhow, the story really gets moving here, as Heimlich conducts one-on-one interviews with the JLE's members and begins his structural shakedown of the organization: Heimlich fires Captain Atom, replacing him with BlueJay as field commander, and Ralph Dibny is also out, but his wife Sue is asked to stay on for monitor duty. With clues surfacing that Max's would-be assassin hails from Bialya, Atom then flies off half-cocked to confront the Queen Bee, only to be taken down by the Global Guardians, who were tipped off to Atom's impending arrival by none other than Heimlich. (Oh yeah, and Jack O' Lantern and his teammates are alive and well. Also--but I could be mistaken about this--I think Harjavti might be back, too.) As if that weren't enough Mr. Bigger and his Metawise organization are still spying on the League by means of the camera they installed in the cat's eye. Yeesh. And to think, people used to write into the letter col and say nothing happens in these JLI books.

Speaking of letters pages, it's cover credits time. "Justice Log" notes, "Cover by Chris Sprouse; Robert Le Rose, colors." (To which I reply, "How come Sprouse never illustrated the inside of one of these books?") And "Europinion" tells us, "Bart Sears, pencils and inks; Bob Le Rose, colors." (To which I reply, "Does anyone else think that cover doesn't much look like Sears' style?") Also in "Justice Log," readers just keep on asking for Blue Devil to be added to the team.

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, #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 45

Justice League America #45
Dec. '90
"A Date With Density, Part Two: Hell On Ice!"
Another lesson in the fine art of male/female relations as brought to you by
Keith Giffen, married, with children
J.M. DeMatteis, divorced, with child
Russell Braun, will gladly show you his etchings
John Beatty, never discusses his private life
Bob Lappan, discusses it with everyone
Gene D'Angelo, limited palette
Kevin Dooley, S.W.M.*
Andy Helfer, J.A.B.**
* Single White Male
** Just Ask Brenda
Assisted and abetted by Adam Hughes, José Marzan Jr., and Malcolm Jones III

Justice League Europe #21
Dec. '90
"Blood, Sweat and Tabloids"
Just a bit of sport from...
Keith Giffen - plot & breakdowns
Gerard Jones - script
Marshall Rogers - pencils
Joe Rubinstein - inks
Bob Lappan - letters
Gene D'Angelo - colors
Kevin Dooley - tea and
Andy Helfer - crumpets


So far as plots are concerned, December 1990 was a slow month for the JLI, and can be summed up like this: Guy and Ice went on another date--this time to see the Ice-Capists--and said date was rudely interrupted by a prank pulled by Beetle, Kilowog and Fire; meanwhile, the JLE moved into the London Embassy and did a bit of shopping.

There are, however, some important developments concerning the membership. First, Oberon decides to peace out so he can spend more time with Scott and Barda.

Then, Max puts Catherine Cobert in charge of the JLE (leaving Captain Atom as field commander).

Once in charge, Catherine cleans up the team's roster files, deleting Wonder Woman (who never bothered to show up, anyway) and Animal Man (whose own book has apparently gotten just too damn weird to jibe with the League anymore). Meanwhile, Inspector Camus of the Paris police--to his everlasting chagrin--is assigned to a Metahuman Crisis Unit and made the direct liaison officer to the JLE. Perhaps most importantly, though, is the revelation that Uncle Mitch himself is alive and well and on his way to Disney World, having survived his run-in with Dreamslayer.

By far the best part of these two issues is the Adam Hughes art in four pages of JLA. Russell Braun's work is passable for a filler issue, and Marshall Rogers' work in JLE just disappoints; he nails some tertiary characters, but he butchers Max, and his treatment of the rest of the League leaves much to be desired after Bart Sears' phenomenal work. Speaking of art, ignore the credits on the cover of JLA, but feel free to heed the cover credits in both books' letters pages: "Justice Log" notes, "Cover by Adam Hughes, inks by Karl Story, colors by Bob Le Rose," and "Europinion" offers, "Cover pencils, inks and colors by, respectively, Marshall Rogers, Bruce Patterson, and Bob Le Rose." Also in "Europinions," Kevin Dooley dances right around the multiple questions about a certain incongruous flashback from JLE #16.

More next week!


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, #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 44

Justice League America #44
Nov. '90
"Pastiche"
Let's have a round of applause for those adorable little rascals:
Keith Giffen, nervous breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis, psychobabble
Adam Hughes, going on vacation
José Marzan, Jr., inker
Bob Lappan, letterer
Gene D'Angelo, colorist
Kevin Dooley desperately wants a promotion
Andrew Helfer actually went on an airplane

Justice League Europe #20
Nov. '90
"Rue Brittania"
More sequential panel art fun from:
Keith Giffen
Gerard Jones
Marshall Rogers
Bob Smith
Bob Lappan
Gene D'Angelo
Andy Dooley
Kevin Helfer

Despite telling Max he needed some time away back in issue #42, J'onn is still taking it easy with the rest of the League--and mind you, I'm not complaining. More importantly, after showing up in some bizarre duds, Orion's back to wearing his traditional threads this ish. These are important points, dear readers, because the JLA needs to be at its very best to take down "Wally, the amazing Tortolini-Man." Armed with all of the gadgets he won in last issue's poker game, Wally tries to hit the road but is immediately thwarted by a team of mysterious operatives working well outside the law. Undaunted, the erstwhile reporter decides to give his weapons a field test, and based on those weapons, Sonar, Black Mass, Brainstorm, Crowbar, the Cavalier and Blackrock are all assumed to be the parties responsible.

It's a delicious mix up that leads to a fun--and mercifully short--punch up between the League and the band of accused villains, all of whom wind up in the clink by issue's end. Adding to the good times, of course, are Hughes' pencils, which feel better complemented by Marzan's inks this time out--it's a weak point to make, no doubt, since I can't put my finger on just exactly what it was that didn't work as well for me about the inks last issue, but this time the whole package just feels a bit more put together. As for Wally himself, all the excitement prompts a change of heart, and he decides to hand over J'onn the notebook he's been carrying filled with the JLA's secrets.

JLE, meanwhile, welcomes Marshall Rogers to the fold with mixed results. Some of his pages and character acting are great, but others feel rushed or like a halfhearted attempt to mimic the Maguire/Hughes style. All the same, it's an important story in that it sees the accidental destruction of the Paris embassy at the hands of the Beefeater, otherwise known as Michael Morice, the caretaker of the League's London embassy. I suppose this is what happens when readers keep writing letters demanding Europe be better represented in these pages.

Both books only present one page of letters apiece, as opposed to the usual two, but manage nevertheless to fit in cover credits. From "Justice Log": "This issue's cover art by Adam Hughes, color by Bob Le Rose." From "Europinion": "Cover by Marshall Rogers, pencils; Bruce Patterson, inks; and Bob Le Rose, colors."


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, #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 42

Justice League American #42
Sep. '90
"Solicitations"
It's the album of the decade brought to you by those lovable mop-tops:
Keith Giffen, acoustic & electric guitars
J.M. DeMatteis, lead vocals
Mike McKone, bass
José Marzan, Jr., piano
Gene D'Angelo, percussion
Bob Lappan, drums
Management: Kevin Dooley
Produced by Andrew Helfer

Justice League Europe #18
Sep. '90
"The Extremist Vector Part Four: The Happy Place"
Keith Giffen, plot/breakdowns
Gerard Jones, script
Bart Sears, pencils
Randy Elliott, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D'Angelo, colors
Kevin Dooley, wacky
Andy Helfer, wicky


I've been looking forward to this week with both excitement and trepidation since beginning this whole "60 Weeks" experiment. Indeed, for me, JLA #42 is where it all began. Back in 1990, I'd only recently gotten into reading comics, but it didn't take long to hear about the Justice League of America, the premier assemblage of the World's Greatest Heroes. Superman! Batman! The Flash! Other characters whom I was still getting to know! I explained the premise to my folks and how this must surely be the greatest comic book ever put to press, and, if I recall correctly, my dad soon thereafter brought this and issue 43 home for me after stopping by Cleveland's Super City Comics on his lunch break. Admittedly, it wasn't exactly what I'd anticipated--who were these strange characters on the cover? (Hell, I asked myself the same thing before reading it now, in 2010.) At least this Blue Beetle guy looked pretty cool.

Now though, with 20 years having passed and having finally read the previous 40 issues, I must say this issue is fantastic through and through. Hands down one of my favorites of the series. Even McKone's art seems to have taken a quantum leap forward into greatness since just the previous issue, where I was still dogging it; his characters here show tremendous acting chops, and his layouts are all first rate. He still might not be an Adam Hughes or a Kevin Maguire, but he clearly stands on his own and knocks this membership-drive story right outta the park. And speaking of the story, let's finally get to it.

Recognizing the need for more muscle on the team, Max sends Blue Beetle and Fire out to recruit El Diablo, Guy Gardner to recruit Starman, and Ice and Huntress to recruit Hawk and Dove. Each bit, more or less, turns out like this:

Complicating matters further, J'onn feels the need to take some time away to clear his own head after the Despero debacle. His absence should have been mitigated when the real Scott Free returns to Earth after completing his indentured servitude to Manga Khan--it turns out that kooky Mr. Miracle that was blown up and then buried last issue was one of Manga's robot duplicates--but instead he decides to let the world continue thinking he's dead while he takes some time off to barbecue with Barda. All's not completely hopeless, though: First, Max trades the test-tube remnants of Despero to Manga Khan for Manga's erstwhile robo-servant L-Ron; then, on the last page, New Gods Orion and Lightray arrive at the embassy, ready for action.

JLE's also a fine piece of work this time out, and definitely the most entertaining chapter yet of "The Extremist Vector" storyline. Trapped in Silver Sorceress' nuked-out dimension, the Leaguers are summoned to Wacky World, a pristine amusement park populated by lifelike robots who, in turn, demonstrate a religious devotion to the park's "visionary" (apparently a sort of cross between Walt Disney and L. Ron Hubbard) and his living servant/prophet/freakazoid, Carny. Carny, in turn, has been holding Silver Sorceress captive, and now he's bent on keeping the JLE imprisoned in his house of horrors. Zaniness ensues, and when said zaniness goes against Carny's plans, the big boy throws a fit and blows up Wacky World. The League, protected by Metamorpho, appears to be safe; the Sorceress' fate is less clear; and the last page reveals a mysterious figure waking from some techno-slumber contraption. Perhaps it's the visionary himself?

"Justice Log" alerts us to these cover credits for JLA: "Adam Hughes, pencils/inks; Bob Le Rose, colors." No letters page this month in JLE--instead, there's an ad for Justice League Quarterly, which I won't be covering during this initial 60 Weeks project, but I do hope to come back around for sometime next year--but how about that cover, referencing JLI #11?

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, #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.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 31

Justice League America #31
Oct. '89
The Teasdale Imperative Part One
"Crossed Wires!"
Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Joe Rubinstein, Albert De Guzman, Gene D'Angelo, Kevin Dooley and Andy Helfer (as the Beaver) proudly welcome new penciller Adam Hughes aboard the J.L.A. Express!

Justice League Europe #7
Oct. '89
The Teasdale Imperative Part Two
"Teasdale Unbound!"
Part two of the first JLA/JLE crossover courtesy of:
Keith Giffen: mastermind
J.M. DeMatteis: wordsmith
Bart Sears: visual vizier
Pablo Marcos: embellisher
Bob Lappan: lettermonger
Gene D'Angelo: colorizer
Kevin Dooley: boyish enthusiast
Andrew Helfer: grouch


And so begins--and concludes the first half of--the first JLA/JLE crossover, a.k.a. "The Teasdale Imperative," so named due to the mysterious machinations of one Irwin Teasdale. But, before that's revealed in Part Two, an awful lot of ground is covered in Part One, which also brings penciller Adam Hughes into the fold, and a welcome addition he is. His pencils are the best fit for the style set by Maguire that we've seen since Maguire's departure.

In addition to unveiling Fire and Ice's new duds, this issue finds the JLA's shuttle getting a refit ...

... Dr. Fate re-joining the League--or rather joining for the first time as a woman ...

... Maxwell Lord going on Geraldo ...

... and Guy taking the time to write a response in the letters page regarding his behavior in issue 28:

"I ain't pretentious. Ice just made the wrong assumption. Is that my fault? That was my ideal date and one day I'll find a girl who likes the same thing--a match made in ... wherever. Black Hand is a bad guy; bad guys get stomped by good guys; I'm a good guy, like it or not. Remember, scum stays on top of the water. You gotta handle your boss like I handle Max Lord. Walk right into his office and demand what you deserve. Only be careful ... you might get it."

All that, plus the JLA flies off to a small village in Eastern Europe to join up with the JLE in a battle against--wait for it--vampires!

Yes indeed, the populations of one small village after another have been falling prey to some weird vampire-plague that makes them bite the uninfected and seek shelter from the sun. And, as semi-spoiled above, it all seems to be the doing of Irwin Teasdale, who holds some grudge against Simon Stagg (of Metamorpho's supporting cast--see JLE #5 if you need a refresher).

But wait! Could it be that Teasdale is actually just a pawn of--the Gray Man?! His hairdo's gotten weirder since last we saw him, but he's still up to no good, that's for sure.

JLE's letters pages also give us that book's cover credits: "pencilled by Bart Sears, inked by Joe Rubinstein, and colored by Bob Le Rose, with inspirational thanks to Joe Kubert."

In case my enthusiasm hasn't been clear to this point, let me simply say, this crossover is radtastic. Be here next week to see how it all wraps up. Yo-ho!

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, #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.