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.

60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 35

Justice League America #35
Feb. '90
"Lifeboat"
Keith Giffen: plot
J.M. DeMatteis: dialogue
Adam Hughes: pencils
Art Nichols/Jose Marzon + Joe Rubinstein - inkers, each and every one of 'em
Bob Lappan, Gene D'Angelo, Kevin Dooley and Andy Helfer, all doin' that voodoo that they do so well!

Justice League Europe #11
Feb. '90
"Family Ties"
Plot: Giffen
Script: Loebs
Pencils and inks: Sears
Letters: Lappan
Color: D'Angelo
Ed. asst: Dooley
Andy: Helfer


In a turn of events I never would have anticipated, Major Disaster--with an assist from Aquaman and some of his "finny friends"--winds up the hero in JLA when he causes an undersea volcano to erupt beneath the wandering island of Kooey Kooey Kooey, thus anchoring the island. (This is comic-book science; it's best just to roll with it.) Unfortunately for the Major, his reward is paid in Kooey Kooey Kooey kurrency--and good luck spending that anywhere.

Aquaman also turns up with some sharks to rescue Max, Oberon, Ice and Huntress, who were each in a teleporter when the island started moving last issue; the teleporters were shaken loose, and this foursome was subsequently stranded at sea, where they spent the better part of this issue. By the time Aquaman arrives, Ice is in particularly bad shape, and Guy--in a rare moment of selflessness that belies the seeds of something special between these two--rushes her to a hospital. (As a fun fact for anyone keeping track at home, Oberon reveals while stranded that he's 59 years young at this point.)

As noted in the credits, there are three inkers on the book, which unsurprisingly leads to a few inconsistencies, most notably a changing pattern on Mr. Miracle's sweater. Nevertheless, each inker handles the material well, giving all due service to Hughes' pencils, which continue to wow. I didn't think anybody could replace Maguire on this title, but Hughes is undeniably his equal. Even his layouts are top-notch, and when he decides to shake up the grid, he consistently does so in service of the story.

Guy also guest-stars in JLE, where he offers to protect his own personal hero, Simon Stagg, from Metamorpho, who's made up his mind to go after his son. Rocket Red and Animal Man (sans costumes, no doubt to keep a low profile--too bad they're with the Element Man) tag along to make sure things go as smoothly as possible, but the book takes a dark turn when it's revealed that Metamorpho's son is the subject of Stagg's experiments and the source of Stagg's new fuel substitute.

After a brawl that leaves Guy a bloody pulp, the issue ends on a cliffhanger with the Metal Men--whose boss and creator, Doctor Will Magnus, is in cahoots with Stagg--promising to end Metamorpho's rampage. Perhaps even more significantly, this issue actually checks in on Silver Sorceress and Blue Jay, who have been locked up in Russia's People's Center for Meta-Human Studies. I suspect we'll see more of them soon.

JLA's "Justice Log" offers that title's cover credits: "DIS ISSUE'S COVER: Adam Hughes, pencils/inks; Bob Le Rose, colors." No credits in JLE, whose letters page was erroneously also titled "Justice Log" this month. All the same, the cover itself clearly shows the mark of "Maguire & Sears" on pencils and inks, respectively.

Last but not least, can anyone out there offer up some statistics on how many thefts were actually prevented thanks to The Official Batman Secret Code Bike Alarm and Sonic Weapons Center? Inquiring minds, and all that. I've no doubt the "buzz bomb" sent criminals of all stripes running for cover.

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, #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


Secret Code Bike Alarm ad copyright HBC and DC Comics, 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 34

Justice League America #34
Jan. '90
"Club JLI"
Yes, they're at it again ... Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Adam Hughes, Art Nichols, Bob Lappan, Gene D'Angelo, Kevin Dooley and that fun-lovin' kid from Brooklyn, Andy Helfer, have once more joined forces to hurdle the boundaries of good taste and bad jokes!

Justice League Europe #10
Jan. '90
"After the Fox!"
Another Giffen/Loebs/Sears/Marcos/Lappan/D'Angelo/Dooley/Helfer piece o' work!


The fun train keeps on rolling right into the 1990s, and what better way to welcome the new decade than with a relaxing jaunt to Club JLI? Advertised (mostly falsely) as being "fully sanctioned by Maxwell Lord" and "a wholly owned subsidiary of the Blue and Gold Entertainment Group," Beetle and Booster funded the project by emptying the League's coffers right under Max's nose; Kilowog then built the island facilities in a mere three days.

Desperate for a break, the Injustice League's very own Major Disaster and Big Sir arrive at Kooey Kooey Kooey to exploit the latter's knack for counting cards. And quite a knack it is, as the duo breaks the bank overnight.

However, as the aptly named Major Disaster is about to leave with the winnings, the island "wakes up," destroying Club JLI--and scattering Disaster and Big Sir's money--with a violent series of Earthquakes. What's more, the destruction wipes out the teleport tubes, leaving everyone still on the island stranded--at least until next month.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Bruce Wayne's bat-sense is a-tingling, but not because of the casino's plight. Instead, he's distracted by the theft of a globe full of cash during a charity auction co-hosted by Vivian D'Aramis, who just so happens to be the Crimson Fox.

Slipping out of the event and into her crimefighting duds, the Crimson Fox ably wrestles the thieves' helicopter down, crash-landing it in Captain Atom's room at the JLE's Paris embassy. The Captain's not exactly enthusiastic about this turn of events, but despite his misgivings, it looks like Crimson Fox will be a regular in these pages.

It's a solid start to 1990, with good writing, mostly great art (there are a handful of dicey panels in JLE, I won't lie, but overall both books look swell) and one of the best covers of JLA's run.  Speaking of covers, the credits from "Justice Log" go like this: "This issue's cover was pencilled and inked by Adam with coloring by the unquenchable Bob Le Rose." And from "Europinion": "Bart pencilled and inked the cover all by his widdle self. Bobby Le Rose colored it."

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, #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 23

Justice League International #23
Jan. ‘89
“Gross Injustice”
Keith Giffen, plot & breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis, script
Kevin Maguire, pencils
Joe Rubinstein, inks
Bob Lappan, letters
Gene D’Angelo, colors
Andrew Helfer, editor
and introducing Kevin Dooley, King of the Universe


A bittersweet issue, this. Sweet, because it contains probably the most madcap plot we’ve yet seen in this book, supported by the best script DeMatteis has yet penned and pitch-perfect art from Maguire. Bitter, though, for two reasons: one, the story ends with a twist concluded in Invasion! #3, so I may never learn “the deadly secret of the atmospheric inversion”; and two, the letters page reveals that Maguire will be leaving the book after issue 24. (Lessening that second blow, Ty Templeton will take over regular penciling duties; while he’s not Maguire, his work in issue’s 20 and 21 was solid.)


Still tying into DC’s Invasion! event, the story begins with the League cleaning up a Khund crash site on “a small island in the South Pacific.” The zany knob gets dialed to 11 when a band of buffoons calling themselves the Injustice League hotwire a Thanagarian starship. Hellbent on world domination--or at least knocking over gas stations--the villains catch the ire of Guy Gardner, and in turn, that of the entire JLI.

Seen on the cover above, the Injustice League includes (from left to right) Big Sir, Clue Master, Major Disaster, Multi-Man and Clock King. Not pictured is the gang’s technology “expert,” Bruce:


This is brilliant fun, the best this book has been in its first two years, and aside from being continued in a different title, the story does a good job of standing on its own, so a new reader can easily catch on to the madness. And just look at Maguire’s acting chops--Templeton’s got some big shoes to fill.



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, #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.