60 WEEKS WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Week 57

Justice League America #57
Dec. '91
Breakdowns Part 9
"The Descent of ... Despero!"
Meaningless violence and a few stale jokes ... brought to you by those immortal masters of comic art:
Keith Giffen, plot 'n' breakdowns
J.M. DeMatteis, dialogue & complaints
Chris Wozniak, penciller
Bruce Patterson, inker
Bob Lappan, letterer
Gene D'Angelo, colorist
Kevin Dooley, hungers for more power
Andy Helfer, just wants out

Justice League Europe #33
Dec. '91
Breakdowns Part 10
"Mere Anarchy"
Keen-O Keith Giffen - plots
Germane Gerard Jones - script
Darin' Darick Robertson - pencils
Jostlin' John Beatty - inks
Wired Willie Schubert - letters
Genial Gene D'Angelo - colors
Kvetchin' Kevin Dooley - associate editing
Anxious Andy Helfer - editing
Billious Billy Yeats


At last, JLA presents the long-awaited return of Mitch Wacky. (And the Beefeater, but that's another story.) Unfortunately, JLE may well be his last appearance--it's unclear, but I think he might have been killed by none other than Dreamslayer, who has inhabited the body of--who else?--Maxwell Lord. Yes indeed, after the destruction of his body back in JLE #19, Dreamslayer's consciousness lived on, searching for an appropriate host body and conveniently settling on Max's comatose corpus. Using his powers of persuasion (which make Max's pale in comparison), Dreamslayer made Uncle Mitch abscond with the Extremist robots to KooeyKooeyKooey; there, Uncle Mitch was forced to return Lord Havok to working order, and now Dreamslayer and Havoc are ready to paint the town red, so to speak. Of course, the League remains blissfully unaware, seeing as they're currently tied up battling Despero--and that battle has so far leveled most of Manhattan, thanks to an ill-conceived earthquake caused by Major Disaster.

Not much else to say this week, I'm afraid. I still don't like Wozniak's art, but I think I'm getting desensitized to it. Robertson's work was strong as usual, although it didn't quite hit the high notes of last issue. Interesting to probably no one, JLE contained a 17-page ad, in comics form, for Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis, and then "Europinion" included this cover credits blurb: "THIS ISSUE'S COVER was computerized by the following programmers: Darick Robertson, John Beatty, and Bob Le Rose." (Remember, L-Ron was supposedly compiling the letters pages; nevertheless, with the advent of digital tools in the comics arena in the years since this was written, "computerized" feels like a poor, misleading choice of words.) No cover credits in "Justice Log," but JLA's cover itself, which offers yet another homage to JL #1, clearly shows the initials of Chris Sprouse and Bruce Patterson.

I think "Breakdowns" is wearing on me. Only three weeks to go...

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, #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 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.