Vandal Savage is busy vivisecting (ick) one of the defeated Apellax Aliens, the Golden Roc, part of the plan to destroy this "Justice League" ever before it is fully formed...
Meanwhile, in Chicago:
After a brief press conference, our three heroes visit genius tinkerer Ted Kord, who has been working on a high-tech security system for the JLA. After they cart it away, Kord decides, then and there, that he doesn't want to continue the family business...he wants to be a superhero!
Also meanwhile, in Rhode Island:
Aquaman, Flash, and Martian Manhunter do the same--minus the sexual harassment--with Arthur and J'onn finding a lot of common ground, so much so they leave Flash alone to his thoughts. He is soon joined by the Black Canary, who flirts with him, leaving Barry stuttering for words. Soon after, they all crowd around their newly-christened meeting table, which Barry has included a sixth chair: one for...Superman? You see, Barry wants to ask the Man of Steel to join. As the heroes debate, Superman himself shows up!
Actually, it's not Superman--it's J'onn, using his shape-shifting powers in front of his teammates for the first time, and showing a sense of humor, also for the first time. This lightens the mood for everyone, except for:
...To be continued!
This is a definitive low-stakes issue; other than the two pages with Vandal and his gang, this whole story concerns itself with character moments. Not that that's a bad thing, but I will admit after a little while I kinda wanted the JLA to just punch someone already!
Aquaman is major-league cranky this time around; writer Waid took an interesting angle with the Sea King, making him hyper-sensitive about not being welcome in his new surroundings. I was glad to see him and J'Onn strike up an immediate friendship, even within this small group. That relationship was occasionally hinted at in the original JLA book, but never had the chance to develop (J'onn was gone from the original series before any of the JLAers even got recognizable personalities)--at least until much, much later.
One relationship I didn't need to see again was the return of Snapper Carr! I didn't like him as a kid, I don't like him as an adult. Having the chance to remove that annoying jerk from (then-)newly-established DC continuity was one I would have taken with both hands. It's a new time period, a new JLA, and yet, here's Snapper again. *sigh*
And finally, Vandal Savage performing an autopsy on the Golden Roc is just gross.
1 comment:
When I read this I had to think of it as out-of-continuity or an Elseworlds tale. Despite how much I liked the series and how much I like Black Canary, the plain ol' simple fact is she ain't one of the original Justice Leaguers. Now having said that, I really enjoyed her interactions with Hal and Barry in these issues. It's interesting how she rejects Hal's advances and sidles up to Barry... and then eventually, she ends up with Ollie, who is much closer to Hal in terms of machismo and bravado? Anyway, I agree that Aquaman is a bit too grumpy for a good portion of this series.
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