Infinity War Trailer, My Thoughts

Next year, we will be celebrating the tenth birthday of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2008, the Golden Avenger, Iron Man, made his live-action film debut, to massive critical and fan praise. In a post-credits scene, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury uttered two sentences that drove fans into a shocked frenzy.

"Mr. Stark, you have become part of a bigger universe." "I'd like to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

Like many comic fans at the time, when I heard that, my jaw dropped. I remember seeing this scene in a drive-in with my dad, and I was shocked. They had bigger plans. MUCH bigger plans. They were not just hoping to do a sequel to Iron Man, they wanted to use this movie to launch what many people would have thought was insane: A cinematic universe. A series of films that were interconnected, that had one goal: To bring Earth's Mightiest Heroes together in live-action film for the first time.

Fast-forward four years. The Avengers made their feature film debut, becoming the biggest-grossing film of 2012, grossing one and a half billion dollars at the box office. In a mid-credits scene, we see The Other tell a figure that to fight the Avengers was to court death. And the figure's response? Thanos grins. This was big. Phase One of the MCU was over. This was the beginning of Phase Two. It's goal...an epic battle with Thanos, the Mad Titan himself.

Over the next six years, the MCU would continue to grow. The Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, and on the way, The Wasp, and the Carol Danvers Captain Marvel will be making their film debuts, alongside Black Panther's solo movie. The Cinematic Universe would grow to television, focusing on SHIELD, the Inhuman Royal Family, Cloak and Dagger, the Runaways, and the Defenders.

The films spent the last six years building up to a big brawl with Thanos. And now, in 2018, the Infinity War will arrive. And here's the trailer.

The trailer begins with a call-back to the first Avengers movie, Nick Fury's explanation for why he formed the Avengers. It's uttered by various characters.

I wonder whose hand Tony is holding there?

And we see Bruce Banner back on Earth...with Doctor Strange and Wong meeting him. Hmm, I wonder...did at some point between Thor: Ragnarok and this movie, Bruce Banner and Hulk come to some kind of concession regarding their shared existence? I bet Strange is thinking the universe is going on a massive bender right now.

Hey, I like the Vision's new more human appearance. I hope he uses the alias "Victor Shade". He used that name for a while in the comics. Thor on his spaceship. And Natasha Romanoff is a blonde now. That makes sense she'd change her hair, she has been living in exile since the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Peter Parker is heading to school, and his arm hairs stand on end. This must be the MCU's take on his Spider-Sense. He sees a big metal ring. Yup, New York is going to get invaded again. Hopefully, they learned from last time and got some good evacuation plans set in.

Loki's got the Tessaract! He also appears to be stepping over bodies, maybe the ship he and the other Asgardians got attacked? Would make sense, considering Thor: Ragnarok. I hope Korg, Miek, and Valkyrie don't die.

Here's Thanos! He forgot his hat, he was probably coming by to see if anyone has seen it.

Really liking Spider-Man's armor there. Also like that it pays homage to Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume.

Black Panther calling for an evacuation. Yeah, considering how advanced Wakanda is, I would not be surprised if they have procedures in place for alien invasion. Bearded Cap.

Big brawl in Wakanda, folks! Step right up! See the Battle of the Century! Black Panther's Pulverizers vs. a Child of Thanos!

Oh my God, Thanos is going Homer Simpson on Spidey!

Ouch, Vision is going to be in for a world of hurt. Not surprising, since he has an Infinity Stone in his head.

Tony Stark just got punched so hard that I was surprised he wasn't knocked back to 1955.

Oh MAN, that scene of the heroes charging in Wakanda was awesome! And I liked the appearance by Danai Gurira as Okoye. I just realized something. Black Panther is going to be set after Infinity War. It makes sense. The trailers made no mention of the Avengers hiding out in Wakanda during that movie, so we can assume that Black Panther's solo comes afterwards so they don't have to explain what happened to them because this film will.

THOR MESTS THE GUARDIANS! I like that Mantis gave Thor a little wave. That's adorable.

I LOVED this trailer! I saw it several times today. Ten years ago, nobody thought something like this would happen. Now, it's become a reality. Although, I can't help but wonder. After Thanos...what's next?

Thor #408 (October 1989)

Thor. The God of Thunder. In the Marvel Universe, this powerful Norse deity is regarded as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, even helping found the Avengers. Recently, Thor Odinson lost his worthiness to wield his hammer, Mjolnir. The hammer would end up in the hands of long-time Thor supporting character, Jane Foster. Response to this was...rabid. Many hated the idea of Thor's hammer going to someone else, but for me...it was done before. I wrote a bit of history of Marvel's Mjolnir users here about three years ago.

I'm talking about someone who has also wielded Mjolnir and fought evil as Thor. Yes, Jane cold be considered the third Thor (Fourth if you count Red Norvell). As such, I thought a nice little history lesson was in order. As such, I thought it would be nice to give some focus to a character who got to wield Mjolnir for a significant period of time himself: Eric Masterson.

First appearing in Thor #391 (May 1988), Masterson was a single father and architect. During his time as Thor, he served as an Avenger (He was operating as Thor during the events of Operation: Galactic Storm), and eventually got his own powerful weapon: the mace called Thunderstrike. Sadly, Masterson's superhero career would end when he sacrificed his life to end the curse of a weapon called the Bloodaxe. However, the Thunderstrike legacy would continue on. The mace would end up in the hands of his son Kevin, who would go on to take up the Thunderstrike mantle. You can read more about him here.

And with that, let's look at Thor #408!

The cover is pretty awesome. Thor and the Mongoose are facing off, a fallen Eric Masterson in front of them. We got Odin in the background, clenching his fists. And Hercules looking like he's cheering Thor on. The cover promises the Prince of Power, a fateful decision, the Power of Odin, and the "stunning savagery of the Mongoose"! And boy, does this comic deliver on all of them.

"The Fateful Decision!"
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Artist: Ron Frenz
Finisher: Joe Sinnott
Letterer: Michael Heigler
Colorist: Tom Vincent
Editor: Ralph Macchio

The story begins with Hercules, Thor, Eric Masterson, and the High Evolutionary returning to Earth.

The party has returned to Wundagore after an adventure in a place called the Black Galaxy. Eric Masterson is excited to tell Kevin about it. The group of New Men warriors known as the Knights of Wundagore are happy to see the Evolutionary back home. The Evolutionary thanks Thor for rescuing him from the Black Galaxy. As a gesture of gratitude, he allows the heroes to stay and rest in Wundagore. Unknown to them, they are being watched by the Mongoose.

In Asgard, we got more drama. Odin is convalescing in his bed, and he, being an ornery old god, is rather unhappy about it. Odin's vizier tells him that he needs to conserve his strength, as it is waning. He could restore it if he goes into the Odinsleep. Odin refuses as in his current state, it could last for months...or even years. Odin can't afford it. You see, Asgard has ended up in the Negative Zone, which means they've lost any change of passage to Earth. And since there are a lot of dangers in the Negative Zone, Odin must remain vigilant.

There is a positive to this...at least to Odin's perspective. Thor can cross over to Asgard one last time. Which means Thor will finally have to choose between the land that birthed him, and the world that he has spent years defending. Odin must be awake to hear Thor's decision. I know there was critism in Jason Aaron's work for Odin being portrayed as a jerk, but...yeah. Odin being a jerk is nothing new. Odin being a jerk goes far back as the Lee/Kirby days.

Back on Earth, Hercules is shocked that Thor decided to shave his beard. To the Vikings, facial hair is a sign of strength and manhood...at least, according to Herc. Thor explains that it's not a big deal to Asgardians. Asgardians may have been worshipped by Vikings, but their traditions and beliefs didn't always line up. Thor accidentally cuts himself while shaving, but reassures a concerned Eric Masterson that he's alright. However, unknown to the others, Thor has been having dizzy spells on Earth.

An attendant takes Thor's shaving dish, presumably to clean it. But in reality, he hands it to another one of the New Men. Thor's beard hair contains DNA, which could be useful to the High Evolutionary in creating a new race of immortals.

The High Evolutionary provides Thor and his party with Atomic Steeds that will take them over to a nearby city, so they can head on home. Thor warns the scientific villain that if he meddles with human evolution again, he'll essentially get a great big kiss in the mush from Mjolnir. The High Evolutionary reassures Thor that won't happen. The lifeforms in the Black Galaxy has gotten the scientist's interest, and he wants to study them. The party leave, and Wundagore takes off into the sky.

Eric wonders if the Evolutionary is heading back to the Black Galaxy. Would make sense, as he has said he wanted to study it...which means Thor may have to pull his bacon out of the fire again. The Atomic Steeds get shot down. Thor is able to save Eric, but Hercules falls into a ravine. Thor isn't worried, as being a demigod, Herc is pretty darn durable. Thor tries to locate the party's attacker.

The Mongoose is back, and he wants a piece of the God of Thunder! Thor easily destroys his craft. Mongoose strikes back, using his super speed to pummel the Thunder God. Thor is able to reach his hammer and use it to cause a rainstorm. The rain turns the ground to mud, making Mongoose slip and rendering his speed useless. However, Mongoose has a backup weapon. He blasts Thor with a mining laser. The uplifted primate keeps blasting the God of Thunder, much to the horror of Eric Masterson.

Masterson is understandably terrified. Can't blame him, really. Thor is one of the powerhouses of the Marvel Heroes. Seeing him getting blasted into submission with a powerful mining laser would send chills. Despite the fact that he knows he's out of his league, Masterson leaps on the Mongoose.

Mongoose bats him aside, and he lands near Mjolnir. A hand reaches out and grabs for the mystical war hammer. And the hand...

In the Marvel Comics mythos, in times of crisis, Mjolnir can be temporarily wielded by those who re worthy. Eric Masterson is part of an elite group, which included Captain America, and Superman. Yup, Superman used Mjolnir. JLA/Avengers. It is an awesome mini-series. However, Eric gets blasted for his efforts. Hercules shows up, and sends a bunch of rocks flying towards the Mongoose, which makes the New Man basically say "Screw This, I'm Outta Here!" It's kind of funny he fled, considering that he was armed with a mining laser that could harm a god.

Thor and Herc look over Masterson, and realize that he is dying. Eric tries to use his dying breaths to get Thor to watch over his son Kevin. Kevin Masterson would go on to become the second Thunderstrike in both the MC2 comics and the main Marvel Universe. But that's years from now. Thor realizes there's still a chance to save Eric. He uses his hammer to summon Odin.

Thor pleads for Odin to save Eric, and Odin says there is a way, but it's a costly one. He has given Thor a true reason to stay on Midgard. Odin had hoped that one day, Thor would take up the crown of Midgard, but he sees that Thor desires to fight for justice and truth. Asgard will endure without Thor, but it will be a lesser place without him. Odin then expresses pride in Thor's nobility. Mercurial, thy name is Odin.

Eric arrives at his apartment with Hercules and greets his son. With them is Susan Austin, who helps Eric out with his architecture business and babysits Kevin. Herc is introduced as Harry Cleese. Get it?

Kevin notices Eric's new walking stick, and wonders where Thor is, causing Eric and Herc to share a look. That night, Herc takes his leave, saying he and Eric have much to discuss. Eric Masterson thinks about his new status quo. You see...

Odin's idea for saving Eric's life was to merge him, body and soul, with Thor. In essence, Eric has become Thor's new secret identity. It's not quite Eric becoming the new Thor, but that's in the future. It's a step towards it. The story ends with Thor flying off into the night on his hammer, vowing to continue to defend the innocent and stand against evil.

This issue does have a backup tale, but unfortunately, I do not have it. You see, the scans I got came from my copy of the trade paperback The Mighty Thor: Thunderstrike. It did include Thor #408 in its collected issues, but only the main story. It's technically fine, as that was what I wanted to concentrate on here, but from a completion perspective, it's a bit annoying to me.

This was a very nice little done-in-one tale. We see a new status quo set in for Thor, some action, and of course, the ever-boisterous Hercules. I have read some of Tom DeFalco's work on Thor, and honestly...it's criminally underrated. I do get why his time with the character is not talked about much. He took up the book after Walter Simonson. Despite the fact that DeFalco wrote the book longer than Simonson (DeFalco's time went for six years: 1987-1993, and Simonson's run lasted for four: 1983-1987), Simonson's run is considered more legendary. Heck, Simonson himself appeared in a cameo in the first Thor movie, and his work was homaged in Thor: Ragnarok.

It's kind of sad that DeFalco and Frenz's work on Thor doesn't get much attention, because they were a great team on the book. Ron Frenz's artwork is really enjoyable. During his time on Thor, his style seemed to incorporate aspects of Jack Kirby's work, especially in the way he drew faces and poses. You an see the Kirby influence especially in his interpretation of Thor. Certain panels in this book really show how convincingly he can imitate the King. There may be only King of Comics, but on Thor's book, Ron Frenz might as well have been named the Prince of Comics or the Heir Apparent.

I loved this issue. In fact, I enjoy DeFalco and Frenz's work on Thor, and it NEEDS more attention and love. Seriously. If you find it collected anywhere, GET IT. My highest recommendation? One of my favorite Thor sagas is their chronicling the war between Asgard and the Egyptian God of Death, the Serpent God Set. Amazing work by a team that deserves a lot more respect.

Next time, we travel to the DC Universe, and we look in on a team that is going to make their first appearance on this blog. All I have to say about it is simply...Teen Titans, go!

Squadron Supreme #11 (July 1986)

Welcome back to Earth-712! Every month since January, we've popped by this alternate universe to check in on their protectors, the World's Mightiest Heroes, the Squadron Supreme. We've seen how they've attempted to recover their world from disaster. It's that time again, as November is the 11th month of the year, so shall we look in on their mini-series' 11th issue.

Previously on Squadron Supreme: The Squadron mourn the loss of Tom Thumb to cancer. They announce his last project: The Hibernaculum, a device that stores people upon death so they can be revived when what killed them is curable. Dr. Decibel is killed when the comatose Quagmire floods the Squadron City Hospital with his extradimensional tar. Nighthawk sends Redstone and Moonglow to join the Squadron so they can infiltrate them from within.

And with that, let's look at Squadron Supreme #11!

The cover is pretty neat. You got Blue Eagle being restrained by members of Nighthawk's group, Remnant taunting him. Whatever Master Menace has planned for the winged Squadron member, it's clearly not going to be pleasant. Remnant is clearly lying, Blue Eagle should sue.

"Betrayal"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Paul Ryan
Inker: Sam De La Rosa
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Max Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Lamprey hovering in the air over a desert outside of Squadron City. There's a flag near him.

Hiding behind a group of rocks are several Squadron members: Blue Eagle, Moonglow, Shape, and Redstone. Eagle outlines the plan: He and Moonglow will directly go for the flag. While Lamprey is distracted with fighting them off, Redstone and Shape will move in and take the flag. Eagle and Moonglow move in. Moonglow creates a bright flash of light to blind Lamprey. He blinks it off and tries to grab her so he can absorb her power. It doesn't work. Moonglow sent out an illusion. Redstone has Shape take the form of a football, and tosses him at the flag, but Lamprey blocks him.

In another area, a similar training exercise is going down. This time, it's Haywire protecting a flag. And he has to deal with an assault from Doctor Spectrum, Inertia, and Foxfire. Haywire laughs at their attack plan, which is basically them charging at him. It's an opportunity to show off his power: His ability to create and fire lots of fine filament from his fingertips. Try saying that three times fast. He shows off his power by attacking the three Squadron members with it.

I love this sequence. It's a great way to show what each of the three Squadron members can do. Foxfire and Inertia have some rather unique powers...well, in Foxfire's case, her powers are unique for a supposed superhero. Her power to make things rot is often more associated with villains...which makes sense in her case as she was a villain forced into becoming a hero. Inertia's power is especially cool. She has the ability to absorb the kinetic energy (the energy in motion) and redirect it. It's a unique ability.

The three are able to use their powers to escape the tanglewire, and Inertia redirects its kinetic energy to Haywire, sending him flying backwards. Back in the other training area, Blue Eagle, Moonglow, and Redstone get ready to engage Lamprey, Shape having been knocked out. However, Lamprey has got some hidden backup.

Meet Thermite, who can burn you with his left had and freeze you with his right! Thermite freezes one of Blue Eagle's wings, and uses fire to make Redstone step back. Lamprey tags the huge Native American, and goes for Moonglow. But it's an illusion. The real Moonglow was able to grab the flag. Back in the second training area, Haywire desperately tries to protect his flag, but is saved by a buzzer. The contest is over, and Haywire's team won. The group return to Squadron city, with Whizzer announcing that there will be a special assembly tonight. It's also going out to the media, so they should get ready to look their best.

In Squadron City's administration complex, Hyperion and Power Princess are struggling with one of mankind's greatest foes: Paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork.

There is something so hilarious about a Superman analogue grumbling abuot paperwork. I don't know why, but it amuses me to no end. Who would have thought creating a utopia would involve paperwork? Zarda has been thinking about the cost of the Squadron's work. Four Squadron members are dead, and four more have left. Zarda remarks the Squadron never was this unstable before. Hyperion remarks something to her that in a way, encapsulates this whole mini: "Everything has a cost". She hopes Hyperion is right. The two then attend a public ceremony to welcome Redstone, Inertia, Haywire, Moonglow, and Thermite to the team.

I love this panel because I think it does give a bit of a glimpse of the personalities of the recruits. Both Haywire and Inertia feel a bit disturbed with taking the oath this way. Moonglow feels like a hypocrite for taking this oath when she and the others are there to subvert the Squadron. I consider that a bit odd, because in my opinion, she shouldn't. She's just helping maintain the act of the loyal Squadron member so she can do her subversion work. To me, it's no different that an actor playing a role for the purpose of entertaining people. Thermite's thought is interesting. I think it's meant to give the impression that he's rather young.

Later, the new members mingle with the others, and Moonglow thinks about how relieved the ceremony is over, and is worried that the Squadron may discover something suspicious in their background checks. This is interesting dialogue, and it does make me wish we did get to learn more about these five new characters and their origins. Blue Eagle remarks that the new recruits should have been B-Modded. Whizzer objects, saying that B-Modding is only for convicted criminals.

Nighthawk and some of his other forces watch the ceremony on TV, and the Dark Crusader goes to speak to Master Menace. Nighthawk ruminates over this, as the only allies he was able to find to fight were criminals like Menace, Mink, Remnant, and Pinball, as well as the expelled Golden Archer. So, what does that say about the five others he found? Were they criminals, too? Nighthawk also feels like he's truly alone in this fight. However, as if fate was telling him otherwise, the Mink comes by and...

Heh heh, this does make sense. Mink is clearly a pastiche of Catwoman, and Nighthawk is a pastiche of Batman. I can imagine there was some romantic tension when they fought each other in the past. That night, Moonglow goes to a computer, hacks it to get the plans to the B-Mod device, and send them to Master Menace. Menace gets the plans and vows to find a way to reverse the device's effects. Moonglow leaves, hinting that Nighthawk rescued her from a "life of boredom". Interesting hint about her origins there.

Aida, Tom Thumb's computer, alerts Ape-X to Moonglow's antics. Ape-X wonders why Moonglow did this, but it causes her some problems. You see, since she was B-Modded, she has to be loyal to the Squadron.

However, Moonglow is now a Squadron member. To be loyal, she has to report this transgression to the rest of the Squadron, but she can't do because she was B-Modded to be loyal to the Squadron. See the problem here? The quandary causes her mind to break, and the ape goes catatonic. Power Princess and Hyperion find her and take her to the hospital.

In Richmond Manor, Nighthawk is training the rest of his recruits. He's teaching Mink some judo, and gets a call from Master Menace.

Yup, Master Menace found a way to safely undo the effects of the B-Mod machine, and he's ready to restore the former members of the Institute of Evil to normal. The Black Archer sees a chance for redemption with this device after B-Modding Lady Lark.

Two days later, three Squadron members (Whizzer, Lamprey, and Haywire) are looking over a Hibernacle. It's essentially a facility that will contain the Hibernacula, the pods that ill and the dead will be placed in until they can be healed. The manufacturer has a bit of a problem. Demand for the Hibernacula is exceeding the factory's ability to produce them. A second plant is being built, so that should ease the pressure a bit. After the inspection, Whizzer heads home to be with his family, and Haywire offers to take Lamprey to a bar. Since he has nothing else to do before dinner, he agrees to join the newbie.

The two head to a bar...but it's empty. It's a façade. Haywire uses his ability to create tanglewire to trap Lamprey, and takes him to where Nighthawk's group, the America Redeemers, are waiting. Master Menace puts Lamprey in a modified B-Mod machine, one designed to undo the Squadron's B-Modding. And does it work?

Yup. Lamprey is back to his old criminal self. Interestingly, Lamprey says he feels like a great weight was taken off his mind. Nigthawk tells him that Lamprey is free to go do what he wants, but says if he's interesting in giving the Squadron some payback for brainwashing him, he can join up with the Redeemers. Lamprey agrees, saying he learned the value of teamwork in the Squadron.

Nighthawk's plan is to get the former Institute of Evil members deprogrammed, then with their forces combined with the America Redeemers, they can outnumber the Squadron and then strike them all at once. Let's hope for Nighthawk's sake that the former surviving Institute of Evil members are willing to help him out on this thing.

Redstone and Thermite arrive with a frozen Shape. However, there is a problem. Remnant and Black Archer arrive...with a bound-up Blue Eagle. Eagle had always been rather suspicious of the new recruits, and decided to do some snooping. Nighthawk is horrified by this, as Blue Eagle could blow the whole plan. Master Menace has a solution for their Eagle infestation.

Yup. Menace suggests that they B-Mod Eagle. Nighthawk is furious at this, as B-Modding is ne of the reasons they are opposing the Squadron in the first place. To use B-Modding would make them no better than the Squadron. Mater Menace remains Eagle they are in a war, and in a war, you use every weapon available. The only other option is to kill him, which is another option Nighthawk will not take.

Nighthawk agonizes over what to do. If he brainwashes Blue Eagle, he'll have compromised his principles. And if he does it this one time...when will he do it again? Black Archer reminds Nighthawk that Blue Eagle's B-Modding can be reversed afterwards. The story ends with Nighthawk reluctantly agreeing to B-Mod Blue Eagle, feeling he's just sold his soul as Blue Eagle undergoes the process.

This story is really good. The best part of the story is the ending. Nighthawk has been wanting to fight this war his own way, but a hard truth has hit him: In a war, you're going to end up compromising your principles. Whether you want to or not, and whether you like it or not. It's a nice bit of deconstruction by Gruenwald here. Considering one of the regular themes of his work was exploring ethics, we do see that here with Nighthawk, feeling that he has already lost because he is forced to compromise his principles to defeat the Squadron. War is a messy business, and Nighthawk is learning this the hard way. You ain't getting out with your precious morals intact, buddy.

It was also neat seeing how the Squadron trained and did for fun. A nice bit of fun to balance out the darker ending. Also, Paul Ryan's artwork here really makes me sad that he didn't do the entire miniseries' art. It's very good, a joy to look at. I do hope he and Mark are doing more Squadron Stories in comic heaven.

Next time, we'll take a look at Thor...sort of. Jane Foster was not the first person to wield mighty Mjolnir. Join me as we take a look at the beginning of Eric Masterson's tenure as the God of Thunder...

Justice League, My Thoughts

There is a great evil out there. One that threatens to blanket the world in eternal darkness. To combat this evil, one needs...heroes. Not just any heroes, though. I'm talking the World's Greatest Heroes. I'm talking about...the Justice League.

We've seen the League come together and fight the DC Universe's greatest threats in various media beforehand, from animation to comics to even an infamous TV pilot. But they've never come together in live-action film. Until now.

So, what happens here? Well, the League (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Barry Allen Flash), must come together to face the threat of Steppenwolf, an Apokoliptian warrior who wants to use the Mother Boxes, three artifacts to remake the Earth into essentially...a Hell of some kind.

So, I'm just going to get the negatives out of my system. First of all, some of the designs of the characters, mainly Flash, Cyborg, and Steppenwolf. I hated their designs. Cyborg looked like tin foil. The Flash costume was ugly as sin to me. The Flash costume that Grant Gustin wears as Barry Allen on the Flash TV series looks much better. They should have made it look more like that one. I didn't really dislike Aquaman's appearance, I just wished they made his costume brighter.

And speaking of Steppenwolf, I felt that he was a bit weak as a villain. I didn't quite get why he wanted to destroy Earth. Was it a mission from Darkseid? Or was he just bored? This was where I felt a real lack of MCU-style buildup towards him hurt the character and the film. They should have done solo films with the League members beforehand to expand on Steppenwolf's plans and give a better idea of his motives.

And speaking of the Flash...I'm rather mixed on him. Ezra Miller did a pretty good job with what he was given, and he was enjoyable to watch, but I get the feeling throughout the film that they wanted to use the Wally West incarnation instead of Barry Allen. He felt more like Wally. Also, I wasn't fond of the idea of the Flash being a complete rookie to crimefighting. To me, that should have been Cyborg. I would have preferred that Flash was an experienced crimefighter, but his Rogues, despite having colorful costumes and gimmicks, are more street-level criminals, bank robbers and the like in general. Barry would be inexperienced in dealing with cosmic-level threats like Steppenwolf.

And to be fair, I did enjoy Ezra Miller's performance, and I especially liked his interactions with Cyborg. And also, what was the point of Amber Heard as Mera there? She didn't really do much. A bit of a waste.

Finally, I wish this League had a Green Lantern. Minor spoiler:  We do see a GL in the movie. But it would have been nice to see a Green Lantern among the League. Jessica Cruz would have been a great choice here. She's Latina, so it would have made the League more diverse, and it would have balanced the gender ratio of the team a bit.

Just a thought.

So, with my major complaints out of the way, what did I like about it? Well, I really enjoyed the final battle. It was pretty epic. I also liked the performances. The cast did a pretty enjoyable job all around. Jason Momoa was surprisingly fun as Aquaman. There were some enjoyable moments of humor, and the film felt...rather fun all around. There were quite a few moments that made me smile. The mid-credits scene was rather fun. It was nice to see these heroes actually smiling and making the occasional joke.

Justice League, I have to admit, is flawed. It's a flawed movie. But the thing is...when it comes to the reception the DC Cinematic Universe has gotten from fans and critics so far...this film and Wonder Woman seem to indicate that they are taking steps in the right direction. I do think Wonder Woman was a better film overall, but Justice League is perfectly enjoyable in its own right. It does feel like the makers are slowly embracing the idea they are adapting comic books, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. So, I say, give this film a shot. Your mileage may vary on some things, but compared to the first three DC Cinematic Universe films, Justice League is a breath of fresh air in a way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Today is the day we give thanks for what we have...well, something we probably should be doing every day. This year, I'm thankful for my family, my cats, my friends at my job, and that I have my health.

I'm also thankful because...I'm going to be an uncle soon. So that's pretty awesome. And I intend to see Justice League tonight. Hope that's...decent. Anyway, I have to say, have a great day today.

Crisis on Earth-X Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2012, the television network The CW premiered a little superhero show known as Arrow. It was a show that focused on the adventures of Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow. From there, the show grew into a shared universe, with a spinoff focusing on the Barry Allen Flash, and a group of heroes and villains known as the Legends of Tomorrow. The universe would even encompass the short-lived live-action Constantine series and Supergirl, as well as various other animated projects.

The Arrowverse has had crossover, and a new one is one its way: Crisis on Earth X. And here's the trailer!

The trailer begins with wedding preparations. Yup! Barry Allen is getting married! Hopefully it'll go better than the comics.

Joe West giving a nice speech. I had to do some reading up because I am not too familiar with the Arrowverse. I really need to catch up on Netflix or something.

Heh heh, Heat Wave is sleeping. I bet he was hungover.

I don't believe this. They missed a prime opportunity for Supergirl to make an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade there. She should have said, "I hate these guys." That was a perfect moment! Geez, writers!

So, the heroes who use weapons kept their weapons with them just in case or something? That's...actually pretty smart.

"Best wedding ever!" That's pretty funny. Also, Rory? The crablegs were good, but I doubt they were that good.

DC's obsession with the number 52 aside, It makes sense there would be more than that many alternate Earths. 52 could only be the number of Earths that are known.

Jax is hit! Ah, crud! There's gotta be a twist, maybe he just gets injured.

So, this trailer looked pretty cool. I do want to give it a look, but I fear I might end up a bit lost. I haven't watched any of the Arrowverse stuff. Not because I disliked it, but because it...just never have. Hope it's good.

Incredibles 2 Teaser, My Thoughts

13 years ago, Pixar gave the world a film. It was their take on the idea of a superhero team. That film: The Incredibles. The film told the tale of a pair of former superheroes and their children who are forced to live in hiding, but have to don their costumes for an epic adventure. The film would be a critical and financial success, and the Parr family have become rather beloved characters, whose adventures have continued in other media, like video games and comics. However, fans eagerly awaited a proper sequel. Finally, one is on the way.

There's not much to say about this teaser, to be honest. It focuses on Jack Jack, the literal baby of the family, showing off some more of the myriad superpowers he was shown to have developed at the end of the first Incredibles.

One thing does cross my mind, though. A baby having all that power. A baby. Yeah. A baby. Having all these crazy powers before he is old enough to understand what he can do with them. Oh God, that kid is going to get someone killed. Yeah, a baby with those kind of powers...pretty scary when you think about it.

Anyway, Jack Jack is walking towards the Incredibles' logo, and blasts it so that it forms a hidden "II" in the logo. Get it? It's the Roman numeral for 2.

Bob seems happy Jack Jack has powers. I wonder how he would have reacted if it turned out powers skipped him? The bit with Jack Jack singing his hair made me chuckle.

Not much to say about this teaser, but I am excited for this movie. I can't wait to see it!

Vigilante #6 (May 1984)

Vigilante. The dictionary defines the word as "A person who considers it their responsibility to uphold the law in their neighborhood and often does so summarily and without legal jurisdiction". One could argue that this definition could apply to superheroes in general, but there's only one that wears the word proudly: The Vigilante. And like many heroes in the DCU, there have been several incarnations.

The first Vigilante was Greg Saunders, who first appeared in Action Comics #41 (November 1941). A country singer-turned-crimefighter, Saunders was a cowboy-themed character who mainly fought street-level criminals, and didn't really have many supervillains. The character would get a revival in the 1970s, but other characters would take up the Vigilante model in the years since.

The one we will focus on here, though, is the Adrian Chase incarnation of the character. First appearing in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (1983). Chase was once a New York City district attorney who lost his family to the Mob, which led him to become the new Vigilante. This one's origin is rather Punisher-esque. Originally taking pains to avoid killing people, Adrian's mind would eventually destabilize thanks to his struggle with his actions as the Vigilante, which caused him to become more violent and destructive. His tenure as the Vigilante would end with his suicide. During his tenure, two other men would use the Vigilante name, Alan Welles and Dave Winston. After Chase's suicide, Patricia "Pat" Trayce, a Gotham City cop, would find Chase's gear and become the new Vigilante.

The Vigilante would go on to appear in various other media, the original Greg Saunders incarnation appearing in Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. A new version of him would appear in the Arrow TV series, wearing a costume based on the Chase version, with Chase himself being reduced to merely an alias for another villain.

And with that, let's take a look at the origin of the Adrian Chase Vigilante!

The cover is pretty interesting. You have Adrian in his Vigilante costume lying in a hospital bed, all bandaged up. Floating above him is the Vigilante facing off against some robed figures who have their arms out. One wants a big ol' hug, and another seemingly wants to strangle him. I do have a question, though. What's with the red lines? Did the person who hooked up Chase's IV not know what he or she was doing? So hard to get good help these days.

"Memories"
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciller: Chuck Patton
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letterer: Todd Klein
Colorist: Ziuko
Editor: Marv Wolfman

The story begins with a meeting of the heads of various mob families.

The bosses are summoned to a dining room for a meeting. A mysterious woman states that this meeting is to discuss the future of their...business, lets' just say. One of the mob bosses. who kind of resembles Michael Jai White with an eyepatch, is doing the whole "This is insane and I am out bit", but some crazy-clad soldiers convince him to sit down. One of the mob bosses, Donna Omicidio, recognizes the soldiers.

The name "Monitor" may be a big hint to DC fans. You see, at the time, not only was Marv Wolfman writing New Teen Titans and Vigilante, he was also working on some small mini-series that some may have heard of. Crisis on Infinite Earths, I think it's called. Staring in comics in 1982, the Monitor would appear in the shadows in various titles, posing as a weapons and information dealer for various supervillains as part of the buildup to Crisis.

The mysterious woman, who I am assuming is Lyla, aka Harbinger. She starts to put out her idea to "revolutionize all crime"!

Back in Manhattan, a stolen ambulance is racing down a road. The driver is one J.J. Davis, one of Adrian Chase's assistants in his Vigilante work. He's a hacker who also built Chase's gear. In the back is the Vigilante himself, with a knife in his chest, a wound he took in a previous issue. He's still breathing. Davis tries to contact another one of Vigilante's assistants, Theresa "Terry" Gomez. She helps research Chase's targets. But she's at home with her kid, so she's unavailable. Davis is terrified and panicking, as the cops are right on his tail.

He's evade to evade the police for a while by driving into a warehouse. Davis fears his efforts to protect Chase's identity may end up dooming him. Eventually, he's able to get to a hospital. He brings Chase in, while making sure he's not wearing his Vigilante uniform. After dropping him off, Davis flees before the nurse can get him to fill out the entry forms.

Davis ditches the ambulance, and goes out walking. He beats himself up over his actions, because he feels that Adrian Chase deserves a break because he cares about other people...including down on his luck folks like him.

The art doesn't do a great job of showing it (I think it's the mustache), but J.J. Davis is barely out of his teens. That scene helps show that Davis hints that maybe Chase helped him out, and he's helping him out of gratitude. I don't think we ever learned how they met, which is a shame.

Back in the police station, Captain Arthur Hall discusses the new Vigilante, and tries to figure out who he is. He figures that the Vigilante is possibly a victim of a crime himself, due to his obsession with protecting victims of violent crime. And since Vigilante goes after criminals who were able to get off on legal technicalities, he must know the law. So he could be a cop. Or a lawyer. Or a judge. Or possibly...a district attorney. You know, I get the idea that if Hall encountered Batman early on, he could have figured out he was Bruce Wayne.

The police are also looking into hospitals and private physicians to find out if they treated anyone with gunshot and knife wounds. They also found the ambulance that Davis stole. Hall gets the feeling they aren't going to like what they find if they catch the Vigilante.

In Bellevue Hospital, Theresa meets J.J., and they go to see Adrian. The nurse who saw him flee spots him and wonders why he's come to see a stranger. Davis explains his name is Don Diego, and Chase was Garcia, his old sergeant in the Army.

Heh heh, it's pretty funny. The nurse takes the form to an orderly and tells him to take it to "Admitting". However, the orderly is more interested in flirting with the nurse. J.J. explains they have to get that form, as gunshot wounds are reported to the police. Theresa distracts the nurse, so J.J. can get the form. Terry worries about something like this, but J.J. reassures her that it will be alright. They'll bring back the form...with some alterations to keep Chase's identity hidden.

Terry explains that it's not the form she's worried about. It's Chase. J.J. reassures her that Adrian Chase is too stubborn to die. Terry explains that Adrian was returning. After his wife and kids were killed, Chase had become an emotionless rock. For months afterwards, Adrian seemed to only be the Vigilante. And it scared her. She believes the Vigilante was a disaster waiting to happen. I would say this was foreshadowing of Adrian's eventual descent into the mental instability that would lead to his suicide, but that was not for another four years, and handled by another writer, I believe. She did then say that Adrian seemed to be recovering from the loss of his family.

J.J. tells her that Adrian had him make a gun that could fire sleep darts as well as bullets. To him, Adrian seems alright. He tries to assure her everything will be alright, but he hopes Adrian doesn't make him into a liar.

The two then visit the hospital the next day, and the doctor has news, both good and...strange.

It seems that Adrian has some of Wolverine-esque healing factor, allowing him to recover much quicker from his wounds than normal. In fact, the doctors operating were able to see his wounds repairing themselves as they worked on him. J.J. and Terry are too happy to hear the news to process Adrian's little superpower at the moment.

As for Adrian himself? Well, he's lying peacefully in his bed. He dreams that he went up to Heaven, saw his family, and fell back down to Earth. He then has a strange flashback...

Trust me on this, it gets weird. It's at this point that I do have to make an admission. You see...I goofed. I picked this issue instead of the actual issue that covered the origin by mistake. Still, this issue does hint of how he became the Vigilante a little bit. Another time, I definitely will have to review the next issue in the future. Maybe next month.

Anyway, Adrian wakes up to an overjoyed Terry and J.J. The doctor comes in and tells him he'd like to do some further tests on Adrian because of his recuperative ability. Adrian agrees and the doctor says after he gets the proper forms, they'll start in the morning. Yeah, time to go. The doctor returns with a couple of colleagues, and finds the gang already has left. Heh heh. Away they go.

Back at his van in Staten Island, Adrian enquires what happened to Saber and Cannon, two costumed assassins he was pursuing (It was also heavily hinted they were a couple as well) who gave him the knife and gunshot wounds he had. J.J. explains they are in custody. Adrian expresses that he is pleased with this as he falls asleep. J.J. then remarks he's going to head out, too...with a pretty girl on his arm. Adrian heads off into dreamland. There, he encounters a mysterious hooded woman in front of a burning pyre, holding a sword.

The woman tells him they have both been changed. The woman puts her bare arm in the fire. The fire singes her arm but in a few seconds, the burns heal. It was like her arm was never burnt at all. The woman then hands Chase a sword, telling him to impale her gut with it. Chase refuses, and she tells him that he was chosen by "The Others", and she's merely a teacher. Chase still refuses, and she leaps on the sword, much to his horror.

She seemingly isn't bothered by this, but warns that unlike Wolverine's healing factor, Chase's has limits.

Chase still has to be careful. He still can only take so much. The dream ends with Chase running away screaming...and waking up. He explains to the others that he has been dreaming about how he became the Vigilante. He feels it's time to explain to Terry and J.J. about what happened to him in the six months between his family's deaths and his debut as the new Vigilante. Trust me, it's a bit...weird.

Meanwhile, the big mob meeting is going down. Well, the various bosses are really against the idea of unifying. Donna Omicidio declares the meeting to an end, as she feels there is no one powerful enough to stand against her. Donna, you live in the same universe as freakin' Superman. I think he's pretty dang powerful. A hidden panel...well, more like a hidden wall opens up, revealing the one who invited the mob bosses together.

This guy has got to be Davros's American cousin. Seriously! This is Davros.

You cannot tell me that Davros did not inspire this cyborg supervillain. The mob may have confined him to an overblown life-support system, but naming him the new Overlord of Crime would more than make up for it.

This comic...was rather enjoyable. What I liked about it was that it slightly deconstructed the kind of work that Adrian was doing, by showing the lengths J.J. has to go to help keep his secret identity hidden. J.J. also brings some nice bits of comic relief to the issue. I also liked the scene with Terry worrying about Adrian. I also liked the art, but I did feel that Chuck Patton's take on J.J. made him look a bit older than he actually is. The character is supposed to be in his early-twenties, but he looks a bit older. Maybe it's the mustache. All in all, I recommend this comic. If you want to read it, it's available in the trade Vigilante by Marv Wolfman Volume One.

And speaking of deconstructing superheroes, next time, we look at the penultimate chapter of the Squadron Supreme's miniseries...

Rampage Trailer, My Thoughts

Coming soon to theaters is a new film based on a classic arcade game. That's right, the rompin' stompin' building-smashin' people-eating Rampage is coming to the big screen. And here's the trailer!

The trailer begins with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Davis Okoye, a primatologist, talking about George, a silverback gorilla. The two are old friends, Okoye rescuing him from certain death as a baby. Aww.

Okoye notices that George has gotten...bigger. He was seven feet tall, but after being exposed to a strange mist, he's now about nine feet. I'm thinking that mist was a steroid of some kind. It's not quite like the game. You see, in the original arcade game, George was a human who was transformed into essentially King Kong.

George has gotten bigger, and he's developed quite a temper.

Hey, everybody! It's Jeffrey Dean Morgan! I liked him in Watchmen. And there's now a giant wolf. Here comes Ralph! Yeah, in the game, the giant werewolf is called Ralph. Because shut up, Ralph will eat you.

Ralph is chasing after Joe Manganiello. Somebody stuck a steak in his pants again. Ralph hates helicopters. No one knows why, they just make him really angry. Maybe it's the rotors. Always spinning around like they own the place.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is going to get wrecked by George. The dumb ones always do get wrecked in movies like those.

GEORGE IS LOOSE, AND HE IS MAD! SOMEBODY GET BANANAS AND MARIO.

Heh heh, the Rock needed a moment to remember how to fly a helicopter.

George doing a pretty good King Kong impression. Or Mighty Joe Young, whichever your preference.

I love how everyone is worried about George getting put down, but not Ralph. No one cares about Ralph, they happily will try to blow him up. Poor Ralph. Can't he have a human friend, too?

Silly George, buildings aren't for eating.

And we get an appearance from Lizzie! Hey there, Lizzie! How ya doing?

I have to admit, I had heard they were making this a long time ago, and I didn't really think much of it. After all, Hollywood will try to make a film out of anything. When it comes to this film, well...I don't expect it to be regarded as one of the best films of 2018. But I can imagine will end up being one of those fun entertaining popcorn films, and isn't that really why we watch movies? To have fun and be entertained for a couple of hours? I think Rampage will end up doing that. It'll be entertaining. I hope it's a fun movie, because it does look like it will be that.

Injustice 2 Fighter Pack 3 Trailer, My Thoughts

Injustice 2 has announced a new Fighter Pack DLC, it's third and final one! And this one is a doozy.

The trailer begins with someone knocking out Raiden and Black Manta, who I believe came from the last DLC pack. Raiden knocks over a barrel that contains what looks like oil. And it's heading for a lit cigarette. Who lit that cigarette? I doubt it was Raiden. Raiden doesn't seem like the smoker type to me. Nor Manta. I'd blame Hellboy, but I think he's more of a cigar type.

We next see a woman with a moon-shaped pendant walk near a building. It blows up. I have to admit, I had a bit of trouble recognizing who it was.

The Atom escpaes the explosion by leaping on the pieces of the building as they get blown away. That's awesome. The woman's eyes glow green and darkness shrouds her. It's the Enchantress. I have to say, I like her design here. A lot better than the Suicide Squad movie's take on it. At least here, she's wearing freakin' green.

One thing, though. I don't think that's how her powers work. You see, in the comics, June Moone can use magical power, but if she overloads with it, she gets drunk on it and goes evil. It's one of the reasons she was called the "Switcheroo-Witcheroo" back in the day.

Anyway, the Enchantress tries to blow Atom's mind...quite literally. Atom is able to use his shrinking powers to dodge the blasts, and he tries to wallop her. However, the Switcheroo-Witcheroo is able to block him with a blast that knocks them back. The two charge at each other, but...

TING!

Is...that a sai? Yes, it's a sai! A hat-and-trenchcoat-wearing figure approaches the two and says that fight looks like fun. He throws off his hat and coat and reveals...

IT'S RAPHAEL! AND HE'S GOT THE OTHER NINJA TURTLES WITH HIM! THIS IS AWESOME! Seriously, this is actually rather cool! I love their look in this game, too. Reminds me of the first Ninja Turtles movie. Mikey remarks that he wants dibs on the magic lady, and Leonardo reminds him they fight as a team. I have heard the TMNT will literally fight as a team in the game. I wonder what that means? Does that mean you can start with a particular Turtle, but you can switch out mid-fight? I think that's what it may mean. I'm hoping that each Turtle has their own fighting style, to reflect their personalities. I also would have had liked Donatello to get a line in this trailer. He's the only Turtle to not speak in the trailer.

I have to admit, I was surprised to see the Ninja Turtles in this game. It does make some bizarre sense. The Turtles recently did do a couple of crossover team-ups with Batman. They also met the original Ghostbusters in a pretty enjoyable miniseries. In a way, it's a pretty cool way to get people to give the game a try. People have loved the Turtles for 30 years, and hey, a fighting game is perfect for them. Hope people enjoy them! It's available on Windows, so I may give this game a shot...

Thor: Ragnarok, My Thoughts

The Merry Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe marches on! It's 17th film, Thor: Ragnarok, has hit theaters harder than Mjolnir. Is it another feather in the MCU's already impressive cap? Let's find out!

So, what's going down? Well, basically the end of everything. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must team up with his rogue brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Brunhilde the Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to deal with the Asgardian Goddess of Death, Hela (Cate Blanchett). She's mad, bad, and wants to burn Asgard to the ground. But first, the God of Thunder must find a way off the planet Sakaar and its massive gladiator games, run by the cosmic being known as the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum).

This film was giving some very high praise, and I have to agree. It was a great film. Chris Hemsworth really got to show off his comic chops, and so did Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and the Hulk. The film was a grand adventure, and was fun from beginning to end. Seeing so many nods to the original comics was great. Two that stuck out to me was the usage of elements of Planet Hulk, one of my favorite Hulk stories, and another moment that paid homage to a famous moment among Thor fans. Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster was fun to watch, too. He was so calm and understated about everything. It was great! Also, Taika Waititi himself, the director of this film, himself voiced the character of Korg, an alien rock-like gladiator Thor befriends during his time on Sakaar. He was a show-stealer and one of the best characters in the film.

I also liked the look of the film, especially Sakaar. It so unapologetically pays homage to Jack Kirby that it's insane. It is amazing. I could look at the Grandmaster's place for hours on end. I also really liked the 80s vibe of the movie, down to the Mark Mothersbaugh-composed soundtrack.

So, what did I feel could be better? Well, I have heard some people say the film was a bit too comedic at times, that the excessive humor hurt the more serious moments of the film. Personally, I didn't agree with that, but I could see why some came to that conclusion. Also, there were a couple characters that appeared in the film that I felt really should have deserved better. We hadn't seen them in a while, and they just were...discarded. I'll avoid saying which ones for the sake of spoilers. Also, I felt one character's arc was a bit quick.

So, should you watch Thor: Ragnarok? I say, yes. give it a watch. It's a genuinely fun movie. It is another feather in the MCU's cap.

Justice League of America #1 (November, 1960)

The Justice League of America. The World's Greatest Heroes. When people think of superhero teams, they think of the Justice League. And why not? They consisted of the DC Universe's greatest and most powerful superheroes. For fifty years, and in various incarnations, the Justice League has endured, battling the greatest evils the DC Universe has to offer. And it all started in 1960.

First appearing in The Brave and the Bold #28 (February-March 1960), the original five members of the JLA (Martian Manhunter, the Barry Allen Flash, Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. Superman and Batman did appear and claimed to be League members themselves, but they weren't involved in the story) came together to fight the sinister alien starfish called Starro the Conquerer. And since then, the Justice League in various rosters has come to the DC Universe's greatest bulwark against it's nastiest threats. So, with that, let's take a look at the very first issue of their first series, which went from 1960 to 1987.

The cover is pretty cool, and one that has become kind of iconic in its own way. You have the Flash playing chess with Despero, while severa l members of the Justice League are sitting next to them, all in a trance, stiff as boards. We see Green Lantern being covered in pink energy as he's being teleported away. Uh, Despero is aware that too much pink energy is dangerous, right? It's a neat cover, I like it. Shame the modern League may not get a cover like this.

"The World of No Return!"
Writer: Gardner Fox
Penciler: Mike Sekowsky
Inker: Bernard Sachs
Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins with the then-Flash, Barry Allen, driving down a country road.

For someone who can outrun lightning, I can imagine that driving a car must come off as somewhat slow and boring for him. Anyway he notices a blue haze in the road that suddenly causes his car's engine to go dead. He notices that the haze is coming from a nearby house. He figures he had better investigate, and uses his ring to change into the appropriate outfit for it: the costume of the Flash.

Properly attired, the Scarlet Speedster investigates the house and finds two people surrounded by advanced technology, and with green hair. Since it's the 1960s, Barry assumes they are aliens and not just a couple of oddball techno-geeks. The two spot Flash and the woman is terrified. She thinks that Flash was sent by someone named "Despero" to capture them.

However, the elder man is a telepath, and is able to tell the girl, Saranna, that Flash is an Earthman. The two then explain to the Flash that Saranna and her father, Jasonar, fled from a planet called Kalanor. They fled to Earth, hoping they could find refuge there while developing a new weapon against Despero, the blue mist that disabled Flash's car. The mist disables anything that uses energy, which means it would render Despero's weaponry worthless.

Flash tells them the Justice League will help them free their world, and activates a signal device in his belt. The signal first reaches Wonder Woman, who is in New York City.

Wonder Woman had just stopped a lightning bolt from destroying the Statue of Liberty...somehow. Yeah, it must have been a slow day for super-crime in her neck of the woods at the time. The signal then reaches the other League members, all doing various other activities.

Jasonar shows off a rocket-like device to the Flash, saying that they can use it to travel to any dimension he desires. Flash witnesses a beam wash over Saranna and makes her vanish. Jasonar exclaims that Despero must have found them. The teleporter beam then hits Jasonar and Flash, but they don't get taken.

Flash theorizes the blue haze must have protected them from the beam. This makes a bit of a plothole. If the haze protected them from the beam, then why was only Saranna taken? The mist was coming from the house they were in, so it can be safely assumed she was exposed to it, too. How come she didn't get the immunity to the beam Jasonar and Flash did? Did the haze just not like her or something? It's weird.

Flash grabs Jasonar and takes him to a cave for safety, and then brings Jasonar's travel device to the cave. Yeah, it's a pretty big gadget, so how did Flash take it there? I suppose with his speed, he could have easily disassembled it, taken the parts to the cave, and reassembled it there. Problem with that is, this is unknown alien technology. Flash is a forensic scientist, alien tech is not his specialty. Jasonar goes to work on his anti-weapon.

Flash then goes to see if the rest of the League has heard his call. They have...but they also have a guest.

Yup. Despero himself has some to Earth. I know some people may be surprised with his look here. When most people think of Despero, they think of this.

I can understand why. You see, back in the Silver and Bronze Ages, Despero was originally introduced as rather spindly dude, as seen in this comic. However, later on, he would be exposed to something called the Flame of Pytar (if you watched the DCAU Justice League cartoon, you may be familiar with it), which would grant him his more muscular physique, make his psychic powers much stronger, and move the fin on his head to make it look more like a Mohawk. Interestingly, the Brave and the Bold cartoon's take on Despero mixed his modern muscular physique (and disdain for shirts) with the Silver Age fin.

I'm getting off topic. Enough about Despero changing his look more often than a runway model, let's get back to the comic! Despero explains that he has the League under a trance thanks to his psychic powers. Despero explains that he read Saranna's mind to learn that the Flash planned to gather the League to take him on...but how did he know where the League were? It's not like Saranna was aware of where the League met up regularly. Heck, she didn't know who the Flash was! I'm going to assume Despero's psychic abilities allowed him to detect the minds of the League, and that was how he was able to find their meeting place.

Despero's psychic powers allowed him to easily defeat the League, but he can't use them on Flash, as the blue haze still is protecting him...again, Saranna was exposed to haze too, presumably. Why was she not protected, then? So he takes another tactic: he makes like Matthew Broderick's character in WarGames...and play a game.

Despero's game is a strange one, using a chessboard and a deck of cards. You move a figure to a square, then draw a card from a card pile. If the number on the card matches the square your figure is on, then you lose. It's an odd game, but there is a twist. Flash moves the Batman piece, then draws a card. The card matches the square, so Flash lost. Despero think that since Flash lost, Batman gets transported to another dimension. Flash then does it with other members of the League, but keeps losing. Flash realizes that Despero must be rigging the game somehow.

Flash ultimately loses the game, and Despero uses Jasonar's dimension-hopping ship to send Flash to another dimension, silently witnessed by Snapper Carr, the League's then-teenage sidekick. Carr stows away on the ship, hoping he can help. Meanwhile, where did the Leaguers go? Well, Wonder Woman found herself on a world of dinosaurs.

I'm thinking Despero transported Wonder Woman to Jurassic Park. She flees from a group of dinosaurs, and lassoes a pterodactyl in an attempt to escape. However, the pterodactyl is not in the mood to play taxi. It decides to take out its Amazon straggler. Diana takes the other end of her lasso and uses it to...lasso a tree. The pterodactyl swoops down, but it ends up headbutting the tree, knocking out the flying beast and possibly giving it a concussion.

Wonder Woman goes from one peril to another, finding herself in a tar pit like the La Brea ones. Despite her best efforts, Wonder Woman still sinks deeper into the pit. Must be some tough tar. Luckily, help does arrive for the Amazing Amazon.

Yup, Superman is here to save the day...where was he when Wonder Woman was battling the dinosaurs? Eh, maybe he just found her. The two head for a cliff where Superman spots Batman and Martian Manhunter on another planet thanks to his telescopic vision. The two start to leave, but the Man of Steel suddenly feels rather weak. The Amazing Amazon discovers there is a chunk of Kryptonite on a nearby cliff. ...How did that get there? Anyway, Wondy grabs the Kryptonite and tosses it away.

As they go find their teammates, we focus next on Aquaman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern. The two of them have ended up on a planet that is mostly ocean.

Convenient for Arthur Curry. However, there is a problem. There's a giant lens in the sky using sunlight to make the water boil and evaporate. The lens is yellow, so Hal's ring is useless against it. Where did this lens come from, and what is its purpose? Did Despero have this thing made? And if this is a deathtrap, it's not much of one. The lens is not covering the entire planet, just a small spot that is constantly moving. The water vapor will cool down and come back to the ocean as rain. It's a lazy deathtrap.

GL and Aquaman try to leave, but the planet has a convenient belt of yellow radiation surrounding it. Hal tries to relieve the problem by creating a green iceberg, but it's a Band-Aid. Hal comes up with an idea. He has Arthur summon a bunch of alien octopi. Hal uses his ring to bring the octopi to the lens, and the octopi cover it in ink. Since the ink is black, Hal can now use his ring to force the lens into the sea. Arthur discovers that the sea has an alien race of mer-people in it, and they're pretty happy to see the lens go.

I imagine they found the lens more of a nuisance than an outright danger. They claim they spotted a pair of other Earthmen on a nearby planet. The two look and discover it's Batman and J'onn J'onzz. The aliens also provide the two Leaguers a sub that with GL's ring, can be used to escape the planet and find their comrades.

The scene then shifts to Batman and J'onn J'onzz finding themselves on an alien city, a loud countdown heard in the air.

They get a telepathic message explaining the countdown is a "countdown of doom". When it reaches zero, a missile will hit the planet's sun and causing the world, Narx, to be consumed by the destruction. Narx has no weapons to blast the missile, and they can't evacuate the planet because Despero has put a sentry tower on the planet to shoot down any escape rockets. Naturally, J'onn and Bats are horrified by how far Despero is going to go to destroy them.

J'onn takes care of the sentry tower while Batman goes with a Narxian to prepare a rocket to go after the sunkiller missile. J'onn wrecks the tower by using his Martian powers to dig out the tower's foundation, making it sink into the ground. The Martian Manhunter then goes to destroy the tower from within, but it is guarded by a being made of flames. And fire is the Martian's Kryptonite.

Batman's rocket flies towards the missile, and he literally nudges it with the rocket, causing it to create an orbit around the sun. Back on Narx, the flame warrior prepares to kill J'onn, but is saved by a strange wind...who turns out to be the Flash. Using his power to vibrate into other dimensions (This was how he discovered Earth-2 and met his Golden Age predecessor, Jay Garrick, in "Flash of Two Worlds"), Flash got himself here and saw the tower collapse. The two heroes find a dimension-travelling ship, which they can use to get back home. They return to the surface and find the other Leaguers arriving.

Back on Earth, Despero is searching for Jasonar and his anti-energy weapon, while being watched by a hidden Snapper Carr. Meanwhile, Jasonar is testing his new device.

Jasonar is thrilled with the results, as now his people have a fighting chance to take down the pink-finned tyrant. Despero spots Jasonar, and makes a grab for him. Snapper goes to sock the tyrant, but Despero uses his psychic powers to freeze Carr in place. Or so he thinks. Turns out Carr was faking it, and he blasts Despero with the anti-energy device, which somehow freezes him in place.

Snapper feels a bit down about not being able to save the League, but they run into the cave. Jasonar takes the frozen tyrant back to Kalanor where I'm sure he'll never bother anyone again. Especially the Justice League. As Jasonar leaves, Carr wonders why Despero's psychic abilities didn't affect him. Flash theorizes there must have been some of the blue mist from the testing of Jasonar's device remaining. Carr was exposed to it, so he was protected. Yeah, totally not convenient or anything.

This issue...is a bit of a tough one to judge. When you look at it from a modern standard, it does have a LOT of problems. Sarenna is forgotten, and created a bit of a plot hole thanks to her kidnapping, and the story is a bit dependent on plenty of convenience. It doesn't hold up in many ways. Despite this, though...it's a not a complete disaster. It is neat seeing the League members having to use some creativity to get out of their traps (The GL/Aquaman one is especially creative), and Despero is a great villain. It is a fun story, if you can put the problems aside.

Some of the problems with this issue could possibly be blamed on the format. Fox clearly only had so many pages to work with, and it does seem that this story could have been much better if it was given more room to be expanded upon. If this was done today, it probably would be a multiple-issue story, each issue focusing on the Wonder Woman/Superman, Green Lantern/Aquaman, and Batman/Martian Manhunter team-ups with the Flash in the background trying to save his teammates. It does feel cramped in spots because of this, like Fox had to resolve things quickly to get to the next beat.

One really great thing I liked about this issue? Mike Sekowsky's take on Despero. He gives him a smug, punchable face. You want to see the League punch this guy in the mouth. It's a shame that they didn't get to.

Do I recommend this issue? Well...if you are interested in the Justice League's early history, it is worth a look. There are certainly better JLA stories, though. Including battles with Despero. But I still think it's worth a read. It's their first issue, and it's worth that at least, considering what they will eventually become. Next time, we stick around in the DC Universe as we check in on the origins of a Vigilante...