The cover is pretty cool. It's a Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon piece. It depicts the Justice League at the mercy of the extradimensional superteam known as the Champions of Angor. I have to admit though, the poses of the League are amusing. I know that the idea is that they're in pain, but it looks more like they're doing various poses. Batman is about to launch into a angry Shakespearean tirade, Black Canary is model posing, the Martian Manhunter is trying to do a JoJo pose (Not quite there yet, but you'll get it buddy), and Guy just found his partner dead days before retirement and is screaming in revenge.
I don't know why. It just does.
"Make War No More!"
Writers: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Kevin Maguire
Inker: Al Gordon
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: Bob Lappan
Editor: Andrew Helfer
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano
The story begins with Kimiyo Hoshi recounting her story to J'onn J'onzz and Batman...again.
Basically, several weeks earlier, Dr. Hoshi was approached by a man claiming to be a representative of the Justice League. The man offered the neophyte heroine membership in the prestigious group, and gave her a signal device. She has no idea why, she figured every member of the League had one. Would make sense. She gives the device to the Dark Knight to examine, and he wants to hear her story yet again. And since she's already recounted this several times to him, she is understandably annoyed.
Guy Gardner wants to be the one to interrogate her, as he thinks his raw machismo would make the good doctor into putty in his hands. She'd love him, like Black Canary does.
Well, Canary would love to send him to the hospital. Blue Beetle points out that Jack Ryder is on the tube, and he's running a smear campaign against the new League.
The Blue Beetle isn't the only one watching Ryder's smear show. In Washington D.C., one Maxwell Lord IV is also watching. He asks his secretary to get the file on Ryder. It's under "C". A bit of a private joke on Lord's part. He's also receive a guest: A mysterious Mr. Gold. Back at the Watchtower, Guy Gardner takes Ryder's attacks like the adult he truly is.
Guy quickly backs down, thanks to J'onn and Batman. We then go next to a shore, location unknown. There is a man sitting on the shore watching the waves crash on the beach. He laments that he sees nothing but gray. Gray, gray, gray. Gray as far as the eye can see. He speaks of "other-selves" reaching into dead souls. How those souls explode with color, with variety. And he is still gray. It's made his gray heart weary. And angry. It is this anger that's attracted the attention of one Dr. Fate.
The sorcerer has come to warn this "Gray Man" that he has a destiny, and to throw it off would be...a very bad thing. The Gray Man laments that he's been punished enough. The Gray Man hates Fate...and even his hatred is gray. We next head to the country known as Bialya. A group of soldiers scramble at a missile silo, as it is under attack.
So, who is attacking the site? The Legion of Doom? The Khund? Well, no.
It's the Avengers! Well, not really. Meet the Champions of Angor: Silver Sorceress, Wandjina, and Blue Jay. Do you remember when I looked back at the 1980s Squadron Supreme miniseries and I mentioned how they were pastiches of the Justice League? Well, these three are pastiches of members of the Avengers. Silver Sorceress is based on the Scarlet Witch, Wandjina is based on Thor, and Blue Jay is based on the Hank Pym incarnation of Yellowjacket. This trio first appeared in Justice League of America #87 (February 1971).
You may be wondering a couple of things. One is, why is a character called Silver Sorceress wearing brown? Well, I think it was established in a later story that she has a form of colorblindness and she literally cannot tell that she is not wearing silver. I'm not sure about this, so don't quote me on it. Also, Wandjina? What kind of name is that, you may ask? Well, the wandjina (or wondjina) comes from Australian Aboriginal myth. Wandjinas are cloud and rain spirits. According to Aboriginal myth, they created the land and its people and exert influence over them even today. They can punish the wicked with lightning and floods. Who says comics aren't educational?
Also, I get that DC was going for the Thor bit with Wandjina, but they come from aboriginal myth. Why does he look like a big bald white dude?
Anyway, the three want to destroy the nuclear weapons that Bialya has to prevent them from being used. The Bialyan soldiers aren't impressed by them, saying hey will not be intimidated by "American super-men". Wandjina and Silver Sorceress cast one of the nukes away, saying they are not speaking for any nation. However, one man is quite impressed with them.
Meet Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, the leader of Bialya. He tries to convince our three "Avengers" that nuclear disarmament has been something he himself has been wanting. The soldiers are understandably worried. You see, when the Colonel gets ideas, they tend to end up getting shot at. Back with the Justice League!
Batman and Martian Manhunter have examined the false Justice League signal device that was given to Dr. Light. They find that not only is it a very good duplicate of the device, it actually has some improvements over the actual signal device. Batman deduces someone is playing with the League, and Kimiyo Hoshi was indeed just an unwitting patsy in all this. It's then that Captain Marvel (Billy Batson, not Carol Danvers) alerts them of a news report talking about the three "Assemblers" attacking Bialya. Time to warm up the Bug! ...that's Blue Beetle's flying craft. It's shaped like a giant blue bug, you see.
On the trip, Guy Gardner is ranting about how only ol' Ronnie Reagan himself should be the only onw with his finger on the nuclear launch button. Yeah, this was the 80s. Keep in mind, at the time, Gardner was portrayed as this very over-macho right-winger. And naturally, his attitude grates on the other Leaguers.
Elsewhere, the three Avengers pastiches look over a nuclear bomb launch site they destroyed, and think about how they still have a ways to go before they ensure that this world doesn't share the fate of their own: Mutual Assured Destruction. The three tried to save their world. Wandjina called rains to try and revive barren fields. Silver Sorceress trying to heal the sick. The heroes managed to save some lives, but not a lot. Even they were not immune. One of their own, a Captain Speed (A Quicksilver pastiche) died of radiation poisoning.
The three heroes became determined to find other worlds, worlds that were like their own, and hopefully prevent the fate their world suffered. Guy Gardner's ring detects them, and he zooms off. The Lantern engages the three, but is shot down by a lightning bolt from Wandjina. Captain Marvel keeps him from getting splatted.
I love that panel so much. The Bug encounters the Bialyan Air Force, who demand the Justice League turn back. The World's Greatest Heroes have no choice to do so, or they'll cause an international incident. Rumaan is overjoyed by this, as he thinks he's proven that the Justice League are cowards. He assures the three Champions of Angor that they're safe in Bialya. And if it's nuclear arms they're after, he knows a place that has lots of them. A bear of a nation. What nation is he talking about? Russia.
This comic is really good. The big strong point of this comic is the interplay between the League members. It's the source of most of this book's humor, and it really gives a sense of humanity to these heroes. The Champions of Angor are shown to not be outright bad guys here. It's clearly shown that they were traumatized by the nuclear destruction of their world. Their reasons are sympathetic, if their actions are not necessarily so.
I also really liked Kevin Maguire's art in this issue. He's very good at drawing people's facial expressions, which helps the storytelling greatly. His art really helps with the humor and serious moments. His art style to me does come off as a mix of realism and cartoony in a weird way.
This comic has a little bit of action, humor, and even a bit of political thriller. I highly recommend it. If you want to read this yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Justice League International: Volume One. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, please spread it around! Take care of yourselves and each other, stay indoors, and wash your hands often! Join me next time, when we look at the debut of a California-based superteam...
No comments:
Post a Comment