Justice #8

It's that time again! It's time to join the Justice League in their ultimate battle against the Legion of Doom! Last time, the Justice League seemed to be in dire straits. The Marvel Family were captured, Hal Jordan was trapped in his ring, and Aquababy got kidnapped! How do our heroes recover? Let's find out in Justice #8!

The story begins with Batman and Superman discussing their approaches to crime-fighting. 

Page 1, Panel 1

Batman operates through fear, through intimidating criminals, whereas Superman does not. Batman points out that criminals exist in Gotham and Metropolis. There may be differences between criminals in those cities, but that have one thing in common: They all fear getting caught. That's why Batman operates the way he does. It's also necessary for him to operate this way because he doesn't have the abilities Superman has. Superman can see through walls, he's superhumanly fast, he's extremely durable. And everyone in Metropolis knows that. Because Superman said so in interviews. Batman sees it as Superman instilling fear in criminals in his own way...and he actually thinks Superman is quite clever for it.

(whoa)

Batman points out that now the League in the position of Metropolis criminals. Someone has seen through their walls, can strike any time...and seems implacable. This ignites a bolt of inspiration in the Man of Steel.

(idea)

He takes to orbit above the Earth and sees the giant city orbs touching down. The Metropolis Marvel realizes that Brainiac is behind all this. After all, collecting people in cities...this is his MO. In a desert, Captain Cold is enjoying living life like a king, but the Flash plans to put a damper to it. 

The Master of Absolute Zero tries to use his cold gun to freeze Flash. The Scarlet Speedster vibrates out of the iceberg. Cold tries to confuse Flash by borrowing a trick from fellow Rogue Mirror Master, but it doesn't work. Even creating a ton of ice statues doesn't work. Flash is able to nab the Rogue and take him to the Fortress of Solitude...so Batman can interrogate him.

(gulp)

Why Captain Cold? Well, as Batman would say, criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot...and Captain Cold is especially superstitious and cowardly. He also likes money.

(money) 

In the Fortress of Solitude, Batman begins interrogating Captain Cold. Meanwhile, we go out into deep space, where we join Hal, still trapped in his ring. Hal is showing off his plane to his brothers, but they think he's trapped himself in memories of the past. It makes sense considering his current situation. Back in the Fortress of Solitude, the Atom is examining the little worms that the Hawks found in the last issue. Superman believes they were mass produced, then shrunken by Brainiac. Thanks to the interrogation of Captain Cold, Batman is able to brief the league on the apocalyptic dreams the Legion of Doom had. 

This saving of humanity is actually a part of a much bigger scheme. Those cities will be "governed" by the Legion. As for the worms? Well, the worms are a form of mind control of the people that will go into those cities. It's tied to the "cures" and the "help" the Legion have been providing. But things are looking up a bit. Aquaman is back in action.

Page 12, Panel 8

Meanwhile, the Joker heads up towards one of the cities (he was seen waiting in line to go to one in the last issue). We also get to see Luthor, Scarecrow, Clayface, and Parasite go after some other League members and people close to them, like Supergirl and Commissioner Gordon. Back in Hal's ring, the EMerald Knight himself has seemingly regressed to childhood, playing with a toy jet with his brothers. They leave, saying he's living in a dream world. But he gets a visitor.

Page 15, Panel 5

Mr. Deus Ex Machina himself, the Phantom Stranger. He's also an honorary Leaguer. Zatanna asked him to find Hal. Back at the Fortress, Captain Marvel checks up on the clearly wounded Wonder Woman. She reveals that when Cheetah scratched her up, her claws were dipped in the blood of the centaur. This is baking her body from within, reverting Diana to the clay she was once made from...and she doesn't have a lot of time left.

Plastic Man and Elongated Man discuss them both being stretchy heroes. Plastic Man debuted first, and his powers are arguably greater than Dibny's, as Eel O'Brien can shapeshift into other forms, whereas Ralph can't. Even though Ralph is an actual League member, Eel's abilities still clearly gives him a bit of low self-esteem. Eel doesn't see a problem, as even though they're both "stretchy guys", they can still co-exist. After all, Captain Marvel and Superman have similar powersets, and they work together fine. He taunts Ralph by saying that maybe he should change himself into something the League needs.

(ouch)

The Phantom Stranger draws Hal out of the ring and gives him his battery so he can recharge his ring. Hal vows to kill Sinestro for trapping him. The Stranger warns him against returning for revenge, as it will only trap him in the way he was trapped in the ring. The world needs a hero, not a sword of vengeance. As Hal recharges his ring, he reminds the Stranger the world needs the League...as much as Hal does.

Mera heads to the Fortress of Solitude, where she tells Arthur about Garth kidnapping Arthur Jr. Hal also returns and uses his ring to clear all the worms out of Batman. Arthur is happy that the League has seemingly survived all of this, but there's something to remember: Brainiac is still out there. He cut into Arthur's brain to figure out how to control Gorilla Grodd. This is all part of a bigger scheme. Brainiac is a machine that this waging war on all living organic beings. 

Red Tornado reports that the Legion has kidnapped all the League's loved ones, their allies and friends. Likely as a fail-safe in case the League survived their assault. As the Justice League process this, Rita Farr asks the Chief a question. What if the dream was true? What if stopping the Legion of Doom ultimately dooms the Earth? The Chief just answers that it's certainly a possibility...

I liked this comic. This the recovery. We've seen the League take some hard hits, but they're getting their second wind. I liked the battle between Captain Cold and the Flash. It was neat seeing Cold try various tactics against the Scarlet Speedster, even taking a nod to his Rogue comrade Mirror Master. Also, it was neat seeing Hal's struggles to maintain his sanity within the ring. He may claim to have no fear and to never panic, but I think these scenes show that Hal can, he expresses it differently. The scene with