With Justice League International now present in two different titles, what happens next? While the first two years of the acclaimed run by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis is a fairly straightforward read from one issue to another, the materialisation of Justice League Europe changes things. For starters, these two titles do not alternate. They may run concurrently, but there isn’t much of a strict reading order per se. Therefore, I guess it’s down to us, or me in this case, to allocate the stories to a certain place. These issues here bridge a gap. In-between Justice League International Annual 3 and a mysterious four-parter which unites the two titles in a grim battle against an ancient evil, we get these issues. Here, Giffen and DeMatteis welcome us truly to Justice League America and Justice League Europe. How the hell does the team juggle two leagues at once?
Justice League America 26-30 was published from May to September 1989, written as ever by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art mainly by Ty Templeton and Joe Rubinstein. Meanwhile, Justice League Europe 5-6 was published from August to September of that year, written by the usuals with art by Bart Sears, Rubinstein, and Pablo Marcos. I’ve read these stories in their original issues.
Slice or Dice/Mindsnap/Nabu in My Head/Teenage Biker Mega-Death --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Ty Templeton, Joe Rubinstein, Dick Giordano, Mike McKone, and Bill Willingham
So, with issue 26, Justice League International (vol 1) became Justice League America. I guess this helped to clear up any confusion with the newly launched Justice League
Europe, but for all intents and purposes, it is exactly the same title as it was before. Giffen and DeMatteis continue to write those lovable characters. However, Justice League America 26-30 (excluding 28 as an interlude) feels somewhat different in tone. Justice League International (vol 1) 25 featured a dark story featuring a vampire, and this story covering four issues here is often just as grim. It appears to be any normal day in the JLI headquarters. Oberon is going around doing the admin, Guy Gardner is ignoring the phone, and Blue Beetle is slacking off from monitor duty. However, things turn dark extremely quickly. The story’s surprise transforms into a rush of adrenaline as Blue Beetle grabs a knife and stabs Maxwell Lord. A chase through the streets and into the dim back alleys begins as Beetle hunts his prey. Suddenly, the mysterious heroine named Huntress appears. She knocks Beetle out and rescues Maxwell, both of whom fall into unconsciousness just as Batman arrives. Obviously getting the wrong end of the stick, the Dark Knight heads after Huntress, but she escapes when Beetle reawakens to kill Maxwell. Justice League America 26 ends its brilliant rush with Beetle held in captivity by his own teammates and Maxwell Lord is sent to hospital to recover. Giffen and DeMatteis create a fantastic shock-factor here that makes this hugely memorable, and as the plot progresses, it only becomes more personal.
Justice League America 27, with its noir cover beautifully drawn by Kevin Maguire, reintroduces an old friend (or enemy) of the league. Welcome back Amanda Waller, a force to be reckoned with as her rivalry with Maxwell Lord appears never-ending. While most of the issue focuses around the JLI seeking help from Waller to try and help Blue Beetle, who is stuck in some kind of mind trap, Giffen and DeMatteis write some incredibly powerful and emotional stuff here. For instance, Beetle’s monologue as he is trapped by his teammates is strong as he questions his sanity and his actions. This is because JLI is taking a path unseen from a creative team which is usually incredibly jovial and entertaining, but it adds so much more to the run because it proves that the team can tackle stories with darker messages. As a result, the JLI is far more diverse in its tone that you’d first expect it to be. Scenes featuring Booster Gold, worried about his best friend, are brilliant too. Overall, Giffen and DeMatteis create a wonderfully grim tone for this story as the league is shown in a new light. When the actual villain of this story is revealed however, I have to say it’s slightly disappointing. It’s revealed that, when she kidnapped Blue Beetle and Booster Gold in Justice League International (vol 1) 16-17, Queen Bee devised a plan for the two heroes as she programmed an Azrael Block in Beetle’s mind. This basically means he has lost his grip on sanity. While I like the idea here, I just think Queen Bee has been slightly overused as a villain in JLI and another enemy would have been better. However, things do not get any better for Blue Beetle as, no thanks to Amanda Waller, Blue Beetle falls into a coma. Her purpose here in the story is questionable, but she provides some entertaining and shocking moments as ever.
Justice League America 29 both concludes the Blue Beetle story and begins another plot featuring some New Gods techno-rubbish. The Blue Beetle story enters an area which I would normally not be in favour of. With the help of Nabu, otherwise known as Doctor Fate, the JLI are able to enter Blue Beetle’s mind in order to free him from the Azrael Block. This very J.M. DeMatteis idea of entering a character’s mind as if it were a place and everything becomes a bit deep isn’t usually my cup of tea, but here it is explored so well, and you actually care about the character. For example, the basic view of Blue Beetle’s mind is that it is full of women he fancies, but there is a dark side of loneliness and depression as the hero fights against Queen Bee’s mental block.
Doctor Fate saves the day by simply swapping bodies with Blue Beetle and dealing with the problem directly before altering back. It may be a very simple end to this story, but I like it because of how deeply it explores characters we genuinely care about and feel something for. Also, some of the scenes featuring Booster Gold are great once again here; this time he is forced to stay in prison in case Queen Bee’s evil has infected him too. It’s a shame that this isn’t really brought back as an idea and any mystery surrounding Booster Gold is largely forgotten. Either way, the story is concluded with a laugh, but it remains highly memorable and full of intriguing character. However, the same cannot be said for the other plot. Really, it begins as a joke as Big Barda’s car goes missing. This is a problem because inside was a Mega-Rod, a famed instrument of the mighty New Gods. Already, I don’t like it, but the idea seems like a funny background piece until Justice League America 29 ends with a teenage biker harnessing the god-like weapon…
After several issues of hard-hitting drama, Justice League America 30 plays with an idea that, despite some potential, is a bad joke. This teenage biker refuses to give the rod back to Big Barda and Mister Miracle and he basically goes on a rampage, slowly transforming into an agent of Darkseid. I suppose the main point of this story is to introduce Huntress as a JLI member. She reappears and helps to kill the biker. There’s not much story and I guess it fills some pages with action, but the plot doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s just that the idea had some potential. But with that, Huntress joins the JLI in spite of her tendency to kill and murder people at a moment’s notice. Overall, Justice League America 30 is a dud issue to end a set of issues which are hugely memorable, entertaining and also surprisingly heavy in terms of character.
As time passes, the creative art team of Ty Templeton and Joe Rubinstein grows stronger and more impressive. It may be in part due to the fantastic plotting, but the storytelling here is wonderful and hugely creative. Particularly during the scenes focusing on Blue Beetle’s internal thoughts, Templeton adds a strong and imposing sense of darkness throughout as his great visual direction morphs Beetle into a character with evil qualities. Bill Willingham for Justice League America 30 isn’t too bad, but maybe lacking that sense of imposing strength that the story needed. For instance, the biker appears far too thin here to be an agent of chaos. And the other heroes don’t look much different either. Overall, it’s not terrible, just lacking somewhat.
Story: 8/10
Art: 7.5/10
A Date with Destiny --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Ty Templeton, Mike McKone, and Joe Rubinstein
Slap-bang in the middle of the Blue Beetle drama lies Justice League America 28. This provides something of a light interlude between issues. It has been hinted in a previous story that perhaps there is something going between the arrogant hot-headed Guy Gardner and the cool and calm Ice. Actually, all there was was quite a bit a romantic tension, but here Giffen and DeMatteis provide a laugh which is actually quite realistic and engaging. As you’d expect with Guy Gardner, he takes Ice to all the wrong places on their date (such as a strip club) before the villainous Black Hand (a Green Lantern villain) comes along to try and assassinate the two of them. The reason this works is not only because of the great humour and the writing of the characters, but also because of a strong supporting cast. For instance, Fire looks out for Ice as her best friend and vows to really go after Guy if he makes a wrong move with Ice, and there is something about the close relationships between all the characters that makes them into a tense family. In the end, Guy deludes himself that Ice likes him, and although she isn’t his biggest fan, some fondness remains. Overall, it has some great moments, but I’d argue its placement is bad. This falls straight in the middle of a story where one of the main JLI’ers is in a coma, yet nobody is talking about it or remotely distressed by it. Really this should have been Justice League America 30, but it’s a decent story, nonetheless.
Mike McKone does most of the art here, and while he did a brilliant job with Justice League International (vol 1) 25 and its dark content, such a tone isn’t essential or at all needed here. This is a light-hearted romance story with a bit of killing, but McKone’s pencils would make you think it was a horror story. The use of dark and dramatic lighting, while nice, isn’t appropriate for this story and overall, it just doesn’t mesh with the writing.
Story: 9/10
Art: 5/10
Stagg Party --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Bart Sears and Joe Rubinstein
Now we cross the seas to Justice League Europe. Literally! Issue 5 begins with
Captain Atom heading to France from America using his wonderful powers of flight. But at home, the situation is far from calm. Metamorpho takes centre stage here as he is thrown, as ever, into a 1930s romance story, but with an emotional twist. I’m sure most people know about the story of Metamorpho, known also as Rex Mason, whose wife Sapphire is forced to leave him because her father Simon Stagg doesn’t want her dating a freak. Well, Giffen and DeMatteis go over this story again, but this time it is a bit more interesting because of Metamorpho’s amnesia. While it’s never made clear how Rex Mason lost most of his memory about Sapphire, his learning about his wife and her unborn child isn’t as interesting compared to the dialogue of the rest of the JLE, most of whom are baffled by Rex’s private life. Although interesting, this story is hugely predictable because, the next thing you know, Simon Stagg arrives to take his daughter home and Metamorpho is on his own again. I guess Justice League Europe 5 is different because it involves the league in this well-trodden story, but the problem is that this adds nothing new and it isn’t exactly entertaining, more cringeworthy. That being said, the ending featuring a scene between Captain Atom and Metamorpho is genuinely emotional and sad, but if you’re looking for a more original story featuring Rex Mason as the lead, look elsewhere.
The ungraceful art of Bart Sears once again fails to enthuse of generate much excitement at this end. While he may be able to convey the freak-factor of Metamorpho’s colourful appearance, everyone else looks like they belong in a circus show. However, Pablo Marcos manages to clear some of the art up and what we’re left with isn’t too bad and the storytelling is fairly effective.
Story: 6.5/10
Art: 5/10
No More Teachers’ Dirty Looks --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Bart Sears and Pablo Marcos
Is it me, or is Justice League Europe written to be the comedic title? Despite a fairly serious four-part opener in Justice League Europe 1-4, the new league is treated like true amateurs, and they usually fall for obvious traps which make them laughable. Justice League Europe 6 really does take that up a notch, and while the comedy of the title may have reached its peak for now, this is an enjoyable if basic read. So, since Captain Atom is under pressure from Maxwell Lord for not having any native Europeans in the league who speak any of the languages, the JLE decide to enrol in a school to learn French. However, at the same time, the brilliant Injustice League have enrolled as well. Seeing characters such as the Flash, Metamorpho, and Power Girl unknowingly in the same room as Multi-Man, Big Sir, and Clue Master is excellent because there is always that sense of tension and excitement. You know that, at one moment, it’s going to click to either the heroes or villains that they are in the same room as their enemies. I have to say that while this story does lack much French (continued)
teaching apart from spots of it here and there, the background action is just as hilarious as the police are informed that the heroes and the villains are both together partaking in such trivial circumstances. What also makes this story great is the French teacher, who somehow takes control of the room when the JLI realise that their opponents are in the same room. Her temper is even enough to scare away the police, but in the end both parties are thrown in jail and not released until Captain Atom is forced to embarrass himself by declaring diplomatic immunity. Justice League Europe 6 aims to address the league’s lack of Europeanism through comedy, and while this story is memorable and highly entertaining with its dialogue, I think perhaps some new team members would actually be in order. For instance, the French heroine known as the Crimson Fox is mentioned here, but why can’t she be a member yet? While the main cast is good, I think it needs a shakeup.
Once again, Sears is pretty unremarkable as Justice League Europe is lumbered with an ugly appearance. Sears and Macros may contribute well in terms of storytelling to this jovial story, but overall, a better artist is needed.
Story: 9/10
Art: 5/10
VERDICT
Overall, Justice League America 26-30 and Justice League Europe 5-6 does well to separate the two leagues and give them some form of unique identities. The four-parter focusing on Blue Beetle is great and has some flawless moments, despite a disappointing ending featuring an evil biker. The date issue between Guy Gardner and Ice is also fun. While the Metamorpho story may tread the same old ground, the following issue is full of humour and moments of excitement aided by the return of the Injustice League. Overall, Giffen and DeMatteis write well as a storm approaches for both leagues…
Stories: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Next Week: The Untold Legend of Batman (The Untold Legend of Batman 1-3). Written by Len Wein with art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo.
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