At the time of writing the introduction to this post, I’m not kidding when I say that I’m struggling to remember the previous Justice League America stories in my last review. While some may consider that to be the onset of some metal deficiency, I can safely that it is down to the stories. While Justice League International will always remain one of my absolutely favourite runs in comic book history, the longer it seems to go on, the more everything appears to feel the same. With the exception of some recent stories – like the excellent Despero story – the recent inserts in Justice League America have all been slightly wacky and a bit unoriginal. Therefore, as the title approached its fiftieth issue, it was time for a story of a different type. From issue 46 onwards, the JLA are thrown into one of their most intriguing stories yet. Enter Captain Glory…
Justice League America 46-52 was published from January to June 1991, with Annual 5 being released in July. Meanwhile, Justice League Quarterly 2 was published for Spring. All stories were written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with various artists. I’ve read these stories in their original issues.
Old Glory/General Glory Fights Again/The Last Giant Nazi Robot Story/Glory and Shame/A Blaze of Glory --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Giffen, Linda Medley, Jose Marzan. Jr, John Beatty, Paris Cullins, and Dave Elliott
Justice League America 46-50 provide the last significant and lengthy story in the title (ignoring the crossover Breakdowns). And perhaps for the first time since the Kooey Kooey Kooey story – with the exception of the Despero three-parter – Justice League America produces a highly memorable story.
The whole of the Glory Bound story focuses on a new but wholly unoriginal character. As an old and forgetful man living in a retirement home in Pennsylvania, Joseph Jones is a man with a lost past. Seemingly suffering with some kind of dementia, the story of Joseph deepens when an ex-Nazi supervillain attempts at assassinate the old man. Meanwhile, at the JLI embassy in America (where L-Ron is now working with the team and acting as Martian Manhunter’s lackey), Guy Gardner hears the news about a first edition copy of the first issue of Captain Glory going up for auction. If it wasn’t obvious enough, Captain Glory is basically a joke-version of Marvel’s Captain America. Although Guy manages to win the auction (mainly through fearmongering and bullying of wimpy comic book fans), Joseph Jones catches up with him and wishes to read the words of the comic. Suddenly, upon speaking the words of Captain Glory, Joseph Jones transforms into Captain Glory. It’s certainly a nice ending as the old Joseph Jones transforms into a figure of youth (and there are some fantastic Guy Gardner moments throughout), but for me it seemed obvious both from when Joseph was introduced and when Captain Glory was first mentioned that the two relics from the past were linked. Either way, Justice League America 46 is a fantastic and originally funny introduction to the Glory Bound story.
Justice League America 47 really has two stories going on at the same time – only one of which is really worth following. To cover the boring stuff first, Mister Miracle is replaced by a young trainee acrobat and steals Scott Free’s thunder during one of his escapist acts. Why there are two Mister Miracles is beyond me, and it doesn’t add anything really exciting or really intriguing to the overall story. The most interesting aspect comes with the league’s utter confusion about Captain Glory, seemingly a comic book character turned real. His 1940s old chum attitude clashes brilliantly with Orion’s hard-headed attitude, and his references to the war, FDR, and his obsessive tendency to call Martian Manhunter ‘skipper’ make him memorable and lovable, even if it does go a bit far at points. Things get interesting when some action is thrown into the mix and the league must help civilians trapped in a burning building. There, the second part ends surprisingly when Captain Glory discovers a Nazi Uberbot in the blaze. Although Captain Glory escapes from the fire and becomes a true hero, the mystery deepens and Giffen and DeMatteis build it up well.
Like all good superheroes, Captain Glory has his villains. Justice League America 48 starts deep in the jungle as the old Nazi villains from the first part locates the secret home of dozens of other villainous fascists who love Captain Glory and fought him back in the day. All of these foes decide to unite in a comic book fashion, which is good because frankly all of them are deliberately stereotypical evil Nazis and none of them have their own distinctive personalities. Anyway, they decide to unite to create, as the issue is called, the last giant Nazi robot. Before we get to that, there’s quite a bit about Captain Glory’s origin and how the mystical power of the Statue of Liberty gave him his super strength. Also, he had kid sidekick named Ernie – a boy who is clearly based on Bucky, Captain America’s chum. But one day, Captain Glory and Ernie were separated in the cold artic sea and the next thing that Captain Glory can remember is waking up without his memories. Ernie seemingly died – again very Captain America. However, I can excuse the lack of originality to some degree because of its humour. However, just when you think most of the mystery is gone, Captain Glory fights the evil Nazi robot minutes before the FBI turns up to arrest the golden age hero for war crimes committed five decades before. Yikes!
Without trying to sound pretentious, I think Justice League America 49 begins with a fantastic focus on the attitude of American superheroes. What do I mean by this? As the FBI prepare to arrest Captain Glory, Guy Gardner takes the hero away from the scene and pledges to hide him from the law. The relationship between Glory and Guy is wonderful and there is a sense of respect between the two of them. Guy looks up to Captain Glory, while the older hero seeks to guide the Green Lantern. A great conflict between the two makes JLA 49 memorable as while Guy Gardner believes the justice system is broken and corrupt against his hero, Captain Glory believes that all citizens must follow the law and not become the villains they fight.
Naturally, Captain Glory submits, and I think the way that Giffen and DeMatteis distinguish the characters of a 1940s hero and a 1990s hero is brilliant. Aside from that, Justice League America 49 is only memorable for one other reason – the return of Ernie. It turns out that Captain Glory is guilty of killing American soldiers during the war, and Ernie has turned against him for it. Although the relationship between the master and the apprentice is never shown in much detail, there is definitely some emotion as the relationship has broken down. Captain Glory is saddened while Ernie is angry at his former master’s apparent crimes. In fact, I think Ernie’s anger is a bit too over the topic and verbose at times, but the effect is there. What makes the apparent crimes of Captain Glory interesting is that, although we can be relatively sure he is innocent because of his stature, since we don’t know him really that much yet, he could be a criminal with blood on his hands. Therefore, there is some true drama, but unfortunately that is somewhat drowned out when the JLA arrive at the end to try and help Captain Glory. Upon their arrival, the group of evil Nazis appear too in a giant mechanical ball wittily named Evil Eye.
As a finale issue, Justice League America 50 is sadly anticlimactic. Until the last few pages, it’s just a big fight between the heroes and the Nazis, with Ernie reluctantly deciding to team up with Captain Glory. In the scant pages that remain however, things do get interesting. In his dying words, the main Nazi tells of the time when a secret US government agent told him that he had killed Captain Glory. It is revealed that Captain Glory’s crimes were faked by one agent in the government. Ernie confronts the elderly agent, who had been planning everything for General Glory since he appeared. However, with the help of the JLI, General Glory’s true foe is defeated, and the hero is inducted into Justice League America is a full-time member.
I think that the problem with this finale issue is that it feels very rushed and told too quickly. Things aren’t given enough room to breathe, and the action goes on for too long and isn’t really that significant. At the end of the day, the Nazi villains are borderline pointless, and they take away from the underdeveloped government agent plot. Overall, for a five-parter, this story feels a tad too empty. While the focus on Captain Glory is great, I think the villains should have been better. However, it definitely remains one of the most memorable and interesting stories from the latter section of the Giffen/DeMatteis run.
While most of the art here is your usual late-1980s/early-1990s content that tells a good story but appears slightly dull, the best visuals here are definitely from the flashbacks which are told as if they are old issues of Captain Glory. Drawn by Keith Giffen (I believe), the art here is wonderfully retro and the sense of storytelling reminds me of Kirby at his 1940s height. Those moments are true highlights.
It’s worth noting that the second half of Justice League America 50 is a very cartoony story featuring the creative team of the title. Together, Giffen, DeMatteis, Medley, and editor Andrew Helfer all attempt to conjure up ideas for JLI stories. Guy Gardner then turns up and bosses them around before some action breaks out. There’s really nothing here of substance that’s useful to the run as a whole, but the scatterbrain artwork of Kyle Baker is surprisingly entertaining, and the dialogue is hilarious. I also think that there is an element of truth about the whole story. Sure, Guy Gardner may not exist in our world, but the chaotic making of Justice League International and its creative stars did. Perhaps the world of Giffen and DeMatteis was no less confusing and extreme than the Earth of the JLI.
Story: 8/10
Art: 7.5/10
My Dinner with G’nort --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Adam Hughes, Giffen, and Joe Rubinstein
Justice League America 51’s quality is really defined by how far into the run it is. If this story was written and published during the run’s first, second or even third year, then I’d definitely salute it is a fantastic and entertaining read. However, since this is the penultimate one-off in the Giffen/DeMatteis JLA run, my views on it are different. Deciding to visit Earth and his friends at the JLA again, everyone’s favourite Green Lantern G’nort arrives to hang out with his heroic chums. Of course, they hate him for being an irritant, but he’s so lovable and idiotic he is blind to it. There, he finds that the whole team is missing in action, with the exception of Martian Manhunter, L-Ron, and Kilowog. From there, G’nort and Kilowog (as two Green Lanterns) decide to go out to eat and party, with Martian Manhunter accompanying them to ensure they don’t get into trouble. Of course, what happens? G’nort causes problems by irritating the public and the whole thing comes to a sour end when a reformed man with a fear of superheroes reverts back to insanity upon seeing G’nort. By the end, nobody is friends anymore, and Blue Beetle laughs at the whole event. While this story does explore a new character relationship (between G’nort and Kilowog), the story is entirely predictable and tiresome. Giffen and DeMatteis have been feeding so much of this to us that it is no longer funny. The problem is that the humour doesn’t evolve. It just stays the same throughout the entire run. A plot like this one would have been perfect earlier on, but now the creative comedy of it is no longer effective. Okay, there may one or two areas where this story is memorable, but the vast majority of the content here is reused. Everyone knows that G’nort is irritating, and everyone knows that it’s all going to go wrong. Overall, it’s nothing new.
The art here is above average. Hughes doesn’t add that much flair to this dull story, but at least he keeps it vaguely interesting.
Story: 4/10
Art: 7.5/10
The Battle of the Month --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Trevor Von Eeden, Giffen, and Randy Elliott
Unlike the previous issue, Justice League America 52 feels far more original, enjoyable, and diverse in its tone. One day, Blue Beetle notices that he is getting fat. Instantly, Giffen and DeMatteis explore a new perspective to Beetle’s character as there is much about his obsession with weight since his youth and his embarrassment about it. For once, Blue Beetle’s character is more than just laughs. From there, he decides to regain some muscle by working out with Captain Glory, who is training with Guy Gardner. Things devolve quickly to aggression between the two young heroes and Guy Gardner challenges Blue Beetle to a fight. Giffen and DeMatteis write some superb energy into this issue as the build-up to the fight feels both tense and exciting. Characters such as Batman return to watch this pivotal moment. It’s great because the team is divided. While Ice and Captain Glory cheer on Guy, Fire and Martian Manhunter (who joins in very reluctantly) back Beetle. The fight itself is tame at first, but once Blue Beetle proves himself by making his Green Lantern opponent bleed, the red mist falls. Guy Gardner strikes Beetle with a kick to the stomach and lands him in hospital – leading to a hugely dramatic moment when Martian Manhunter officially boots Guy out of the league for nearly killing another member. For once, the league feels serious, and its members are of some worth. Here, Giffen and DeMatteis prove their writing talent as Guy – for all of his brutality – is shown a bit more sympathetically than ever before. He realises that his own anger has resulted in the termination of his membership and destroyed any chance of love with Ice, who is saddened by what happens. In private, Guy realises his mistakes and blames himself. You begin to realise just how human and emotional he is.
Justice League America 52 is a true highlight and one of the best JLI stories of the latter half of the Giffen/DeMatteis run. It feels original and the sense of character is excellent. Plus, it ends brilliantly with a shock – as he enters the JLA embassy after some time away, Maxwell Lord is shot. Thus, the final JLI story begins…
As you’d expect from Trevor Von Eeden, the art here is very confusing. Despite Beetle’s fat appearance in the earlier pages of the issue, he quickly reverts to full muscle once again. The sense of lighting drawn here is also peculiar and a bit too creepy – a mood which doesn’t reflect the story. Von Eeden’s problem is that his art doesn’t reflect how characters look and everyone appears deformed. Elliot’s inks do little to develop the basic and messy shapes drawn by Von Eeden, and while it is rarely terrible, it isn’t good either.
Story: 10/10
Art: 3.5/10
Tomorrow’s League Today --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Steve Carr, Chris Sprouse, Darick Robertson, Marshall Rogers, Kevin Maguire, Dan Jurgens, Joe Phillips, Ty Templeton, Linda Medley, Jose Marzan. Jr, and Bruce D. Patterson
Although Justice League America Annual 5 does take place during the final story of the JLI run (Breakdowns), I thought I’d include it plainly for neatness and so my review of the sixteen-part epic isn’t complicated in any way. Besides, the main plot of Breakdowns is almost irrelevant here. I say almost because this all takes place after Maxwell Lord has been shot and the team are worried about him. Either way, this annual is a tie-in to the 1991 event known as Armageddon: 2001. The event focused on a futuristic hero named Waverider, who has come back to the past to locate the hero who will, one day in the future, destroy the world as the villainous Monarch. In every annual that year, he explored the cast of each of them and delved into their futures. By possessing the body of Captain Atom, Waverider mentally contacts the JLA members and views their futures. The world in the future is both happy and bleak for the JLA. While Ice and Guy Gardner have married, Blue Beetle has gotten fat and useless as a hero. While Fire and Oberon have married, Booster Gold has become a cleaner. Yes, there are some other characters involved but they are the only memorable ones and there are some interesting moments of tension where characters who once loved one another argue about the past. Meanwhile in the present, Waverider moves around like a game of pass-the-parcel as he glimpses everyone’s future. As you’d expect from a title slap-bang in the middle of their own almighty story, Waverider finds none of them to be Monarch (Spoiler warning: Monarch is Hawk and Dove – as revealed in Zero Hour) and he heads off to find other heroes to search. In the context of Breakdowns, it provides an annoying pause during a critical story. As for Armageddon: 2001 and the JLI run as a whole, it is pointless. It may provide some interesting scenes and a few moments of charm, but it’s an unnoteworthy and pointless Annual, like most of them were that year.
Despite the range of artists, none of them really add anything unique into the mix. Typical of all annuals, the artists disregard them and put more effort into the mainstream issues. That said, Marshall Rogers continues to produce some decent artwork.
Story: 4/10
Art: 6.5/10
Designing Humans --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Tom Artis, Randy Elliott, and Bruce D. Patterson
Justice League Quarterly 2 is, just for the record, nowhere near as important as the first one in terms of the title’s overarching plot. JLQ 1 introduced Booster Gold’s
Conglomerate and while there has been little of them in the following JLA issues, Booster hasn’t returned to the league on a full-time basis and his team still officially exist. That said, Designing Humans – the main story in the second quarterly – is important because it is penned by Giffen and DeMatteis. Plus, it is something of a sequel to Justice League America 36. In that one-off, G’nort came face-to-face with his arch-nemesis the Scarlet Skier, who was sent to Earth by his leader Mister Nebula, an intergalactic planetary designer. By the time of JLQ 2, Mister Nebula is bored in space with his huge empire, still angered by the universe’s fashion sense and architecture. He suddenly remembers sending the Scarlet Skier to Earth and he transports a drone to the planet to find him. Meanwhile on Earth, Scarlet Skier has become a friend of G’nort’s. Well, I say friend – more a lost soul who just so happens to find G’nort as somebody who will look after him. While the Scarlet Skier was slightly more brutal in Justice League America 36, he is more likable and interesting here. Giffen and DeMatteis write an interesting and jolly friendship between the two characters to the point where when the Scarlet Skier realises that Mister Nebula is coming to Earth, it does feel like a powerful moment. Most of the remaining pages of the issue focus around the JLA working with G’nort and the Scarlet Skier to take on Mister Nebula – who is written as a bizarre but quite interesting foe. Originally a young and arrogant architect, Mister Nebula is zapped by the rays of gods and transformed into the wacky personality who is able to transform boring buildings into colourful constructs. Giffen and DeMatteis do well to develop Mister Nebula further here as when he last appeared in Justice League America 36, he was mentioned really in passing. It’s good to see him more centre-stage for once, but I have to say that the Quarterly just transforms into a big fight which ends when Mister Nebula retreats after trying to transform Earth more to his own image. And then, just to provide a final kick, Mister Nebula suddenly remembers why he visited Earth, and he magically transports the Scarlet Skier to him. Why Mister Nebula just didn’t go after him before or – to make much more sense – summon him instantly in the first place isn’t explained. I guess you wouldn’t have a story in that case, but either way, Scarlet Skier returns to Mister Nebula’s empire. Compared to the JLQ 1, this one feels far more throwaway and of little consequence. It isn’t as bombastic as the Conglomerate story, and it feels more like a regular annual. That said, it is an enjoyable read and it at least ties up some loose ends from a decent one-off earlier in the run.
Tom Artis’s work is rather confusing mainly because none of the characters he draws look anything like they do in the regular title. They don’t look unattractive or badly drawn, just radically different in all sorts of ways. The lack of consistency, however, isn’t too much of a problem and he performs well with a lengthy story.
Story: 8/10
Art: 7.5/10
Running Hot and Cold --- Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Buzz and Malcolm Jones III
Unlike Justice League Quarterly 1, the second insert in the run does not consist of just one long story. While Designing Humans is the length of an annual, there are about ten pages or so left for an additional story. Running Hot and Cold focuses on Fire and Ice as they team up together to take on Captain Cold and Heatwave, the adversaries of the Flash. I’ve included this sorely because it’s written by Giffen and DeMatteis. As ever, the two writers capture the characters of Fire and Ice well and their relationship is interesting enough to make this story readable. The two villains may be a mixture between stereotypically evil and unbelievably stupid – plus some of the story’s humour is unoriginal and tiresome – but it works as an additional feature. The main problem with this tale isn’t so much its story, but more the tradition it begins. What made JLQ 1 great was the lengthy plot it had and the epic proportions of the story. The main story may have elements of that, but the back-up feels like your basic inventory story. And sadly, all remaining Justice League Quarterly issues are full of bland inventory stories focusing on a group of characters written by unremarkable writers. Overall, at least Justice League Quarterly 2 has just one back-up that doesn’t overshadow the main plot, but it does mark the beginning of JLQ’s downfall.
I’m not sure who Buzz is, but he’s not a bad artist for a bright story like this one. It looks imaginative and quite lively. But most surprisingly, Malcolm Jones III provides some suitable inks. Usually, Jones is behind the inks of titles such as The Sandman, which are far more mystical and darker in tone. However, this proves that his inking style – while more suited to the darker titles – could work on the wacky and sillier tales.
Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
VERDICT
Overall, this final set of Justice League America stories ranges from the tiresome humour which has dominated the run since its start to some extremely fresh and interesting stories. Glory Bound is a fun and interesting five-parter that livens things up. While the following story with G’nort and Kilowog is very typical and tiresome in its comedy, the fight issue is excellent and displays some great character. As for Justice League America Annual 5, I guess it’s a nice addition, but a fairly worthless one. Meanwhile, the second Quarterly is a decent if irrelevant read. Despite the ranges of quality, Giffen and DeMatteis tease the final story of their run brilliantly. But before Breakdowns begin, it’s time to head back to Europe!
Stories: 7.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
Next Week: The Brave and the Bold Giant. Written by Bob Haney, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Dave Kaler, and Steve Ditko with art by George Roussos, Carmine Infantino, Charles Paris, Simon and Kirby, Ditko, and Rocke Mastroserio.
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