After 52 issues of Justice League America, 28 Justice League Europe issues, seven Annuals, three Quarterlies, a special, and a tie-in Suicide Squad issue, Justice League International reaches its conclusion. For a run as epic as the one penned by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Gerard Jones, the finale needed to be bombastic, revelatory, and virtually stunning in every way. The writing team brilliantly planted the seeds of such a story when Maxwell Lord – everyone’s favourite greedy businessman – was shot and placed into a coma. With such an event, the final JLI story had clear promise. But, with sixteen issues focusing on just one story, will Breakdowns be a satisfying end paced out nicely, or an overlong dribble of different tales?
Breakdowns, published in Justice League America 53-60 and Justice League Europe 29-36, was released from August 1991 to March 1992. The story was written by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Gerard Jones with art by Chris Wozniak, Bruce D. Patterson, Bart Sears, Randy Elliott, Bob Smith, Darick Robertson, John Beatty, Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin, and Dan Campanella. I’ve read this story in their original stories (Christ knows why DC haven’t yet printed a lengthy collected edition of this key story).
Phase One – Parts One to Five
When it comes to longer stories that are meant to be noteworthy or memorable, the size can often be a problem. Does a story really need to be sixteen issues long? Perhaps, depending on how much plot the writers decide to throw it into. A plotter could easily plan out sixteen issues and fill it with action and little dialogue, but what would the point be? Alternatively, a writer could fill a story with too much plot and drown readers in exposition. Luckily for us, Breakdowns can easily be – funnily enough – broken down into phases. The first phase covers the first five issues – those being Justice League America 53-55 and Justice League Europe 29-30.
With Maxwell Lord out for the count, the United Nations goes crazy and worries about the JLI without their leader. At first, this confused me. The Justice League are a group of heroes who have been defending the Earth for years, but when their rich leader is seemingly taken out, they can’t be trusted. But throughout the run, you quickly forget just how important Lord was and is to the team. After all, he founded this new incarnation of the team, and while at first it was for the benefit of some evil robot trying to take over the world (see Justice League International 11-12), he has become a household name. He is all over the team. Therefore, the UN decide to get someone else to take charge of the team. Most of the first issue shows the heroes mortified with shock and sadness. All the heroes come together – including Booster Gold from his new Conglomerate team (seriously, where have those guys been since they first appeared?). Rather surprisingly, the first issue plays things slightly for laughs. Sure, it’s dark and almost mournful at times, but it can often be hilarious as the Injustice League turn up. These jovial villains arrive not to kill Maxwell Lord, but to comfort him as they consider him a friend after the Justice League Antarctica affair. The scenes featuring a sad Big Sur and a very manic Multi-Man are great, but Breakdowns really gets going when the UN appoint Kurt Heimlich as the new UN ambassador to the JLI. A new and militaristic era in the JLI’s history begins…
The arrival of Heimlich is the first time since perhaps the Despero story where there’s some real impact behind what happens to our heroes. In Justice League Europe 29, both teams unite to meet the new ambassador. While some of the one-to-one meetings between Heimlich and the heroes are genuinely funny, some are heart-breaking and even shocking. Immediately, Heimlich boots Captain Atom out of the team for being too hot-headed. Elongated Man is thrown out as well. While his reasoning for keeping heroes like Blue Jay in the team is puzzling (he somehow becomes the leader), the dismissal of Elongated Man is the real kicker. The jovial hero added much humour to the title, and when a character like Heimlich arrives to boot out your favourite heroes, you really dislike him. The writers try hard to make readers hate Heimlich, but since he doesn’t throw literally everyone out the team, there’s enough humility in him so he isn’t either a caricature or an obvious baddie. All this, however, is just one of the plots running through Breakdowns. While the Injustice League have been left to look after Maxwell Lord, Captain Atom goes… wait… what? You’re telling me that a rich billionaire has been left with a maniac suffering from severe bipolar disorder? Sensible! Either way, Maxwell Lord becomes important here as Captain Atom believes that Queen Bee and her Global Guardians are behind his shooting. Upon entering Bialya, Captain Atom is beaten to near-death. Well, we know who the villains are now… don’t we?
Another issue, some more sackings! While Captain Atom works alongside French Inspector Camus (a regular in JLE) to look into Queen Bee’s empire, Heimlich interviews more heroes and gives the sack to Ice and Blue Beetle. These two are even more damning. They’ve both been present since the very start, and their dismissal comes after some entertaining scenes where Heimlich is bored by Captain Glory’s constant reminiscing about the past.
With four members gone, Heimlich abuses his position and inducts two new members to the team – Tasmanian Devil and Doctor Light. While the latter was a founding member of the JLI (she left very early on), the Tasmanian Devil is a new feature. Effectively, he’s a kind fury giant creature who can turn nasty quickly. For somebody who is clearly up to something, Heimlich actually chooses two rather tame heroes to join the team. I was expecting two heroes who would demean the JLI and attract all the publicity. Instead, we’re given two agreeable heroes. Regardless, things get interesting with the ex-members of the team as Ice, Blue Beetle, and Elongated Man meet with Captain Atom, Camus, and the Crimson Fox for a secret mission behind Heimlich’s back. The plan? Take out Queen Bee once and for all.
Although the first three issues point to the possibly that Queen Bee is behind the assassination attempt on Maxwell Lord, JLE 30 makes it clear right from the off that she is innocent. In the last issue, Captain Atom and Camus were nearly blown up in an aircraft explosion, but Queen Bee is just as shocked as they were. Although it becomes clear that Queen Bee is being framed, our heroes don’t know that and they go after her regardless. In Bialya, Captain Atom, Crimson Fox, Blue Beetle, Elongated Man, and Ice locate the Global Guardians. Meanwhile, Camus is abducted by a mysterious group of shady men in dark suits. It turns out that these guys are the ones who have been spying on the JLI for months using a secret camera installed in Power Girl’s cat. This story was mentioned issues before but was left forgotten. Insisting that they have financial interests in the JLI, Camus is sent away with a video recording of Heimlich that he and the team may find interesting. This in itself doesn’t come to the forefront of events until later as, at the same time, the heroes break into the Global Guardians base only to bump into Jack-O-Lantern. With the rage of your usual Irish republican, Jack-O-Lantern kills one of his own allies, who is frozen in stasis with the rest of the Guardians. With that, the breakaway JLI are exactly where Jack-O-Lantern wants them. With the unofficial heroes now framed for murder, the official team are noted, and the Global Guardians are going to give them one hell of a beating.
But then, with Justice League America 55, everything is put right. Although the breakaway team are placed in a deadly fight with The Global Guardians, the fight ends when Queen Bee’s palace is destroyed and the villain herself heads for her escape plane. But then, in a shocking turn of events, Queen Bee is shot dead ruthlessly by… Sumaan Harjavti. No, this is not the same crackpot dictator who doomed Bialya to a communist dictatorship thank goodness. It’s his brother! The same in essentially every way possible, Harjavti kills Queen Bee and takes his place as leader of Bialya. I do like the reveal, but it does feel like the Bialya chapter can continue in some form. Unfortunately, this is the last we see of the lovable brother of the lovable crackpot dictator, at least in Giffen and DeMatteis’s run. Anyway, back in the action, the fight between the Global Guardians and breakaway JLI team ends when the real league turns up, and all heroes realise that Jack-O-Lantern has been murdered in the action. This gets thrown under the carpet as its then revealed – from the footage given by Camus – that Heimlich was a Queen Bee plant. So, she did try and kill Maxwell Lord? Or was he shot by another party, and she just took advantage of the situation? It’s never made clear, but it’s an important part of the mystery as it’s never made totally clear who shot Maxwell Lord. Regardless, this only concludes the first aspect of the story. Together, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Jones write a real tense introduction which – despite a few problems – is paced flawlessly and has some real memorable moments. But the question for the rest of Breakdowns focuses on one thing: Will Maxwell Lord survive?
Phase Two – Parts Six to Eight
From Justice League Europe 31 (part 6) to 32 (part 8), with JLA 56 in-between, the Breakdowns story takes a more relaxed direction. While the story builds towards another huge battle heading the JLI’s way, these three parts are moments of both respite and shock at the same time.
First things first, it’s worth mentioning that Captain Atom is now dead. Yeah, he was killed in that Armageddon 2001 story. Between parts five and six are where those two annuals took place, but the problem is that the writers think that we’ve already read that story. Maybe most readers at the time did read the miniseries, but for those who didn’t, his death is sudden and then completely forgotten about. Either way, for the next three parts, the JLI really become victim to events. With Heimlich gone but Maxwell Lord still out of action, the UN have decided to take the JLI’s official status from them. This makes for a great cliff-hanger ending to Justice League Europe 31, but it begins the long middle of the story which – while never dull – is pretty empty when it comes to plotting.
That said, Justice League America 56 is quite a funny and memorable part of the Breakdowns story. With the JLI effectively homeless since they were forced to leave the official UN bases, the decay within the team continues as both Doctor Light and the Tasmanian Devil quit the team. They seemed like good characters, but sadly they weren’t around much to leave a lasting impression. Anyway, Martian Manhunter is the focus of this part as he and some heroes try and think of a way the JLI can continue in the shadows. Therefore, they decide to retreat to the cave, the original headquarters of the first Justice League of America (which is now on the outskirts of New York and not on Rhode Island where it used to be). Either way, Giffen and DeMatteis end JLA 56 with a laugh in this depressing story as – like Martian Manhunter – every other hero from the team has had the same idea. With all the heroes unexpectedly together again, what’s next for the Breakdowns story? It becomes clear here that the story is bound together only really by the shooting of Maxwell Lord. The whole Queen Bee saga is long over, and it really takes until the last issue of this whole story to explain the purpose of all of this.
Justice League Europe 32 is the last pause in the Breakdowns saga. The story follows Blue Beetle, the Flash, and Elongated Man as they explore the JLA cave. Really, nothing much of note happens in this issue, but we’re treated to two very interesting scenes. The JLI mention that the cave is now home to the Doom Patrol. During this time in Doom Patrol (vol 2), Grant Morrison is writing the title and gracing its readers with dadaism – in other words a form of art which means nothing. Just think of the
most random thoughts and images, while obviously taking some psychedelic drugs, and you get Morrison’s Doom Patrol. This is important to Breakdowns because our heroes experience a slice of that random nonsensical storytelling. It’s clear that Giffen and Jones are writing it as a parody of Morrison’s Doom Patrol, but I like it regardless. Additionally, there’s a brief cameo from The Chief, the leader of the Doom Patrol who quickly tells the heroes to get out. Aside from the sidestep into dadaism, this issue just highlights how lacking Breakdowns is in the middle. The writers may keep us entertained, but the plot doesn’t really go anywhere. Luckily however, things begin to change here. Deep in space, Manga Khan (everyone’s favourite interplanetary dealer) has run into some trouble as his special cargo has gone missing. Hiring Lobo to help him, it’s revealed that the cargo is Despero, who has broken out of the trap Martian Manhunter placed him in. Well, I don’t know why Martian Manhunter would give Despero to Manga Khan for safe keeping, but I’m certainly glad to see the villain back. After he nearly destroyed the JLA in his last appearance, his return is very promising. However, the second phase of the run ends with Maxwell Lord suddenly recovered from his coma. This shock makes for a decent ending to three fairly vacuous, if entertaining issues.
Phase Three – Parts Nine to Twelve
With Justice League America 57-58 and Justice League Europe 33-34, we’re treated to the tensest phase in the Breakdowns story. Sadly, although it may be more dramatic than the previous issues, it’s just as shallow in terms of the plot.
With Maxwell Lord back to full health miraculously, the JLI are relaxed and unaware of any danger. However, Camus has been investigating the disappearance of the Extremists and their inventor Mitch Wacky. Again, this doesn’t come into things until later, but it is crucial. While he and that ridiculously cliched English hero Beefeater (of all people) investigate that, the JLI are thrown into chaos as Despero has arrived in New York City, with the predictable goal of destroying the heroes. And that’s pretty much the story covered for the next four issues. Sure, Lobo turns up, as does Booster Gold and his Conglomerate, but it’s effectively just a huge battle which goes on a bit too long. Due to this, there’s not much point going through the in-depth plot details of each issue – after all, it mainly consists of the heroes trying to fight against Despero but failing. This may go on for four issues, but you shouldn’t mistake my dismissal of it as terrible or even bad. You have to remember that when Despero turned up the last time to take on the league, it proved to be one of the most shocking tense stories of the whole run. There was destruction and bloodshed. While there isn’t exactly any of the latter here, the sense of urgency and danger is enormous.
Since we have seen Despero create such carnage before, the stakes are genuinely high. But since no character does die, the conclusion to the four-issue long fight does make things a bit anticlimactic. But however far-fetched the solution may be, I really like it. After it becomes clear that Despero cannot be beaten by any regular means, New York is saved from his pink terror by the JLI’s secret weapon – L-Ron. Yes, this jovial and sweet robot saves the day with the help of Kilowog. Through some technobabble explanation, L-Ron switches bodies with Despero. This may seem silly, but there’s some emotion behind this resolution. L-Ron has been with the team for a while, but he has been present since the run’s early days. We’ve come to know and love him as an irritating PA for both Maxwell Lord and Martian Manhunter. Often, the best lines and moments in JLI come from L-Ron. For instance, in one of the Breakdowns issues, Martian Manhunter is disturbed in his zen-state since L-Ron is irritating some ducks in a nearby pond. Not only does L-Ron have a very strange personality but enlightens stories. With this, L-Ron saves the day and – with his spirit now in the body of Despero – he is forced to leave Earth with Manga Khan. As for Despero, he is trapped powerless in a useless mental husk. In short, these four issues could have been halved in length. The Breakdowns story does continue in the background – Maxwell Lord goes to Kooey Kooey Kooey for a break, but he is up to something with the Extremists – but the Despero affair seems to drown the overall story. Maxwell Lord was always meant to be the main focus of Breakdowns, but his side of the story is lost sometimes. Regardless, these issues are paced well and despite a lack of deaths or the usual Despero brutality, I like the intensity of it all.
Phase Four – Parts Thirteen to Fifteen AND Postscript
Well, this is it. With only two issues to go of the main story of Breakdowns, how on Earth can Giffen, DeMatteis, and Jones fit everything in?
With Justice League America 59, the whole direction of Breakdowns changes. It’s revealed that Maxwell Lord has been possessed by Dreamslayer, one of the Extremists. During his coma, Dreamslayer managed to inhabit his body and used his power to influence events around him, like the collapse of the JLI. The problem with this is that it reveals the true villain to be a boring and uninteresting supervillain with little memorability. The Extremists – despite their terror and powers – turned out to be pretty dull foes and none of them had any distinguishable personality. Anyway, Maxwell Lord has resided on Kooey Kooey Kooey and taken control of the locals to lead the Extremists into a new destructive age. Oh yeah, he also killed Mitch Wacky. A somewhat sad moment, but quickly forgotten about. This last phase focuses on Blue Jay and Silver Sorceress, two characters who have been with the title since its second issue. They are both haunted by Dreamslayer’s aims and they both focus as the protagonists of this last phase. The problem here is that these two haven’t really been present up to this point. It only reinforces the core failure of Breakdowns – aside from Maxwell Lord, there isn’t much else to unite this sixteen-part epic. The story supplied here, with the heroes under Maxwell Lord’s control and Dreamslayer spending his time torturing Blue Jay and Silver Sorceress, is radically different from the Despero story before and the Queen Bee story before that.
Justice League Europe 35 details the fight back. With a surviving group of the heroes now aware of their true villain, they work together to return their allies back to normal. Also, Batman returns for this final issue, which is great considering he was a founding member of this incarnation of the team. In the end, Dreamslayer is beaten by the Silver Sorceress, who sacrifices herself to rescue the inhabitants of Kooey Kooey Kooey and Maxwell Lord.
Her sacrifice, while noble and damning for Blue Jay, isn’t really that strong on our side since she isn’t a particularly memorable character, nor has she been very present in this story. Regardless, this provides a sombre end to the core of the Breakdowns story. However, there are some loose ends to tie up.
Justice League America 60 will always be remembered for being the last story in the Giffen/DeMatteis/Jones JLI run. It’s not exactly anything substantial, but it does leave things on a semi-positive note. Giffen and DeMatteis take us through each character of the run and their lives after Breakdowns. While some members, most notably Martian Manhunter, decide that it is time to leave the team, others are unsure like Fire and Ice. Meanwhile, heroes like Blue Beetle are losing their way and gaining weight, while others like the Flash and Rocket Red miss their families. While these human stories are great, I find the one about Maxwell Lord the most interesting. There’s much to explore here – Maxwell Lord was in a coma for most of Breakdowns and when he wasn’t, he was being controlled by a supervillain aiming on world destruction. We see him at the start at his lowest, scarred by what Dreamslayer used his body for. However, as he becomes convinced that he and the JLI still have the potential to do good, he decides to head back to the cave. Rallying the tired and weary troops, Maxwell Lord returns with Oberon, promising to relaunch the league once again. The ending Giffen and DeMatteis provide here is optimistic. After everything these great characters have been through, there is still a glimmer of hope for the future. That is where Justice League International should have ended – the future is unknown, but bright.
Sadly, Breakdowns is forced to continue for a final issue – published in Justice League Europe 36. Since Giffen and DeMatteis are no longer present, this is no longer their
run. However, it ties up one loose end that’s worth looking at. Remember when L-Ron switched bodies with Despero? Well, here the remaining JLI members fight against Despero in his new robotic body. However, there isn’t much tension here since the villain is no longer a threat. This somewhat forced story supplied by Jones feels like a desperate move to disguise the fact that the JLI is – with this issue – finally dead. All the hope supplied by Giffen and DeMatteis is squandered as Maxwell Lord – who has lost his power to convince people mentally – fails to convince anyone to stay in the team. It all ends so bleakly. Maxwell Lord and Oberon are left on their own. What happens next? While this ending surely does raise some thoughts and interests the reader, the optimism of the previous era is dead and it becomes clear that the league will become a mainstream team again with your usual boring heroes. I mean, just look at the following issue. After this, we get Justice League Spectacular, a one-off special devised to relaunch JLI. On the cover you may still enjoy Blue Beetle, Fire and Ice, and Guy Gardner, but now Superman is present. And also, the dry storytelling of Dan Jurgens. Yawn. No longer is the magic of Giffen and DeMatteis present. The devolution of JLI’s status and decay in the mid-1990s begins…
Overall, Breakdowns has the appearance of a long and epic story. But when you look closely, it really is four different stories connected together by Maxwell Lord’s shooting. By far, my favourite part of Breakdowns has to be the first phase. The collapse of the JLI, the introduction of Heimlich, and the Queen Bee story create the mood of a truly epic story. But then, as the tension of that story collapses, Breakdowns becomes rather plotless. Even in the Despero issues, we’re treated to an overlong fight since it feels like the real story is somewhat hidden. And when the true story of Breakdowns is revealed to us, it’s not only told too late into events, but it’s just not very good. It depends too much on forgettable characters. While the humour may be present, and the usual great characterisation we’ve loved since the start is here, Breakdowns ends up being quite a mixed bag. I do enjoy it despite its major flaws, and I do think it rejuvenates the mood of the era before it comes to a close, but it could have been better and shorter.
Oh yeah, the art! If you’ve read every issue of this run before Breakdowns, then you’ll know what you’ll be getting. The style here is very mainstream and action-packed. There are some moments which stand out, but honestly the artists here don’t define Breakdowns in the way that other artists define stories. That’s not to say the likes of Robertson or Wozniak are bad, but just standard. That said, Bart Sears’s work is still ugly, but it’s great to see the return of Kevin Maguire and Terry Austin. After all, it was this art team that produced the flawless introduction to the run in Justice League 1. It rounds off things nicely.
VERDICT
Overall, Justice League International: Breakdowns is an overlong conclusion sprinkled with some good ideas, but badly planned. Only the shooting of Maxwell Lord connects the sixteen issues here. It feels like there are four stories here which the writers attempt to form into one, but it doesn’t work. That said, I think the first third of the story is fantastic, and despite its flaws, I would still consider it a good read. Whatever faults I have with the plot, I think the pacing is terrific and the characters work – for the most part – well. Although this is the end of the JLI run by Giffen and DeMatteis, DC released two sequels to the era in the following decade. Giffen and DeMatteis are not done yet…
Story: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Next Week: Animal Man: An Altered State of Mind (Animal Man (vol 1) 80-89). Written by Jerry Prosser with art by Fred Harper and Jason Temujin Minor.
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