After the duopoly of crises that occurred in the DC Universe with Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, the world’s greatest heroes reformed once again with the wonderful Brad Meltzer at the helm. Justice League of America (vol 2) – launched in 2006 months after the final issue of Infinite Crisis 7 – began terrifically with creative zeal, examining psychological and emotionally Red Tornado. This was followed by a less impressive, but retroactive, tale reuniting the Justice League with the Justice Society. Yet, once that first year of the title concluded in the second half of 2007, Meltzer departed from the title. After his novelistic, shrewd, and deep approach to writing such a mainstream title, where could the Justice League go next? The answer came not from a novelist, but from a screenwriter, particularly one for animation and cartoons. Some overblown critics may scoff, but Dwayne McDuffie was no ordinary low-class writer…
McDuffie began his two-year run on Justice League of America (vol 2) with Justice League of America: Wedding Special. Just whose wedding this is a reference to, we’ll get to. For the first review of McDuffie’s run, we’ll be looking at Justice League of America (vol 2) 13-16, along with the special – published from November 2007 to February 2008. Artists for these issues include Mike McKone, Joe Benitez, Ed Benes, Allan Jefferson, Andy Lanning, Victor Llamas, and Sandra Hope. DC published these issues in a nice collected edition in hardcover, perhaps a strange decision given its relative brevity (standing only at 144 pages).
Why was Dwayne McDuffie chosen to write Justice League of America (vol 2). One such reason may have been that, for a generation of children and avid fans, his writing and words defined their view of the Justice League. Between 2001 and 2006, the Justice League animated series, and its successor Justice League Unlimited, entertained millions – McDuffie had differing forms of creative influence (whether it be as writer, producer, or story-editor) for 69 of the show’s 91 episodes. Alongside creators like Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, and Bruce Timm, McDuffie is one of the founding fathers of the DC Animated Universe, by far DC’s most popular and successful world outside the comic books. It should be for this reason solely that McDuffie was chosen to write this titanic title. But compared to the darker writing of Meltzer, how would a more traditional comic book mood feel for a mid-2000s title?
Injustice League Unlimited –-- Written by Dwayne McDuffie with art by Mike McKone, Andy Lanning, Joe Benitez, Victor Llamas, Ed Benes, and Sandra Hope
For those who grew up during the late-1990s and 2000s, their dominant memories and images of the Justice League will go back to the animated small-screen. In the absence of any live-action films featuring the team, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited was the best these heroes had ever appeared outside the medium of comic books. During his run on Justice League of America (vol 2), Dwayne McDuffie translates the near perfection of the DC Animated Universe onto pages gleaming with life and action.
Somewhat oddly, it starts with a wedding. For those who haven’t read Judd Winick’s lengthy but enjoyable run on Green Arrow (vol 3), the title’s 75th and final issue concludes with Oliver Queen finally proposing to Black Canary – and she accepts. While any drama surrounding that storyline carries on in Winick’s Green Arrow/Black Canary, it is a point of focus in Justice League of America: The Wedding Special. To celebrate the occasion, parties are thrown for the loving duo and it’s right from these early pages where readers can witness McDuffie’s strength as a writer. He captures the spirit of chumminess, especially when it comes to Oliver Queen’s parties and how Hal Jordan and Roy Harper have hired strippers for the event against Green Arrow’s wishes. This, mixed with the ever powerful and biting sarcasm of the Dark Knight, provides a humorous start. But alongside the joviality of such an event, McDuffie presents the origin of a dark leviathan emerging around our heroes, unbeknownst to them. The opening pages of the special feature Lex Luthor, the Joker, and Cheetah deciding who should – and should not – join their enlarged Injustice League. These pages brilliantly echo the introductory panels and scene from Brad Meltzer’s Justice League of America (vol 2) 1, whereby Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are discussing the same topic for their new group. This reference and consistency, blended perfectly with Luthor’s calculating mind, the Joker’s dark sense of comedy, and Cheetah’s lust for blood, prepares the stage for a shattering duel.
It all begins with Firestorm. He falls into a rather obvious trap created by Killer Frost, and her powers – alongside the Joker’s toxic laugh venom – lands Firestorm in hospital. It’s with this that Killer Frost becomes the newest recruit in the Injustice League in its new Unlimited form. McDuffie conveys his own nostalgia by creating a Hall of Doom in the swamplands, nodding enthusiastically to Super Friends, that 1970s/1980s cartoon which was the abiding memory and version of DC Universe in the years prior to the DCAU. It’s McDuffie’s Injustice League here which merges the cartoons of old with the animations of new. Within the classic Hall of Doom stands the Injustice League Unlimited – the villains version of the animated JLU. With such power in numbers, the villains get to work quickly. By the end of the Wedding Special, the league is on the defensive with many of its members incapacitated or missing.
Justice League of America (vol 2) 13 onwards is where nods to JLA tales from the 1960s become hugely apparent. I don’t mean that totally in terms of plotting, but also when it comes to structuring. Batman – one of those captured by the villains – breaks free only to find his exit blocked by Lex Luthor, the Joker, Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, and Doctor Light. What’s the purpose of their whole Injustice League Unlimited? It’s as it was back in the Silver Age – to take over the world. I suppose such a goal is to be expected, but it feels slightly underwhelming and tiresome, especially in an era where villains like Lex Luthor execute more nuanced plans, or characters like the Joker would simply focus on one person – i.e. Batman – and plot out how best he can ruin their life. World dominion is a classic, but perhaps too basic a concept in the dim Dark Age. Nevertheless, McDuffie very much recreates the feel of the Gardner Fox/Dennis O’Neil era – the Justice League split into two to locate their fallen allies. And as in every two-parter from that era, the earlier pages portray a team of heroes who fail in their task. With so many villains, the heroes are overwhelmed.
Lex Luthor reveals in Justice League of America (vol 2) 14 that he is hiding most members of the Justice League in the Hall of Doom and is torturing them for fun. From here on out, the protagonists are really only Superman and Black Lightning, an unlikely but enjoyable duo, as their differences of powers and attitudes make them formidable in their plan to break into Luthor’s lair. They do this at remarkable speed, and even though Luthor captures Superman comes close to killing him to good with the sharpest green kryptonite in his possession, Luthor’s world soon comes tumbling down.
Justice League of America (vol 2) 15 – somewhat similarly to the previous two issues – is another compilation of fights between heroes and villains as Superman and Black Lightning rescue their teammates. Despite some injuries and torture, nearly all the JLA heroes escape unscathed, aside from Red Tornado whose body is dissected again, but his consciousness remains intact as its later placed in a computer. Regardless, the Justice League are victorious as many of the Injustice League’s members flee from the scene. But for those who remain, they are not for the Justice League. Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad arrive with an arrest warrant for the villains, and Black Canary – as the team’s leader (which is slightly forgotten both in retrospect and in this run from time to time) – hands them over. Waller and Suicide Squad will return in the coming issues, but with this story, McDuffie adds a new hero to the Justice League’s roster with Firestorm, who redeems himself in the final issue.
You may have noticed that as the Injustice League Unlimited storyline progresses, the plotting becomes much thinner, and it simply becomes one-fight-scene-after-another. This was extremely common in the 2000s, and it doesn’t help matters greatly when McDuffie delivers a pretty simple and run-of-the-mill plot. To say this story is unenjoyable would be incorrect, however. Like all great writers of comic books, McDuffie is an historian as well as a wordsmith. His sense of the Justice League’s history and how he recreates the tropes of Fox, O’Neil, and Conway here are charming. McDuffie’s love of old-style JLA storytelling – whether it be the villains who crave world domination, the heroes splitting into groups to rescue their fallen comrades, the structure whereby the heroes at first lose before, with mere pages to spare, they come back and beat the villains in record-breaking time – is recreated faithfully here and it’s hard to dislike it, especially as its tinged with some of the modern staples of comics such as good characterisation and a dash of violence.
But within much of what is a fairly standard story, there are several moments which stand out. For example, the presence of Doctor Light adds a considerable weightiness to the strength and threat of the Injustice League. Meltzer’s Identity Crisis transformed Doctor Light from something of a joke to a truly grim and evil foe, and through characters like Vixen, we see just how raw emotions are as the heroes fight a villain who did unbelievable damage to their team during the Bronze Age. The drama surrounding Vixen and the loss of her powers began in Meltzer’s run, but it continues to build up slowly. It’s writing character where I believe McDuffie truly shines. But it is a great shame that not much focus is given to the Injustice League Unlimited. Aside from the terrible trio at the helm, very few of the other villains have a single word of dialogue. Sure, you see dozens of them in the background, but that’s it. I understand that with only four issues, time is precious, but it does feel like a missed opportunity. But overall, it’s impossible to dislike this story for its faults. It may be simple and a bit outdated, but I consider it a thoughtful love-letter to the Justice League’s past.
I find it difficult to distinguish between the art styles presented in this story, but some are notably better than others. Mike McKone and Andy Lanning provide smooth and delicate visuals for the Wedding Special, but from there much of the work looks hugely similar to that overly muscular type drawn most noticeably by Ed Benes. The artwork overall is never terrible, but I find that style of art over-the-top and bland, even if there are several nice splash-pages throughout the story.
A Brief Tangent --- Written by Dwayne McDuffie with art by Joe Benitez and Victor Hamas
Justice League of America (vol 2) 16 provides a much-needed one-off story – never underestimate the potency and impact that a one-off can leave on a title and reader. And A Brief Tangent makes for a slightly idiosyncratic tale, and brilliantly it begins with something seemingly so minute – two thieves break into an old storage container, searching for anything of value. To their shock, they come across a Green Lantern ring. Playing with its monumental strength, the petty criminals unleash its green power beams and magically summons a superhero – the Atom. But this is no Atom many may recognise. Ray Palmer this is not. Not is it Al Pratt. Instead, it is Adam Thompson – the Atom of Earth-9. Appearing only a few times previously from 1997, his origin goes back to Tangent Comics, an imprint in a similar vein to Elseworlds. While the appearance of this Atom is a great moment of surprise, sadly McDuffie doesn’t provide much background or information about him. We are simply left in the dark, and this ultimately decreases the power and scale of the story. This verdict is true too when it comes to the Multiverse-shattering potential a plot of this magnitude may, in theory, have. The breaking down of walls in such a way is unusual, but when sadly only two Justice League members – Black Canary and Red Arrow – arrive to easily defeat this Atom, it weakens and cheapens what could have been a very titanic tale.
That said, the story’s conclusion is humorous as blame is given to Guy Gardner who pledged to guard the ring after Kyle Rayner departed from it months before. But the ending also creates great mystery – the Atom may be good, but an Earth-9 hero still remains in the form of a female Flash. Watch this space!
Joe Benitez and Victor Hamas emulate the usual overly-muscular art practised by most pencillers during the 2000s, along with a lack of understanding about how the human body works as heroes – especially Black Canary – have hips that are too thin, while others like John Stewart, has a neck as thick as his head. In the end, despite some elements of drama, it’s pretty normal and mediocre stuff for the time.
Soup Kitchen --- Written by Alan Burnett with art by Allan Jefferson
Backup strips used to be extremely common in comic books. But they seem to die out sometime during the 1980s, rarely to return in any mainstream title. I was very pleased to find writer Alan Burnett breathing new life into such a classic concept. At only seven pages at the back of Justice League of America (vol 2) 16, Soup Kitchen features Red Arrow in a strangely heartwarming story taking place in the coldness of Christmas on the streets. To help the homeless, Red Arrow volunteers to cook and provide meals at a difficult time of years for those who lack shelter, friends, and family. But suddenly, a destitute recognises Red Arrow and sprints into the alleyways. The hero chases after him, but upon capturing him he fails to recognise the man. He reveals himself to have once been a silly villain called Mr Twister, who long ago (in Brave and the Bold 54 in fact, the first appearance of the Teen Titans from 1964) fought Speedy when he was in the Titans. Red Arrow lets the former Mr Twister go. After all, it’s Christmas and bygones are bygones, right? But Mr Twister makes the mistake of telling Red Arrow that he was once also the Gargoyle, a more terrifying villain who fought the modernised once-teenage team during Devin Grayson’s Titans run during 2000. Red Arrow finds this crime harder to forgive, but since its Christmas, he lets the villain goes – he leaves a happy man, for the hero remembers him. It’s a strangely heart-warming story laced with forgiveness and nice references to the past. In an era of modern comics full of fast-paced plotting and action, often a back-up which looks backwards and explores emotions is very much needed.
Artist Allan Jefferson’s style may be simple and smooth, but it creates a thrilling sense of action while recreating the scenes from past Titans tales brilliantly.
VERDICT
Overall, Dwayne McDuffie’s run gets off to a smooth, but not lightening start. The Injustice League Unlimited is a nice story to get settled into it, but it’s hardly original or greatly imaginative, but it is clearly a lovely nod to earlier eras of the team. A Brief Tangent is an odd story that doesn’t really have much of an opportunity to breathe, but it teases great things. Meanwhile, Soup Kitchen is a delightful back-up and is great fun to read. McDuffie’s run is by no means bad thus far, perhaps just sluggish and predictable in terms of its plots. But this is only the start…
Next Week: Justice League of America: Sanctuary (Justice League of America (vol 2) 17-21). Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Alan Burnett, with art by Ed Benes, Jonboy Meyers, Sandra Hope, Mariah Benes, Ed Benes, and Serge LaPointe.
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