Okay, I have cheated, and it failed. I tried doing several comics in one day, then they didn't post as they were supposed to. It was totally my fault. Therefore, here are my Monday through Thursday (today) comics.
Monday: JLI #24
Second Anniversary! Extra big issue! 16 page backup story!
The regular book is divided into two stories. First, we have Max Lord discovering that he has a meta-power (sort of discovering...). He goes looking for the evil computer of year one, and gets trapped in a landslide. He wishes really hard that "... to see Blue Beetle's face." And then he yells really loud. Beetle gets the message, but Oberon doesn’t believe him. Blue Beetle and Ice go looking anyway, and end up finding Max. BLUE BEETLE SAVES MAX! Poor Ted...Max will kill you later!
The second story sees the league membership drive, and nothing is better than a good super-hero party. Especially when shrunken aliens stored in boxes suddenly grow large again. Thanks, Oberon. Didn't think to tell anyone you were storing miniature invaders, hmmmm?
Bonus Story: Art is really weird. These extra stories are to try out new talent. I don't like it at all. But the artist has gone far in independent comics, so I guess he must have found his niche. I loved the story, though. Max is kidnapped, and talks the kidnappers into turning on their boss. Then Booster and Beetle connive the kidnappers for money for a big-screen television. Very cute.
Tuesday: JLI #25
It seems like the JLI is always cleaning up a mess! This issue starts with the mess created during the
recruitment party, when the mini-Khunds grew. But Booster and Beetle manage to swing a repo job that gets them out of the clean-up. Well, Beetle gets the job, and talks Booster into going along with it. What are they repossessing? A vampire! (insert lots of blood sucking and garlic jokes.)
Of course, they end up in a sewer filled with skeletal remains (of what? we don't know). The "vampire" attacks them, and starts yelling that he just wants to be left alone, in peace, not killed like the rest of his people. Booster and Beetle are fighting back, but also listening to what Caitiff (the "vampire") is saying. Indeed, they figure out that the guy that hired them has experimented on others of Caitiff's race, and are maybe just deciding to not take him back, when Caitiff impales himself on a stalagmite. Here's a serious moment for a humorous comic...
But I think that is one thing that makes the JLI (now the JLA again) a great comic. They can take these moments when things would get serious (similar to when Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter were lamenting the necessities of war in Invasion) and show realistic feelings for the characters, then go right back to the comedy, in this case, Guy waiting to ambush them for not helping with the cleanup back at HQ.
All-in-all, this was a nice "one and done" story.
Wednesday: JLI #26
Batman is on the cover, standing over an unconscious Blue Beetle. Poor Ted! I didn't realize how much he got beaten up. I think he needs some hand-to-hand training. And who i holding a crossbow on Batman?!?!
The issue starts with the phone ringing in JLI headquarters. Apparently, monitor duty includes answering the phone. I don't get that. Why even have a phone in the "sitting room" if it is supposed to be answered by the guy on monitor duty. Now, of course, all of the JL would have cell phones, so it wouldn't matter. Except where do they keep their cell phones?
But Beetle has fallen asleep on monitor duty. It is so boring! I notice a cup from what appears to be McDonald's sitting on the console behind Beetle. Is that product placement. I doubt it.
Beetle finally does answer the phone, and then Oberon finds him wandering into the kitchen, where he finds a nice, big, sharp knife. Al, the refrigerator delivery man, is seen running away, and then Oberon is seen stabbed...by Beetle? What? Fire and Guy find Oberon, and Guy leaves Oberon with Fire to go find Beetle. Except Fire (Flame? that's what Guy calls her) is apparently attacking Oberon, too.
Meanwhile, Beetle is chasing Max through the streets of Manhattan, after having stabbed him, too. Beetle corners Max in an alley, and is about to stab him when a hand grabs him. Who is it? HUNTRESS! She fights Beetle, and knocks him out, when Batman appears. My first question is, why aren't Batman and Huntress in Gotham? I thought this was New York? The UN and all?
Batman thinks that the Huntress stabbed Max and knocked out Blue Beetle. They tussle a little until Beetle wakes up and tries to stab again. Batman quickly realizes that Beetle is responsible. But he doesn't know Huntress! This must be the first appearance of Helena Bertenelli as Huntress!
In the end, Max, J'onn and Batman all ponder what could have caused Beetle to go berserk.
I really like Huntress. I wonder if she shows up again soon. All I can do is keep reading...
Today, Thursday! JLA # 27
This Black and White cover is interesting, but doesn't seem to tell me much about the comic. I am thinking
that the lone figure looks a little like Amanda Waller, but I can't imagine how she would figure in to this story. Well, let's take a look.
Ah, yes, first page, we see Belle-Reve prison, and someone talking to Amanda Waller. Oberon has come to see her to get her to look at Blue Beetle. Beetle is locked in Max's room at the JL embassy, and wonders what has happened to him. He doesn't remember what happened. Why can't J'onn read his mind and find out? Because Beetle might have been programmed with mental barriers that would block J'onn enough that Beetle's mind would be destroyed in the process. So, instead, Amanda is going to deprogram him.
It turns out the Queen Bee of Bialya is behind it. The JLA determined that from the phone call that was recorded. "Bialya, My Bialya." Good one, Amanda. She says the code phrase and sets Beetle off again. In the course of the deprogramming, Amanda manages to trigger a coma in Beetle. Batman is not happy, and goes off to find Nabu, or Kent Nelson, to help.
There were nice interludes with other JLA members in this issue, interspersed with the Amanda Waller scenes. A nice page of Booster and Ice, drinking at a soda shop, wondering how to help their best friends. Guy blowing off some steam by harassing a litterer. Barda and Scott at home, wondering about normal life. Fire and Oberon talking books and being scared.