I'm still going strong with my "comic a day." It's been easy this week, since there were only two new comics to read. And mildly disappointing ones, at that. So it was with great pleasure that I continued reading 1987's Justice League saga -- Rocket to Russia with the JUSTICE LEAGUE!
On the cover, the JLA appears to be surrounded by robots -- no, wait, it is the Rocket Red Brigade. Apparently, the USSR's answer to superheroes is to build rocket suits giving Soviet Soldiers their own super edge against bad guys. The Rocket Reds have apparently just had some sort of encounter with Green Lanterns (as seen in GL Corps -- I love the notes that refer you to the other issues), and they know Guy. And to know Guy is to try to beat up Guy. So the Rocket Reds and the JL are beating each other up, when really they both should be concerned about the anti-nuke aliens that are presently trying to destroy the Soviet weapons stockpiles. Instead, those aliens accidently almost bring about a core meltdown in a nuclear power plant. Eventually all is resolved, with one of the aliens stopping the meltdown, and then being taken into Soviet custody. The JL is politely asked to leave the USSR, thank you very much.
There was, again, a great story here. We got a lot of action; each JL member got to strut his or her stuff. Canary got to sing, Kimiyo got to light up; really the only one who didn't "see action" was Blue Beetle. But he was driving. I do like Giffen's dialog. He really seems to get the personalities of each different character, and I can almost hear them in my head. Blue Beetle's slightly sarcastic Spock joke, and Batman's later Star Trek reference, almost on the sly, were perfect. The Silver Sorcerous' speech to the Soviet soldiers begging them to help dismantle the bombs was plaintive and just right for her character. I've mentioned before that the artist here seems to like drawing very expressive faces (almost as if the characters were posing in an exaggerated way to make a point), but that is also growing on me. With such a big cast, not everyone can have "speaking parts" so that is one way to indicate how that character is feeling in a specific scene.
And we're finally, FINALLY, introduced to Booster Gold. Max Lord shows up in the Justice League "secret" headquarters, and introduces himself and Booster -- as the newest JL member!