Comic a Day Catch-Up #3...

Justice League America #31

Guest Starring -- Justice League Europe!

 Which is why this title is no longer JLI -- because there is a separate title for the "International" part.  I am not sure I like that.  Plus, the story crosses over into the JLE, and I am not reading that concurrently.  But maybe I should be.  

Dr. Fate is featured on this cover, and the writers/artists seem to love playing with the fact that Dr. Fate is, apparently, a woman.  It looks like she is winking on the cover.  Or the mask is winking.  I guess I don't understand the Dr. Fate character.  Maybe we need a Dr. Fate 101.  Well, if Dr. Fate shows up in the New 52 continuity, maybe I will ask Mark.  Or did Dr. Fate show up already?  

Anyway, this issue starts off with the Spectre and the Grey Man wandering around a village that seems to be deserted and destroyed.  Spectre doesn't know why he was drawn there, and the Grey Man won't tell him.  

Meanwhile, Beetle and Mr. Miracle are working on getting the JLA shuttle fixed while Booster complains about the JLA comic strip, and Fire has designed new, slutty, costumes for herself and Ice.  Well, Ice, compared to Starfire now, these costumes are not slutty.  I'm not sure about the fur leg warmers though.   Somehow the two get locked in their room (Really, the security system doesn't recognize them in their new costumes?  Who designed that?  Don't they ever wear "civvies"?), and when Fate accidently lands on the roof and falls through, Fire starts the room on fire, and burns up everything except the new costumes.  HOW CONVENIENT!

So Fate is there to join up, and so we have the Huntress and Fate as new members.  

Guy is on monitor duty playing video games, when Batman comes in and yells at him.  It turns out that someone is trying to get through to the Justice League!  A real call for help!  Oh, it was Sue Dibny (maybe she is alive again in the New 52.  Probably not, until DD changes his mind again).  Everyone piles into the newly repaired and tuned up shuttle, and takes off for Europe.  Except it doesn't look like it is everyone.  I see Fire, Ice, Dr. Fate, Guy Batman, John, Booster and Mr. Miracle.  But no Huntress.  Maybe she is there but hiding in the shadows.  

They eventually get where they are going, which appears to be a small European hamlet, bombarded by shells.  What is going on?  Classic cliff-hangar ending.

Once again, I am struck by how much story is in an issue of the older comics.  Comparing this to the JLI #2 I just read (New 52, nDCU), it is a novel!   

Here's what happened in JLI #2:  The new team goes out to fight a giant robot and gets beat and retreats.  

Justice League America #32

(The Teasdale Imperative, Part Three)

Okay, I missed part two, since it was in JLE.  I can still, mostly, figure out what is going on.  There is a mad scientist in the Balkans somewhere, using a secret chemical compound to turn regular people into vampire zombies.  The JLA and the JLE have teamed up to try to stop it, but are exposed to the gas and have to abandon the UN troops, who are now turning into the vampire zombies.  Beetle, true to form, wants to call in the Titans instead of dealing with it.  I know he is just joking, right, Ted?  After all, if you didn't want to be fighting bad guys, why would you be dressed up as Blue Beetle?  Nobody is forcing you!  You don't have an alien scarab integrated into YOUR body!

So, mad scientist is being encouraged by the Grey Man, who wants everyone dead so that he can get their "Soulstuff."  Remember the Grey Man from a bunch of issues ago?  This is a different Grey Man.  

We have a bit of a serious moment as Scott Free reflects on how Earth is becoming like Apokolips.  He just wants to be at home with Barda.  Power Girl accidently insults him at this point, by implying that he should be used to the chaos and death.  Scott's a little touchy about that!

So we find out that Stagg Industries is behind the mad scientist.  Mr. Stagg funded the research, then tried to kill the our mad scientist.  I am not sure why he tried to kill him?  Stagg would own any developments anyway.  If you were a power hungry industrialist, why kill someone who is amoral enough to make you a secret vampire virus and test it on humans?  Keep him around!  

So, anyway, the mad scientist is going to try to attack the Stagg Industries plant to take over the world.  The combined Justice League is going to try to stop them.  The Lords of Order want nothing to do with it.  What will happen?  What!!!!!  

Justice League #30

This issue focused pretty much completely on the mega-rod, Scott, Barda, Fire and HUNTRESS!  The mega rod takes over the mind of the kid who stole it, and pretty much drives him crazy.  He is doing things in the name of Darkseid, and he doesn't even know who that is!  The Huntress makes an appearance to distract the rod-wielder with cross-bow bolts.  Alas, though, the group of Leaguers is not able to get the rod away from the wielder in time, and he dies. Although Scott is saddened by this, Huntress doesn't seem to worried.  

Fire does realize that she is all flame now, when her power is on.  No body.  Oberon thinks Mayor Koch is pulling a prank call on him. 

And Max uses his power to "persuade" Huntress to join the JLA.  Max, Max, Max.  You are on the road to the dark side!  (PUN ALERT!)

Now it is time to pull the next 15 issues or so from the big box in the comic book lounge.  

I just noticed something interesting when I was packing up issues 24 - 30.  I think I already commented on the change of name from Justice League International to Justice League America.  But, the little box where the bar code goes still says JLI (except when it doesn't).  But it does not say JLA.  I wonder why?  

Justice League #29

This cover was good.  We see Blue Beetle surrounded by a sea of women, all with bad haircuts.  Okay, probably not bad for the late '80s.  But still..  there is one woman (bottom left) who looks like she has a shag rug on her head.  Fire's hair looked like this for a while.  I can't believe that anyone's hair really looked like this.  Short hair, yes.  Long hair, no. 

But back to the comic.  We are back to Blue Beetle's story.  Well, after a little dig at "The Human ..." DON'T SAY IT.  It is Fire, who is actually green fire now.  She seems better able to control the power after a little supervision from Barda.  But there is still some worry about how long she can keep the flame on.  And speaking of hair styles, both Flame and Barda are pretty bouffant in this issue.  So Barda is still training Fire, and needs the mega-rod to do some work.  She left it in the car, though, and then the car is stolen.  Egads!  So Scott, Barda and Flame go looking for it.   Meanwhile...

By Beetle's hospital bed, where he lies in a coma, Batman brings in Kent Nelson/Nabu/Dr. Fate.  Nabu abandons Kent's body, and goes into Beetle's mind.  He finds Beetle trapped behind a wall (the Azreal Wall built by Queen Bee) and Nabu figures out a way to get him past the wall and back into ...  Kent's body!  Then it is a simple matter to trade back. Easy-peasy.  The cover alludes to the fact that Beetle's mind is filled with women.  Hmmmmm.  Oh, and he fixes Booster's mind, too.  

Back to the main story, Barda and Scott use the mother box to locate the stolen car, which has been crushed, with the teens who stole it inside!  But not all of them.  One of the delinquents has stolen the mega-rod, and used it to crush the car.  What will happen next?  Tune in to the next exciting issue of JLA!

Justice League #28

Interesting...  this issue is almost completely unrelated to the story in the previous two issues.  Ice and Guy go on a date (first date, maybe last?).  Ice thinks Guy really has a nice personality under his gruff (slimy) exterior.  Fire tries to talk her out of it, but she is determined.  She thinks they are going to a Tom Sellek movie.  Instead, Guy takes her to a girlie show.  She is disgusted and walks out.  

In the meantime, the guy who owns the theater, and is also a criminal, is worried that Green Lantern means to take out his business.  When Guy shows up, he is convinced that GL is there to take him out.  So he gets up in his old supervillian costume (Black Hand?  Really?  Wasn't he a real bad guy recently?).  Here, Black Hand is sort of a wimpy character who surrenders pretty quickly to Guy.  Guy, of course, doesn't accept the surrender, and beats up Black Hand a little bit more.  Apparently, he even brings Black Hand down to Ice to offer her a few "licks."

We also learn that Fire's new abilities are the result of the gene virus (the whole idea of this seems to have since been forgotten).  She is now starting to resemble the Fire that I know from more recent comics.  And Barda is going to train her.  Apparently because Barda has all that experience of teaching on Apokolips.  Just what I'd want in a teacher....

I am anxious to see what causes Ice to give Guy another chance at dating, since I know they were an item for a while.  

Catch Up Day!

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.  

Justice League #23

Another Invasion tie-in, with Invasion Aftermath.  And the Injustice League.

The League is on clean-up duty in the South Pacific, checking crashed alien vessels.  Poor John is not getting any respect as leader of the JLI.  Guy, as usual, does what he thinks is best, and ends up having the ship fall apart on him.  (This time, the writer deletes Guy's expletives.)  

Meanwhile, on the next island over, a group is also trying to get an alien ship up and running, but for less noble purposes than disposal.   Mjor Disaster wants to take over the world.  He's got Clock King, Multi-Man, Big Sir, Clue Master and Bruce.  Bruce is the henchman, maybe...he's there as the mechanic.  These guys bicker just as much as the League.  

So while Clue Master is thinking he sees something on another island, Fire is thinking the same thing.  But both decide they are imagining something.  

I love the page of panels with Guy and Mr. Miracle talking about the ship.  Each panel has a change of expression that really does say something about the character.  Even with a mask on, Mr. Miracle can be pretty expressive!

Major Disaster is monologuing a lot like Manga Khan.  Hmmmmm.   

After a chase scene, lots of bickering, some hand to hand and a last minute save by J'onn, the Injustice League is caught and turned over to the military.  Then Guy kicks something from the alien ship, and -- everything goes dark?  Not sure what happens.  I don't know if I ever will know, because that is not continued in the next issue. 

Note: gotta ask Mark if he has the Invasion miniseries.  

Justice League #22

Hey, I thought I posted this on Friday!  I swear!

Invasion (Already another crossover!)

 It's amazing what happens when you read 22 issues of a comic in one month.  You do forget that it is two years worth of comics, and, of course, two years of SPECIAL! WORLD-CHANGING! events.  This one is "Invasion."  

I am not exactly sure what the Invasion is, but apparently the entire JLI, other than Oberon and Booster, are all off fighting aliens in Australia, with Wonder Woman.  Booster has to stick around for monitor duty (really, during an invasion?), and since Oberon doesn't have powers, he doesn't get to go either.  Although he seems keen to meet Wonder Woman.  

Apparently, the JLI took the teleport to JLI headquarters in Australia, which means that the aliens can take it back to the US headquarters.  For some reason, the head of the aliens in Australia decides to send tiny little soldiers through.  Well, the tiny little soldiers manage to take out Booster fairly easily, but Oberon was a bit faster on the uptake and manages to get the upper hand, so to speak.  He knocks out all the aliens with one of Beetle's "toys" and saves the day. 

Meanwhile, in Australia, all the other (male) Leaguers are fawning over Wonder Woman.  Poor Fire and Ice are feeling a little left out.  But they band together to distract the invasion force while Etta Candy is rescued.  We'd know what she was rescued from if I had read Invasion.  Oh, well.

I thought the Daily Planet article/Ad was interesting.  Kind of giving an overview of what one might find in the Invasion comics.  It reminded me a little of the map DC put out for Flashpoint.   

Interesting Ads:

Superman ActionLine -- a 900 line (remember these? $2 a call!) that you could call to get more Superman stories.  EVERY DAY.  Benefitting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Americal.  

More OFFICIAL  Licensed Medallions in PURE SILVER!

Sandman: A new series from Neil Gaiman!  Beginning in November. 

Justice League #21

Apokolips Wow! -- Guy Swears.  And this issue wraps up the JLI's issue with Apokolips -- FOR NOW!

Hawkman doesn't like it when Guy uses curse words.  Hell, hot damn ...  I am surprised that the Comics Code allows that...  Hawkman really doesn't want to be here.  Complaining about swearing, bantering, fighting.  I don't think Hawkman is long for this JLI.

Barda has transported everyone to Apokolips.  Batman provides some narration to tell us what Apokolips is.  Of course, the group is immediately attacked by parademons.  Guy loves this, Hawkman wonders who Scot Free and Barda are, and Lobo follows Barda off to find the JLI members he is supposed to be killing. Then there is Oberon.  He's just the PR guy (I guess?), and he is just trying to stay out of the way.  In the process, he is knocked into some kind of grate.  This can't be good!

Meanwhile, Manga Kanhn is under house arrest, and he turns into an energy form.  Hmmmm.  I wouldn't have predicted that.  He proceeds to escape through the vents, but is sad that he can't make pronouncements.  If he is simply an energy form, that certainly explains why he likes to talk so much when he is in his "containment suit".  He floats in to where Scott Free is being held.  

We see that Martian Manhunter and Gnort have been captured, and are being hauled away unconscious by parademons, when Lobo catches up with Barda.  They start a fight in the corridor, ending up with all the JLI members conveniently making their way to the same point.  

We flash back to Oberon, and find that he has ended up in Darkseid's apartment.  (They know each other.  I guess Oberon is from "The New Gods" too.  Note: ask Mark about Oberon.)  What will happen?  Well, Darkseid doesn't want any of them there, so he boom tubes everyone back to JLI headquarters (not Lobo -- Lobo finds that Manga Khan is canceling that contact).

Wow, this issue was packed with action.  Lots of fighting, lots of quips, lots of story.  I kept thinking it would stop and continue in the next issue, but it got wrapped up right and tight, even to J'onn wanting to eat Oreos when he got home.  And nobody telling Captain Atom what happened.  

I really liked the cover of this one, too.  I ove Fire's legs sticking up out of the pile of parademons, and the reference to Beetle and Booster as Abbot and Costello.  

Sigh.  I love you, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis.  

Justice League #19/#20

Oh, no.  I missed yesterday.  Drat.  But I did read my comic yesterday, so I will write about it, and JLI #20 today.  

You'll notice that the cover of #19 is very similar to the cover of #18. What's the difference?  Well, Guy is back.  Now he is ready to beat up up Lobo, instead of crying about Lobo.  As much fun as a nice Guy is, girls really prefer the obnoxious Guy...

So Guy sort of pushes Lobo out the window, much to the chagrin of the other JLI members present.  They don't know that Lobo was hired to kill the other members.  They, in fact, think Lobo is on THEIR side, and is a friend of Barda's.  I guess they've never met Lobo before.  Lobo is not on anyone's side (except, apparently, the space dolphins).  

So Lobo gets temporary membership in the JLI, much to the chagrin of Batman.  And Black Canary is officially removed from the roll.  I guess she has more important things to do.  

After things settle down a bit, Ice goes to see Guy, and asks what happened...his behavior is very disturbing.  She has never seen the REAL Guy.  So he is pretty obnoxious to her.  I always wondered what Ice saw in Guy, but now I know that she first got to know him under the influence of a knock on the head.  That explains a lot!

In the meantime, the rest of the JLI is on a membership drive.  Superman says no.  Captain Atom says no to Major Force.  Beetle and Booster can't find the Flash.  Hawkman doesn't want to join, but Hawkwoman says they will join.  Guess who wins?  Hawkman is not happy.  

And in the last panel, Barda and the others in space make it Apokolips while chasing the Cluster.  If Mr. Miracle is such an escape artist, though, why is Barda so worried?

Which brings me to #20, Mr. Miracle for sale!  

 In which we have Lord Manga Khan trying to establish trade with Apokolips by trading Mr. Miracle.  He first meets with Doctor Verman Vunderbar, who is impressed that the Cluster has Scott Free.  Things are looking good to Manga Khan, until he learns that Lobo didn't take out the JLI, and they have, in fact, arrived at Apokolips.  L-Ron, however, has blown up the JLI ship and assume that the JLI is now done for.

Lots of good quips, lots of JLI interaction.  Barda bops back to JLI headquarters to pick up the rest of the crew.  She doesn't stick around long enough to figure out that Lobo is there!  The new members are confused.  

I'll get back on track tomorrow, with issue #21.

Justice League #18

Guy Gardner and Lobo on the cover!  And an extra (FREE) 16 page second feature.  Note that it was EXTRA pages at NO extra cost to the reader. Not an ad.  Not a preview for another comic.  An actual extra story.
Amazing.

Poor Barda.  The JLI has used a boom tube to try to follow the Cluster, but they picked the wrong jump choice.  Barda almost knocks a hole in the hull.  Just as J'onn is preparing to jump them to another location, the Cluster arrives.  Apparently, a boom tube is quicker than a hyperspace drive.

I really like Manga Khan.  This is the third or fourth issue he's been in.  He talks to himself.  He yells or shouts.  He names his robots after SF writers.  He's a walking cliché.  

In this issue, Manga Khan hires Lobo to kill the members of the JLI who are following his ship.  Now, I really dislike Lobo.  I tend to skip comics where Lobo was featured.  But I am committed to the JLI! And I am sure that Lobo will be written to fit in here.

Wait, Lobo feeds interstellar dolphins?  I kept waiting for him to attack and/or eat the dolphins, but he is actually collecting his pay as dolphin food?

So Lobo attacks the JLI ship, and the crew manages to hold him off just long enough for Barda to send him through a boom tube to...somewhere (let's guess where).  Manga Khan hyperspaces out to Apokolips to trade Scott Free off, and then...

We flash to the JLI headquarters back on Earth, where there is a huge explosion, which knocks guy off his chair and --- poof -- he is back to his old, "thoroughly rotten" self.  Next we should see how Fire and Ice, especially Ice, react to the new (old) Guy!  It's about time!

Justice League #17

When we left off, Queen Bee had just ordered Wandjina to kill Rumaan Harjvati, the despot of  Bialya and declared herself Queen.  So, what happens next?

Queen Bee is holding all the important guests in isolation and the outside world doesn't know what is going on.  (I am really enjoying some of the references, but they'd probably go over the head of a young reader now...Jim Nabors?  Really!)  Captain Atom is upset that Batman got the team into a situation they apparently couldn't handle, but Oberon isn't worried.

Meanwhile, in Bialya, the former Global Guardians are getting a little worried about what the Queen is doing, and Batman has changed his disguise from Bruce Wayne to Max Lord.  But was Max even supposed to be there?  How could this fool anyone?  It seems to me that the Bat is not thinking very hard here.  I agree with Captain Atom.  And why weren't the Bialyans the least bit suspicious about the Legion flight ring they found on Booster?  Didn't they realize then he was a
superhero?

Anyway, eventually Bats, Green Flame, Booster and Beetle all meet up again (no one fully dressed except for Batman...hmmmm, maybe he is thinking), and are trying to escape when they run into Wandjina  and...Captain Atom saves the day.  Not quite sure how he got in there.  But he did.  They want to try to take Queen Bee in, but apparently the Bialyans love her and want her in power, so they have to leave her.

But what about the space-bound JLI members?  They get a couple pages here, too.  Barda manages to rig up a boom tube so their non-hyperspace space ship can follow the cluster ships.  Off they go...

I've been getting weird looks when I read these books in public.  I am incapable of not giggling when reading these.  

Justice League #16

Rumaan Harjati is back in this issue.  Max and Batman decide that the League needs to find out what he is up to, and stop it.  So, Batman and part of the team (the part that is not off following Mr. Miracle trapped on a shopping expedition to the stars) go undercover to find out what is going on in Bialya.

Of course, Batman goes undercover as Bruce Wayne.  But none of the others (Green Flame -- I can't get used to that, Beetle and Booster) know that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person.  And they don't even suspect?  These guys are NOT the world's greatest detectives!  So Flame is posing at Bruce's lastest bimbo, and Booster and Beetle are aide-de-camps/assistants.

Now, I am not sure, but does everyone (the world, or just the JLI) know that the Blue Beetle is Ted Kord?  Is Ted Kord head of Kord Industries at this time? Because I would have thought that Ted could get invited to this, too.  Unless Rumaan knows that Ted is the Blue Beetle.  Argh.  No wonder DC wants to start over every now and then.

I am not sure what the deal is with Flame's hair.  It looks like she is wearing a mop for a wig.  I am sure that the JLI could afford better wigs for her!  But we do find out that is actually "Ms. Dacosta" -- so this is actually Fire -- and Bruce knows her secret identity.  If it is actually secret.

(Did you know that Fire served the longest of any JLI member?  I didn't.)

So, we find out that Rumaan is in cahoots with Queen Bee, and several former members of the Global Guardians. (Is this how the Bialyans figured out that Bruce and his bimbo weren't who they seemed to be? Someone recognized Flame!) Rumaan unveils his secret weapon, who is actually the alien superhero Wandjina (who in a previous issue was exposed to a nuclear reactor in Russia, while saving the world).
Queen Bee has Wandjina kill Rumaan and takes over Bialya.

Wow, what an issue.  And this doesn't even include the space chase -- a few pages dedicated to the JLI'ers who are in space to rescue Mr. Miracle.  

Justice League #15

"Gnort and South"  Ha!  

This issue was full of great jokes.  I love the dialogue in this JLI.  So, our story continues from the last issue with the interstellar cluster attacking Earth to "barter" goods.  Gnort attacks the fleet, destroying their cloaking device, which lets the JLI see who they are attacking.

I loved that J'onn, Captain Atom and Rocket Red were all in space suits.  Then Captain Atom realizes he can't use his powers without damaging the suit.  Ha!

Green Flame and Ice Maiden help out in Australia, where the rest of the JLI is fighting the early advance team of the cluster.  Sometimes Green Flame has green hair, and sometimes she doesn't.  This confuses me.  

So, L-Ron (the robot sidekick of the cluster's chief officer Manga) figures out that with all these attacks, they aren't going to make a profit on Earth, so off they decide to leave.  And Scott Free accidently gets trapped in the ship in Australia and taken back to the cluster.  This makes Barda very angry.  

BARDA SUITS UP!  Maybe this will lead to Barda joining the JLI...  

I really like how some of the members are forming relationships/friendships that are going to carry through issues and issues, up to the recent reboot.  I really have high hopes for the new JLI book to continue in this mode, and maybe get us another great pair of friends like Booster and Beetle, Ice and Fire.  

Justice League #14

I haven't even started reading this, and I am excited already.  Fire and Ice!  Yes!  

<brief break to read comic>

Wait a minute...is that Fire?  Green Flame -- and she doesn't really look like Beatriz.  Ice Maiden I can accept.  Hmmm...

<Go back to reading...>

Gnort!

<okay, finish the darn comic already...>

Excellent!  We have an invader from space that gives the Earth an ultimatum (and has wisecracking robot sidekicks and lackeys).  We have Blue Beetle, Mr. Miracle and Booster Gold bonding over football (but why isn't Barda in the JLI, too?).  We have Green Flame and Ice Maiden trying to worm their way into the League, and maybe get a paycheck.  And we have Gnort, who might save the world, or something.  

Last issue, I complained about Black Canary being out of the League (because that's what the letter column said), but this week Martian Manhunter just refers to her being out of touch.  Hmmmm.  Guy and Captain Adam made the cover, and were seen standing around, but really didn't have anything to do.  Is the League too big?  I don't think so.  Not everyone has to be be in every issue, do they?  

Overall, I thought this was A GREAT issue, and hope it continues in next month's book.

Justice League #13

Well, I am getting pretty tired of cross-over stories.  Apparently, in some other title, Black Canary left the JLI.  I knew she'd leave eventually, but I would have like to have seen it addressed WITHIN the actual book, not in another title.  And here, again, we have a story that is finished in another book.  Argh.  I don't know if I care enough to even say anything else about this.  

Justice League #12

So, we can blame Martian Manhunter for the fact that Maxwell Lord lives another day, and eventually kills Ted Kord.  Thanks, J'onn!

Yes, this issue we finally learn the truth about Maxwell Lord and why he got JLI together.  It was a plot hatched by an alien computer that was afraid of death.  The computer coerced Max (it wasn't really too hard) to try to take over the world.  Max, though, had second thoughts after the his "death" at the hands of a Manhunter, and wrecked the computer, killing the sentience.  In doing so, he also destroyed the force that was repairing his body after being shot, and he almost died again.  

I am not sure I would have let Max continue to be involved with the League.  In fact, it seems to me he committed a number of crimes that J'onn should have learned about (hiring the Royal Flush gang and the terrorist gang at the UN), and that should have sent him to jail at the very least.  He certainly wasn't a very nice guy before the computer took charge, either.

I was reading the letter column, and I noticed the DC Statement of Ownership on the last page.. Some interesting information from therein:  

Annual Subscription Price:  $9.00

Print Run:  280,284.  

Sales through dealers, newstands, etc.:  182,550

Subscriptions:  1568

Free Copies:  980

Returned Copies:  89,220

I am going to have to check some more recent issues to see if this information is still published.  It seems very interesting, especially comparing it to current sales figures.  

Justice League International #11

I almost forgot to post my comic today.  It would have been a sad end to my streak of reading one a day.  I did read it, even if I am a little late posting.

Millennium is over (good) and we are back to our normal JLI.  I am relieved, but Maxwell Lord is not.  He wants the more powerful members, not the second-stringers (Blue Beetle, both Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter agree, is the second-stringer he is referring to).  Max is in trouble and needs help.  (I really need to find out what happened in Millennium.  Last time I saw Max, he was bleeding on floor, shot by his assistant.)

Well, the second-stringers do manage to save Max at least once, when weird robots take over his building.  Construct, whom they've faced before (when?), is defeated, and flees to his "Master."  That's when they discover they are really up against Metron.  Now that name is familiar, but I will have to ask Mark or look him up.  He must be from New Gods or something, since Mr. Miracle knows him.  But maybe I'll learn more in tomorrow's exciting edition. 

Hopefully, I won't be posting that at 11 pm!

Justice League International #10

What's with this cover?  None of the people were in my previous JLI! Superman, go away.  Hal Jordan? -- No way, where's my GUY?  Two GLs I don't even recognize.  Hmmmmm.  I guess this Millennium thing is bigger than I thought.

The Millennium story appears to be winding down.  In this issue, Superman, the Hawks, a bunch of Green Lanterns, Fate, Firestorm and Captain Atom have made their way to the planetary home of the Manhunters.  Through a bunch of luck and some subterfuge, they manage to kill (is it kill when it is a robot you are offing?) all the Manhunters and scare off Momma Manhunter.  Of course, she was the only thing holding the planet together, so it pretty much disintegrated when she left.  

Oh, and Gnort was there.  Hal and the other Green Lanterns were desparately trying to avoid him.  I am not quite sure why Gnort made an appearance here, but maybe we'll hear more from him in a future issue?

I really want to get back to the REAL JLI.  According to the letter column, we'll learn Max Lord's story soon. (Cue sinsiter music.)  

We did have a short back up story of Blue Beetle and Mr. Miracle trying to figure out a Manhunter ship, with a guest appearance by Kilowog.  

Justice League International #9

Okay, I am lost.  This issue of JLI was part of the big crossover event called Millennium.  Apparently, a lot of the people are taken over by Mannhunters.  This did remind me of the recent series where a lot of people were taken over by OMACS.  Or by Black Lanterns.  Apparently this is a fairly common plot device in comics.  You’d think the heros would start expecting it by now. 

So our story starts off with the group returning from somewhere. I should have read Millenium #1 first, according to the editor’s note.  J’onn is a little confused by what the Zamorans and Guardians told the group.  Since I don’t know what they were told, I am doubly confused.  And I also wonder why sometimes the flight-enabled heroes ride inside the JLI shuttle, and sometimes they fly.  Depends on how they feel that day?  So anyway, Booster, Guy (still nice Guy) and J’onn are flying outside the shuttle, while inside thre rest of the crew is confronted by Rocket Red, who declares he is a Manhunter (isn’t J’onn “the Martian Manhunter”?  How does that relate to these guys?  Does it at all?).  He asks them to join him, or die.  Meanwhile, he is steering them into Bialyan airspace.

Never fear, though, after a big fight (and some jokes from Batman – I would almost believe this is really Dick Grayson rather than Bruce Wayne), the other Rocket Reds respond to save the day.  But they have flown into Bialya.  What will happen there?  Turns out, not much.  But I am SURE something will be happening here.  Our back story shows the Bialyan “president” trying to arrange for his own super-powered terrorist team. 

Oh, and Max Lord is shot by his assistant, Ms. Wootenhoffer, who is a Manhunter.

I did see an interesting ad in this issue, for 50^th Birthday Superman medallions.  You could get them in bronze, gold-plated bronze, and pure silver ($18.95 for silver).  I was curious, and checked E-Bay.  Not much listed, but a huge price range for a variety of Superman-related coins.  Too bad we didn't invest in these!

Justice League International #8

It's moving day for the JLI!  Issue #8 doesn't really give us any JLI action.  It does supply plenty of JLI banter and shenanigans.  The team has to set up embassies around the world (all in one day?), and conditions aren't always the best.  The New York building is falling apart.  The Soviets don't want Guy, and the women in France shoot down Booster's attempted pick ups.  All-in-all a very tidy issue, and one I enjoyed a lot.  

One thing I noticed, though:  J'onn likes Oreos.  I think in later books, they refer to the cookies by a different name.  I wonder who complained?  Did Oreos not like them using the brand name?  I can hardly imagine that.

I also don't know anything about the Global Guardians mentioned in the book.  I guess they must have had a book of their own at one point.  Apparently, they were the superhero group previously sanctioned  (sort of) by the UN.  With the JLI in, the Global Guardians are out.  I assume that we will see more of them in future issues, as there might be some ill-feelings.

Finally, Millennium is coming.  That must be the big crossover event of 1987/1988.  I wonder if I will understand what is going on.  If not, there is always wikipedia.

One last note, the New 52 version of JLI #1 came out this week, and Mark and I will be talking about it on the podcast this week.  I may express some opinions on it after we tape, but we are trying not to discuss our opinions before then.  I think it should be very interesting...