Years ago, the Justice League of America members gathered in their space base 22,300 miles above the Earth to watch a celestial event.
‘Wow’ is speedily followed by Pow!
It’s Leaguer against Leaguer, the attackers’ faces tainted by the telltale tones of Eclipso, the man who was hero and villain.
How did it come to this?
The previous day, in North America’s newest must-visit destination, Solar City
It’s Bruce Gordon, the man forever tied to the God of Darkness, stressing over some minor imperfection in his science project. Suffice to say Eclipso, currently imprisoned in the JLA Satellite, senses a chance to take over Gordon once more…
And back in the (relative) present.
What a treat to see the Elongated Man barking out orders during a Justice League story. Because despite the names on the masthead, this is a JLA story, set shortly after Ralph and Reddy joined but before Wonder Woman returned from her Groovy Di Prince hiatus. Well, that’s my guess, but that’s not important right now. What’s important is that once again writer Mark Waid provides a rollicking dose of modern nostalgia (it’s a thing, honest) for fans finding the 2024 DC Universe often lacking in charm.
I’ve always enjoyed an Eclipso story, his powers are perfect for creating classic superhero conflict. This isn’t deep fare, but it is fun fare, and the final page hints that we’re going to get the return of the greatest Justice League tradition of them all. Greater, even, than Red Tornado losing an artificial organ or two, which does happen here.
Other things I like in Waid’s script include cameos by super-villains, cameos by a super-villain’s weapons and a reference to a very obscure Superman foe. Plus, Mona Bennett is promoted from leading man’s girlfriend to leading man’s girlfriend with a doctorate.
Adrian Gutiérrez provides some very loose, but very effective, art, craftily conveying the chaos of an Eclipso attack in his storytelling. His JLAers look a little wonky at times – especially Atom – but they fit the feel of the episode. I love the energy at play, effective use of silhouettes, integrated sound effects and sheer eeriness of Eclipso.
And it’s all wonderfully coloured by Tamra Bonvillain, the mood a tad brighter, hotter than modern superhero comics. Steve Wands adds to the intensity of the occasion with well-tailored fonts.
As Bronze Age-inflected stories go, Shadows Fall Part One would be hard to beat. Eclipse, even.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
You and Anj coordinate reviews this time? Good job.
The art manages to be very Mora-esque while still being unique. I’m not familiar with this issue’s artist. Is he always so similar to Mora (that’s a compliment, BTW)?
What surprises me about Eclipso is Bruce has never gone the way of Kobra’s twin brother. The fact that writers like Waid can still get some decent story out of a limited story engine like Bruce just makes me hate that stupid move of killing off Jason Burr even more. (Has anyone guessed I hate his stupid revival with him now being eeeeevil even more?)
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No coordination, just me being late with my review and, seeing Anj had posted, I avoided reading his until I’d done mine. Anj always avoids reading mine if he’s doing the same comic… we tend to have similar views already and I’d certainly be reluctant to put mine down had I seen them elsewhere previously, so it’s best not to read any.
Adrian G’s art seems to be naturally like this, he was the regular artist on the last Blue Beetle issue. I reviewed a couple of issues but didn’t keep up with it as the writer kept dropping in whole pages of Spanish dialogue for authenticity, despite DC already printing a Spanish-language edition alongside the regular US one.
I’ve never read any of the original Kobra series, I only know him from guest roles. I should rectify that.
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It was a great concept that was gutted so Kobra could be just a generic criminal super cult. There. I saved you time.
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Bless you.
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Anj here
Agree Gutierrez’ art is very kinetic. And use of shadows and silhouettes comes off as a positive and not avoiding the action.
I have a few more quibbles about the story. Waid pushes through some key points. But I am an Eclipso guy too. And I love … LOVE … that we are in pure satellite era JLA. From the costumes to the cast, perfect.
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I don’t get why writers keep putting the League back in space, but never in the original satellite.
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Waid really is firing on all cylinders with this book and taking as much advantage as he can of its vague “sometime in the past” status to play with ALL the DC toys. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I never expected a JLA/JSA team-up. I was lucky enough to meet him briefly this summer at a convention and tell him how happy I am he’s back at DC. And I’m also pleased that this title has had some longevity given the current market. Even if it were cancelled over the next couple months or Waid were to step away ’cause of his other DC responsibilities, he’s really got an extremely solid run of stories here that will stand the test of time and that he can be proud of. – Brian
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The World’s Finest comic must be doing well, as they’re extending the branding to specials. Keep the faith!
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How much do I love the JLA all getting together to observe a natural wonder like an eclipse? SO MUCH.
Granted, their overconfidence that Bruce Gordon was completely extricated from Eclipso seems extremely naive — I mean, even Robin thinks so! — but this was many years ago. Hopefully they’ve learned their lesson by now.
Also, let me just add some appreciation that this is apparently a 3-part story. I love mid-size stories, and we don’t get a lot of them these days. But every story builds the world, and smaller stories can do it at a faster clip than 6-part epics. And the more stuff Waid & company put into the DCU via this title, the better!
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I do agree. It’s very odd that DC and Marvel firmly believe every trade paperback must contain a single storyline. Mind, they’re surely including the single issue WF stories in collections?
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I haven’t checked, but I’m sure they are. I think the collections just get the title of the biggest storyline, though.
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The JLA were pretty daft, weren’t they? Keeping mystical trophies, imprisoning enemies on their satellite… it’s like they’ve never heard of the Phantom Zone!
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