‘Money brawl’? No idea, but we do have two of comics’ most famous billionaires – Richie Rich was unavailable – going at it on Dan Mora’s typically inviting cover. Inside, Batman and Lex Luthor are at odds over Justice League Unlimited’s villain amnesty. Darkseid is coming – isn’t he always? – and if Earth is to survive both sides must work together to unpick the meaning of visions many of them have had.
Giganta, enemy of Wonder Woman and occasional doer of good, gathers a bunch of bad guys at their faded secret headquarters.
Longtime League watchers will likely recognise that crystal ball from Silver Age stories, particularly the first team-up with the JSA. So who’s spying on Giganta and ‘friends’?
They watch and watch, but while tempers flare there’s no sign the villains are servants of Darkseid. Atom Ray Palmer, though, isn’t having it, and wants to observe some more. Soon he sees Lex Luthor drop in.
Followed by Batman and a group of Leaguers who very much aren’t on probation.
And so we get our ‘whatever brawl’, with only one member able to calm things down. Captain Marvel reminds everyone they’re supposed to be on the same side, with a mighty…
Writer Mark Waid leaves it at that, there’s no explanation as to why the lightning hits only the baddies. He does enjoy a faff around with the lightning bolt (see Kingdom Come). Mind, that’s a clever line from the Big Red Cheese about ‘acting like a darn adult’.
There’s a lot more going on this issue, as the really very silly ‘power bank’ storyline goes on. The genetic blueprint for the powers of all Leaguers – even those relying on weapons – has been sent across space for… reasons. At first it was accidentally released on a planet of dinosaurs, leading to some surreal moments of super-monsters vs the JLA squad meant to protect the power bank. Now, though, Mr Ego – sorry, Mr Terrific, has taken them all within himself, making him the target of a villain attack squad.
Helpfully, Green Lantern Guy Gardner provides introductions.
Despite his new strength, Mr Terrific was knocked unconscious by the arrival of the aliens, leaving Guy, Hawkgirl and Metamorpho to take on the wannabe power brokers. They’re not doing too badly when Mr Terrific wakes up and turns the tide of battle.
I do wonder how a Composite Justice Leaguer could be knocked out by a bunch of rocks last issue, surely he’d have all kinds of invulnerability?
I’ll allow it, perhaps, like Ultra Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes, he has to consciously tap into a power. Maybe this storyline will end with all the metahuman abilities being poured into an immortal space whale…
I’ll also allow it because the sequence has been all kinds of fun, and given artist Dan Mora some exciting things to draw, and spectacularly well at that – watch for a very Superman splash of Mr Terrific showing off. The Earth sequence also looks amazing, and while the villain amnesty idea is deeply daft even in dire circumstances, the characterisations of Giganta and co are compelling, not the one-note stuff we’d have seen in the Bronze Age of the Legion of Doom. And the brief fight scene between the nuanced bad guys and Batman’s brigade is a delight.
But why is Ray quite so suspicious? It’s pointed out that it makes no sense.
What if the Atom is Darkseid’s traitor within the League?
Waid, Mora, colourist Tamra Bonvillain and letterer Ariana Maher deliver a thoroughly entertaining comic that feels a lot bigger than its 22 pages. It’s rare for two adventures to be ongoing in a single issue, but the creative team pulls it off, making each feel equally importantly. I’m excited to see how things conclude.
