‘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.
I like the idea of the Atom being an unwitting traitor inside the League… and I also liked the characterization of the amnesty villains this issue, including Luthor’s warning that their meeting together looks suspicious. That said, Batman & Co. still didn’t have a lot to go on other than “bad vibes,” so I’m not sure they they attacked.
As for the power bank stuff, it’s definitely stupid — deeply stupid — but ultimately no stupider than the stuff I grew up on. And it gives us some fun action, so I’ll allow it.
As for “Money Brawl”? Sometimes you wrack your brains for a blurb, and the only thing that comes to you is a bad pun that’s only tangentially related — in this case, a play on “Moneyball,” they name of a book and a movie about different way of looking at baseball statistics than revolutionized how teams are constructed. (I haven’t seen it, but being in the US I’m aware of it; without baseball on your TVs in Scotland, I doubt the term has crossed your path.)
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Oh, cheers Rob, I do remember there was a film called Moneyball, didn’t know what it was about, or did and forgot because, well, sport. It still seems a stretch, what with the word split into two.
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It’s SUCH a stretch! The juice in that joke was definitely not worth the squeeze.
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Not much happened here but it was spread out to fit the pages it had to.
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Did you at least enjoy the art consistently, Steve?
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Honestly, Mora needs an off issue or two because we’re starting to take his magnificence for granted.
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Hey Martin,
Dropped this series a few months ago but still enjoying reading your reviews of it to keep caught up.
Based on the art you posted, it does look like the lightning hits everyone involved in the fight. I see a dazed Jay Garrick and Batman.
I feel like DC/Waid have been inconsistent when it comes to the villain amnesty. When that storyline was first launched, it seemed clear it was intended for any bad guy willing to turn over a new leaf. But then there are times, like this issue, when Waid writes it as if the amnesty is only intended for the handful of characters involved in the “K.O.” tournament – Luthor, Lobo, Cheetah, Giganta, Harley, King Shark. Am I missing anyone?
That latter approach to me actually makes a little more sense than just offering everyone a get-out-of-jail-free pass.
But the idea of giving Lobo in particular amnesty is silly. He was already a member of “Justice League America” under Steve Orlando during Rebirth. And he is also an alien who has better things to do than hang around Earth. That’s clearly a case of Waid just working with what he was given by the “K.O.” crew of Snyder and Williamson…
I do appreciate the effort to justify the amnesty offer as “this was what Superman wanted,” although it still feels like there has not been enough in-story justification and Waid wants readers to “just go with it”…
I’ve been binging some Bob Haney/Jim Aparo “Brave and the Bold” issues and it just occurred to me, do you think Waid’s Batman in “Justice League Unlimited” is a bit Haney-ish? He seems less like the logical/always prepared dark knight and more like the emotional, fallible character Haney portrayed. His failure to predict – or not caring about – the public fallout over the amnesty or how it might divide the League? His immediately jumping to conclusions this issue about the villains?
Glad to see Mora back on the title.
I never thought this book wasn’t fun. I just didn’t like how closely tied in it is to the ongoing Darkseid event and that it feels like Waid, more than much of his other current and past work I’ve read, is just kind of lurching from issue to issue.
-Brian
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Oh, I do like the idea this is an Earth B Batman; heck, the whole issue could be set there, it’s certainly tough to reconcile his behaviour here with the more sane portrayal in the current Batman books.
Thanks for the correction on the lightning bolt!
The ‘only villains with visions’ notion is great, that makes so much sense – they have knowledge, they have a stake.
Thanks for reading regardless, Brian!
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Now that I think about it, Waid has written an “imperfect” Batman in the past, a couple decades ago in the “Tower of Babel” storyline in “JLA.” – Brian
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I remember enjoying that, on the Reread list it goes!
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I am not too happy with how they have been doing this JL book. The whole thing feels like a big mess. There is no character development. The idea of villains being given a chance is good, but we never get to see any real character-driven interactions. I’d like to see some of them have moments of introspection.
It all feels very discordant. And I am tired of characters like Batman and Mister Terrific ordering people around like they are a military organization. If they want to play it that way then members need to have ranks. A clear hierarchy they can work with. Frankly, I’m surprised one of the powerhouses hasn’t bitch-slapped Batman already.
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I nominate Power Girl for the job.
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Seconded!
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To Hector’s point, often with team books writers establish the internal ground rules. There is a clear chairperson or leader, maybe a field commander. Sometimes who’s in charge is even a subplot- there are rivalries or a new leader is unsure of themselves. This all along has just kind of been a free for all in “Justice League Unlimited.” I guess the Trinity are in charge? With Mr. Terrific? But then Captain Atom shows up and appears to have some authority. And Red Tornado was giving out assignments for a time. Where does Captain Marvel fit in? Did he take over the missing Superman’s role? The book doesn’t seem interested in exploring any of that, or have the time to do so. It’s just another example of how all this title does is mash a bunch of characters together each month. Fun, sure. But after a while it’s not a satisfying reading experience. I wish Waid had stuck with a core League of 7 or 8, focused on their heroics and relationships, then brought in others as needed for missions. The unlimited concept could remain, but there is more of an opportunity to focus on a clearly defined main cast – Brian
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I think they should make JLU a kind of team up book the way it was in the late 70s and early 80s. The team was expansive, but it didn’t feature the whole JL in every episode. Smaller rosters of characters appeared in stories depending on their skill set or because the story needed or wanted them. This free for all bugs me because sometimes it feels like it is all afterthought. Just set up for the next event.
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That I would enjoy!
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Thanks for the thoughts, Brian, it’s a shame you’re not on the editorial team, there to help Waid shape his thoughts into something manageable and more satisfying.
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Nice one, Hector, there should be an open command structure. And definitely there should be a core team, I had assumed it was the people on the cover of #1, and we did get some Star Sapphire… but she pops up only as a sub-team player.
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I think several of the characters are acting off, especially Batman and Atom. But I really appreciated Captain Marvel being the adult in the room.
I’m confused by Cheetah’s appearance here. At the end of Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League, Barbara Ann was free of Urzkartaga and had a less feline look. Unless she’s dressing that way to keep that to herself (and Klarion, Cheshire, and Lian).
I don’t think these villains being here is indicative of them being the only villains granted amnesty. It’s just that these five share the KO Tournament connection. It’s also interesting that all have worked both sides of the fence: Cheetah has the love/hate thing with Diana, Giganta has a thing for Ryan Choi (What does he think of her being in the League?), King Shark swore loyalty to Aquaman, and Harley is Harley.
Lobo should be on permanent probation.
As for the Power Bank, I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it. It makes no sense. It is a plot device. But I like seeing Mister Super-Terrific, although I think we can all see the endgame on that. I know it says “magic snap” but I wonder if the teleporting snap is a nod to Snapper Carr.
I was also late to the party realizing these four were put together because they are the Leaguers who were in the Superman movie.
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Oh, that’s interesting about the Cheetah’s appearance changing, I didn’t try that mini after reading a few pages of the preview; try as I might, I don’t get on with Greg Rucka’s script, he always seems so keen on showing how must he’s researched spies and tanks and ring binders that the scripts feel flat. But I am intrigued, perhaps I should try this at DC Infinite. Terrible look, mind. A Ryan and Giganta scene would be great, if only so she could point out how awful his new look is.
Is the Power Bank DC’s answer to Marvel’s Origin Boxes? Oh dear.
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yes. Both Atoms need to get back to their original costumes ASAP. Why mess with a Gil Kane classic?
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