Writer: Joe Kelly
Artists: Doud Mahnke (p), Tom Nguyen (i)
Publisher: DC
Plot:
The book opens with Superman trying to reason with the band of super-powered tyrants that they've encountered in the past, in spite of the fact that this group has ripped the Flash's legs off, and left him for dead. However, Superman's words fall on deaf ears and the JLA find themselves under attack. While Superman engages in a one of one battle that takes him all across the globe, we see the rest of the JLA square off against the vicious group of killers, and during the ensuing contest we see the JLA begin to realize that they're at a serious disadvantage, as their opponents are eager to use lethal force against their enemies, while the JLA aren't quite so willing to return the favor. However, when his teammates begin dying horrific deaths we see Plastic Man is the first to respond with a lethal attack, as he encases his opponent and attempts to suffocate him. However, Plastic Man is turned to stone & scattered before he can complete his murderous act, and we see that the final JLA left standing is Kyle, who has spent this entire adventure plagued by nightmarish visions of this defeat, and the battle ends with Kyle's heart being ripped from his chest. We then see the plan to save the world begins, even though the JLA have all been killed.
Comments:
To put it simply I wanted to like this story, as I'm a huge Aquaman fan, and I've been eager to see the lineup of the big seven JLA shaken up for quite some time now. However, even with both these elements in this current arc's corner, I find it's become increasingly difficult to work up much excitement when it come to the JLA adventure that's set in the past. Now part of it does stem from the simple idea that I was bored of the big seven lineup even before this current arc began, and as such the all new, all different lineup fighting the good fight in the present day instantly grabbed my attention. However, Joe Kelly also stacked the deck against the big seven League, as he shifted the focus away from the characters, and spent most of his time developing the world around them. Now this wouldn't have been all that bad if the what he had been creating was interesting, but he never really overcame the cookie cutter quality of this world and the villains who control it. I mean an race of super-powered beings who are using their abilities to enslave an entire city, is hardly new ground, and giving the villains purple prose to spout at each other doesn't hide the fact that these characters are rather thin when it comes to their development as characters.
Unless Joe Kelly has gotten the keys to the kingdom, and he's decided to use this freedom to rip the heart out of the DCU stable of characters, I doubt very much that the wholesale slaughter of the JLA will stand. Now given the time travel element of this story, one can already imagine how the JLA will manage to come back from the dead, but then again we also have a powerful magic user deciding to switch sides in the final pages of this issue, so we could see the JLA being restored to full health using magic. As it stands while the sequence where the JLA are literally ripped apart by their counterparts from this era makes for a powerful bit of action, knowing that these deaths won't stand makes it difficult to get too excited, and the presence of both time travel & magic, takes away the "how the heck are they going to fix this" quality from the material. Now next issue is a big double-sized affair, and I imagine it'll have the new JLA arriving on the scene to take the baton from the fallen big seven JLA, and this could make for an interesting little showcase of how the new JLA compare to the former team. However, I am surprised by how unmoved I was by the shocking deaths we were treated to in this issue.
Superman versus Herobear is the image that instantly came to mind while I was following the big battle that Superman has with the hulking brute from the ancient League. Naturally the battle lost some of the majesty that I'm guessing it was going for, as my mind was busy considering whether Herobear (a magical stuffed toy bear that becomes a life-sized, flying polar bear), would stand a chance against the unstoppable force that is Superman. I mean Superman has problems with magic, and Herobear is brought to life by magic, so as I bring this tangent to a close, I have to say "Herobear and the Kid" is a book every kid at heart should be picking up. Now that I'm half through this column, I probably should start commenting on the art, as Doug Mahnke turns in a pretty impressive effort, with his work being called upon to deliver the death of the JLA, and I have to say there's some genuinely shocking visuals in this issue, from J'Onn horrific burning death, to the scene where Green Lantern's heart is ripped out of his chest. There's also a great moment in this issue where Aquaman appears before the ancient League member who dove into the waters that hold him captive.
Final Word:
On one hand it is nice to see Joe Kelly develop a threat that can do such a convincing job of handing the big seven JLA their heads, as by the end of this issue there's very little doubt that the JLA were out of their league in this encounter. Plus, while I have a pretty good idea of how they'll bring the JLA back to life, there is something to be said for the simple fact that this issue actually shows the JLA dying some pretty horrific deaths, and the battle does gain a nice sense of urgency when the normally jovial Plastic Man starts to play for keeps. On the other hand I found it rather difficult to work up much excitement over the villains that Joe Kelly has created, as their powers are largely ill-defined, and their personalities never emerge as anything all that interesting. Plus, this arc is still a bit up in the air about what the JLA were hoping to accomplish, as the rescue of Aquaman hasn't really played a huge role in this arc.
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