Are you sure you want the world to know that?

What's G'Nort doing these days?



Hanging out with the A List in Scooby Doo Team Up #18!

I liked The Weird...

I really enjoyed Mosiac - Gerard Jones was really my introduction to Green Lantern and John Stewart, at least on a regular basis.

Invasion! #1



"The Alien Alliance"

plot and breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: Bill Mantlo
pencils: Todd McFarlane
inks: P. Craig Russell, Al Gordon, Joe Rubinstein, and Todd McFarlane
letters: Gaspar
colors: Carl Gafford
assoc. editor: Kevin Dooley
editor: Andrew Helfer
special thanks: Bob Greenberg, Mark Waid, Tom Christopher

grade: n/a


I won't weigh in on the merits and defects of an editorially mandated company event scripted by my least favorite mainstream writer and penciled by the man I detest most in comicdom, except perhaps to say that its motto could have been "Invasion!: It's not as bad as Millennium". the concept of a hopeless invasion of Earth is hardly unique, and it isn't particularly well told, but it sure makes for good company-wide conflict.

The Dominators do look cool and have a decent Keith Giffen backstory. There, that's my compliment.

As for how this 85 page giant that only spends six pages on any licensed DC characters who aren't Adam Strange affects the Justice League, it's really just one critical reveal...

Important Details:

- Justice League International is now treated (at least by the American Government) as being ambassadors to the wider superhero community. Even though the U.S. Government has a direct line to Amanda Waller, they have Maxwell Lord call her on their behalf to express The President's edict that The Suicide Squad not get involved.

That's pretty much it. Hopefully, The League will play a larger role in the next issue.


Plot synopsis: The Dominators amass an alliance to destroy Earth out of fear that it's super beings pose an imminent threat to their aspirations for galaxy-wide conquest. Killing the heroes is not enough, as they recognize that all humans have an unusual potential for gaining super powers.

Wonder Woman #25



"The Burning School"

writer: George Perez
special assist: Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
pencils: Chris Marrinian
inks: Will Blyberg
letters: John Costanza
colors: Petra Scotese
asst. editor: Art Young
editor: Karen Berger

grade: B+


If George Perez was at all disappointed that he had to spend the milestone 25th issue of his Wonder Woman reboot on an Invasion! tie-in, he certainly doesn't let it show. Instead, this issue is one of the most perfect crossovers I've ever seen executed, as it flawlessly mirrors the plot and theme of JLI #22, all while adding a new and necessary twist to them that promotes the Wonder Woman franchise.

Take, for example, the two major appearances Diana made in that issue. Both are present here with the time-table carefully adhered to and the dialogue duplicated almost perfectly:

JLI #22:


WW #25:


and, more importantly, it extends the theme at the end of last issue, in which Diana and J'onn are both sickened by the idea of enjoying the death of an enemy. Here, a clear contrast is drawn between Diana and Guy Gardner about excessive violence and killing in combat. For once, Guy isn't played for laughs -- he seems to be here solely to define Diana's beliefs in contrast:



which sets us up for the ending we thought we already knew, in which this exchange occurs:




(The JLI #22 version)

with one significant difference this time. Observing from Diana's perspective, we are privy to her thoughts, so when J'onn says his final line, Diana asks herself "Pleasure?". Whereas the ending of JLI #22 explored the similarity between these two heroes, WW #25 points out a significant difference between them that, once again, defines Diana in contrast: it never even occurs to her until J'onn says so that Guy -- or any other person -- is capable of taking pleasure in killing. She is that much more innocent and idealistic than even the moral foundation of the JLI.


In the end, as one might expect, this was not a key issue for the JLI (Dmitri beginning to experiment with his new armor aside), but instead an opportunity to showcase Diana and what she is about to anyone who hadn't been reading this title previously.

Well played, George.



Plot synopsis: Mostly the same as JLI #22, only with an emphasis on Diana, Guy, and Dmitri rescuing Etta Candy from a Khund invasion force in order to obtain a code utilized by the invasion fleet that Candy had managed to crack. In the end, the code is not salvaged, but Dmitri captures two Khund soldiers with the assumption that they will provide information to the U.S. government.

Justice League International #23



"Gross Injustice"

plot/breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: J.M. DeMatteis
pencils: Kevin Maguire
inks: Joe Rubenstein
letters: Bob Lappan
colors: Gene D'Angelo
editor: Andrew Helfer
assoc. editor: Kevin Dooley

grade: A

After a significant detour last issue, we're back to the core members of the JLI doing what they do best: very little. In the aftermath of the major invasion of Earth, the League has been given the prestigious and heroic job of cleaning up the wreckage from a crashed Khund ship. In fact, while the title of this story would seem to reference the introduction of The Injustice League, it also captures the team's feelings about clean-up detail quite well on that first page.

But this sort of downtime is precisely where the JLI title always thrives, watching these characters play off of each other reality TV style:




(Helfer's note is the best part)

And yet, in parallel, we meet The Injustice League, a team stranded on a similar nearby island, also sitting around while working on a crashed Khund ship. While the JLI have fought many villains before, it's immediately clear that this team is their perfect compliment, every bit as ridiculous as the team they will soon face off against:




It's utterly perfect, these two rivals competing for our laughter far more than they are actually battling each other in this issue. And, when they do battle, it's a shrug of a victory for the JLI, barely batting an eye at the threat the Injustice League posed. Somehow, that's really appropriate here. I'm not sure when Giffen decided the JLI weren't losers anymore (they've been scoring decisive victories for the past two issues now), but the fact that they view clean-up detail and their internal relationships as more menacing than a new team of super-villains does much to compliment the personalities of both off-kilter teams.


Further, DeMatteis and Giffen/Maguire have finally mastered a synergy between words and art in which they are no longer competing for space/attention/gags on panel. Whereas before it often seemed like a struggle between the two, text and artwork graciously work around each other here. Take, for example, this page, in which DeMatteis lets Maguire's humor drive a conversation that Giffen/Maguire clearly already had in mind, adding nothing that isn't already explicitly suggested by the panels:



In contrast, Giffen/Maguire later serve DeMatteis half a page to let the evil villain monologue, no specific content being suggested by the art at all:



And DeMatteis' scripting thrives in those kinds of contexts.


Truly, this issue was classic JLI through and through, with plotting, writing, and art all working in synergy to deliver the best possible gags about the worst possible teams.


Important Details:

- Introduction of the Injustice League, including Major Disaster, Bruce, Clock King, Multi-Man, Big Sir, and Clue Master.

- Though he was never officially a member of the team, it seems clear that G'Nort isn't coming back, no explanation given. He'd been travelling with the team since Millennium.



Plot synopsis: The JLI is assigned to clean up the wreckage of a crashed Khund ship on a South Pacific Island while, on a nearby island, the newly formed Injustice League, under the command of Major Disaster, works to salvage a similar crashed Khund ship. After much hilarity, the Injustice League gets their ship running, only to be easily thwarted by the JLI. Guy the kicks a random piece of Khund wreckage in spite of Mister Miracle's warning, seemingly inverting Earth's atmosphere as a result.