This recently released Ethan van Sciver cover image from the 50th issue of Justice League of America (can we go back to the old numbering system – when I add up issues from other JL titles, it’s around 550) shows the current team fighting evil JLA analogues… the Crime Syndicate. With the new line up we’ll be seeing slightly different pairings thane we are used to… Donna Troy vs. Superwoman, Supergirl vs. Ultra-Man, Power Ring vs. Jade, Batman vs. Owlman, and Jesse Quick vs. Johnny Quick.
This Titan heavy team still just doesn’t feel like the JLA to me. I’ve been unimpressed with Robinson’s run thus far. The Starheart saga was a bore and I’m STILL annoyed that no one has mentioned Obsidian’s boyfriend Damon Matthews. There better be a tearful reunion SOMEWHERE! Todd has been missing for a LONG time.
Big things in store for the Arrows. If you have been reading Cry For Justice or just reading about it, you know that in issue #5 a mind-controlled Freddy Freeman (who has been handed the role of Captain Marvel/Shazam from Billy Batson) ripped of Roy Harper’s right arm just above the elbow. It had been recently revealed that this maiming will lead to some changes for Roy and Ollie…
New DC Talent JT Krul (Blackest Night Titans) is writing all 3 projects… Justice League: The Rise and Fall” (co-written with James Robinson), the four-part miniseries, “Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal,” and an upcoming arc in “Green Arrow,” entitled “The Fall of Green Arrow,” which begins in #31
DC has just released this beautiful image comprised of the covers to the JUSTICE LEAGUE: RISE AND FALL one-shot and its three tie-in issues: GREEN ARROW #31, JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE RISE OF ARSENAL #1 and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #43
Now the maiming of Red Arrow isn’t that big a deal in the world of the JLA. With longtime buddy Cyborg working on it, Roy will no doubt be quickly outfitted with a powerful cybernetic replacement (one that could pull back on a MUCH more powerful bow – CBR notes that with such an arm, he could put a “conventional arrow with a proper head through a tank”. But the revelation that Roy will be returning to the name Arsenal (YAY! I always preferred that identity and costumes to Red Arrow OR Speedy), leads me to believe his new arm will be capable of a whole lot more than super strength and precision.
But while Roy is going through the changes necessary to emerge as Arsenal, Ollie will be having a hard time of it too.
Looks like SOMEONE at DC was reading the buzz about Zatanna’s costume as seen in Cry For Justice #4, because although #5 opens moments after #4 ended, Zatanna is looking considerably less skanky. She must have looked down between panels and realized that she was wearing an actual teddy and not her costume and switched costumes magically.
Thankfully no change in Red Tornado’s HUGE package though!
OK that said, I just don’t really get what this is about. The cover to #5 has a big ol smooch between Supergirl and Captain Marvel that isn’t even remotely part of the story (the two barely exchange 2 words much less a romantic moment). I also have problems with the storytelling – one moment Supergirl and Congorilla find Roy unable to clap, cauterize his wound and roar for help. But then they run off (before help arrives for Roy?) to find who did this and next we see an enraged Kara and Freddy fighting each other and Congorilla and Wally are unconscious. If Robinson wasn’t going to be our JLA scribe, i wouldn’t care enough to figure out what’s happening, but that looming fact unfortunately has me paying attention to this dreck.
One more point – they have a master villain running around manipulating lesser villains to do his bidding. One of those villains is defeated and they confiscate a strange teleporter and bring it RIGHT into the JLA HQ to study it without first seeing if it perhaps has any OTHER functions? I still remain thoroughly unimpressed with this miniseries.
I don’t know why this magenta monster has never really done it for me as a JLA villain, perhaps its his coloring (is that a hate crime?), or maybe it was the time he spent in freaky-friday mode with L-Ron, but I just can’t take him seriously as a major menace. Oooooh its Despero! I wish I could get more excited about it because this is writer James Robinson’s first issue and will likely set the tone for at least the next dozen stories of the JLA.
It’s the start of a spanking new odyssey for the JLA that will lead in the coming months to a fresh line-up for DC’s flagship team as superstars James Robinson (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) and Mark Bagley (TRINITY, Ultimate Spider-Man) take over! A one-time member of the JLA falls before he can warn the team of looming peril while what’s left of the JLA journeys to the heart of their past to decide if the team has any future at all. Of course, that means this is the best time for a savage silly villain from the team’s past to attack the demoralized heroes!
by the way whatever happened with Despero, Per Degaton and the Ultra-Humanite running around in the future screwing with things? I remember a showdown in Booster Gold, but I didn’t think it really resolved what they were up to or where they went after.
Posted in Comics, SFW on 09/02/2009 09:00 pm by fanboi
I’m about to crack open issue 3 of Cry for Justice. Let’s see if writer James Robinson can come up with something more offensive than Hal Jordan’s BoP threeway or more convenient than this team randomly coming together.
The team welcomes two new members as Supergirl and Shazam join the roster! And it’s just in time, too, because when Prometheus is finally caught and his evil machinations are revealed, the League finds out they may be unable to stop him.
OK, I know they want to establish Prometheus as the bad ass anti-Batman. They gave him the reverse origin and everything. OK fine – set him against the Global Guardians – they’ve always been fodder anyway. But with so few gay characters around – did you HAVE to kill Tasmanian Devil and treat the body is such a disrespectful manner? Not sure if it’s as offensive as the 3way comment last issue – but he’s staying in the ballpark.
The team continues its proactive hunt for justice as the trail leads to an army of Super-Villains. But the big bad may be deadlier than all of the new team combined…
OK, is it just me or does this “hey we all have suffered a recent loss that MUST BE AVENGED” thing seem hokey (I keep waiting for someone to bring up Grabthar’s hammer or the sons of Worvan), unnecessary (with the myriad of baddies present when Martian Manhunter died there was already a natural reason to bring together a group) and lazy (it’s all so convenient to have them all on different trails that happen to coincide).
I’m not sure I like the exchange between Hal and Ollie about (I believe) a 3way with Huntress and Lady Blackhawk? #1 I don’t buy it. I know Zinda can “drink her liquor like a gentleman,” hangs out in bars and in general is about as ladylike as Wolverine, but Helena Bertinelli is a good Catholic schoolteacher (well OK her family was mobbed up, but oh never mind I knew some good Catholic girls back in my day). It just seems like an odd thing to throw out there. As random an inappropriate as if Ollie and Hal had been reminiscing about “that time they double-teamed Star Sapphire“. Superhero 3ways?!?! AND THEY BALK AT SEEING A LOVING GAY KISS!?!?!
I expected a little more of writer James Robinson after his phenomenal work on Starman. Mauro Casciolli’s artwork is breathtaking so I’ll keep picking it up (also it likley sets the stage for Robinson’s upcoming run on the JLA) to see where they are going with this. What is Prometheus up to? Is he trying to draw this specific group into a trap? He is the anti-Batman so I don’t see him being unaware of the trail our heroes are following.
Posted in Comics, SFW on 07/12/2009 03:49 pm by fanboi
The Justice League has seen their foes band together on a number of occasions… as the Legion of Doom, the Injustice League and the Secret Society of Super Villains. Alex Ross’ amazing maxi-series JUSTICE is a beautiful telling of a classic tale of good vs evil. It’s silver-age setting appeals to longtime fanboys (and girls) and the breathtaking art of each and every panel takes the reader back to those unjaded moments of youth when a simple comic book was every-bit as as exciting as todays FX laden movies.
Click on the image below for a ridiculously large version suitable for your desktop.
ABSOLUTE JUSTICE, is a beautiful collectible hardcover, collecting the series from writer Jim Krueger, artist Doug Braithwaite and some guy named Alex Ross hits in November. And because we can never get too much Ross goodness, above is the previously-unseen dustjacket from the collection, and below you can find some character sketches that will also be in the Absolute edition.
I’m really interested in seeing what Eisner Award-winning creator James Robinson (Starman) has in store for this oddly disparate group of heroes. I’m excited to see Batwoman making some connections in the DCU meta community, and overjoyed to see Mikaal Tomas back in the limelight again (I DO wonder how they will handle his alien bisexuality).
Originally announced as an ongoing series in March of 2008, the project became a mini-series in order to enable the author to work out a true ending for the story which features painted art and covers by The Trials of Shazam artist, Mauro Cascioli.
The villains in the background look like shades of the bad ol’ Legion of Doom. This will be worth checking out, if only for the continuing drama of Black Canary’s anguish at having Green Lantern start up his own team because the one she led was ineffectual. It wasn’t her fault – It’s not like she had advance warning that Evil Gods were planning Final Crisis. Hell we had advance warning and I still don’t know what the hell happened there.
Refresh my memory. Have we ever had a gay member of the JLA? (not just an ally or guest star, or someone whose sexuality is hinted at or sensationalized but a out proud card carrying member who dates). If so, please refresh my memory. But regardless, I bet there was never a team of 8 with TWO gay members! And we’ve got a lesbian in Batwoman and a bisexual with blue alien Starman, Mikaal Thomas. That 25% much better than that measly Kinsey 10% we’re usually given. Too bad they left that tidbit out of the CBR article… I wonder why? It seems significant detail to me.
While talking with CBR, James Dale Robinson let slip a few details about plans for his “Justice League” series: Green Lantern will “slip out from under the shadow of the Trinity” to lead the team (about time, even Aquaman had his own lineup – and he just talks to fish), the disparate lineup will all come together naturally due to a course of events, not by some super powered triumvirate sorting through dossiers, and finally that this team will have a “purpose that was different from the Justice League of America.”
James Dale Robinson’s Justice League Lineup includes: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, The Atom (Ray Palmer), Shazam (Freddy Freeman), Supergirl, Batwoman, Starman (Mikaal Thomas, former ally of Starmen Jack and Ted Knight) and last and least… Congorilla??? (A.K.A. ongo Bill – a seven-foot tall, 90 year old, magical golden gorilla with the intelligence and the sophistication of a big game hunter).
“Justice League” #1 will feature artwork by Mauro Cascioli (“The Trials of Shazam”), but has yet to be solicited. “I think we are waiting for Mauro to finish some more, so probably the end of the summer,” said Robinson. “But what’s he done so far, especially with his colors, is beautiful.”
I’m really curious what kind of event will bring these 8 due to a natural confluence of events…
Posted in Action Figures on 05/23/2008 12:43 pm by fanboi
Finally after a loooong wait, DC Direct has announced the release date and line up for the third wave of action figures based on the recent relaunch of Justice League of America. After a craptastic throwaway line in Series 2, (Batman – has been done better, Hawkgirl – JSA is far superior, Amazo – who cares, and Dr. Impossible – only use is as a bade for Obsidian if you customize), this time they got it right.
Series 3 includes:GEO-FORCE!!!!!! (Yay my psychotic Tara Markov gets to hang near her big bro), Flash, Green Lantern – Hal, and Wonder Woman – I like the Dodson version, but this should appease those who didn’t like that Dodson’s was pre-posed). CHECK THESE OUT!
I couldn’t find a DDay linked up with that identifier. Giving up…
Posted in Preview on 05/17/2008 02:16 pm by fanboi
The Human Flame and Libra have been touted as 2 of the big villains of the upcoming Final Crisis and in this issue of the JLA we supposedly get to know a bit about them… Due 051521
OK I wanted to like this book. I’ve loved Carlos Pacheco’s artwork since his Bishop miniseries, and I’m REALLY trying to get excited for the Final Crisis. But I just couldn’t manage this issue.
There was just too much not to like. I have NO idea when this takes place. It seems to be Pre Countdown #1 (the Trinity doesn’t know Ray Palmer is back), but post Firestorm’s induction. The Trinity mention’s Martian Manhunter is on a “secret mission” but remain utterly unconcerned that #1 he’s not back yet, and #2 that the planet the Salvation Run baddies were supposed to be is NOT where they (and the Martain Manhunter) ended up. JLA figured this out 2 issues ago and Batman just says “when J’onn’s completed his work I’m sure he’ll be open to rejoining the team.” If it wasn’t the wrong universe I’d say Batman is a Skrull.
All this and Firestorm practically saying “well I won’t make a gay joke, but…” really added up to one pretty (Pacheco’s art is the only saving grace) but craptastically bad issue.
Posted in Action Figures on 04/11/2008 06:23 pm by fanboi
I have to admit, I’m genuinely surprised these are looking good. From the artwork, I thought I was going to hate these. But now i will actually buy that Ice (I was previously livid about it being her Global Guardians costume) While I would still prefer the furry boots version (and will replace this if the modern Tora ever comes out), this is actually a very solid depiction of a much loved character. The Batman, G’Nort and Black Canary look great too (but there is just no way you could interest me in Disco Dinah).
I couldn’t find a DDay linked up with that identifier. Giving up…
