Another Thursday, another 80-page comic! Today, Justice League Quarterly #8, featuring "Double Trouble!" Written by Mark Waid, pencils by Rod Whigham, inks by Romeo Tanghal.
In the first issue of Justice League Quarterly Max Lord's ex-wife Claire Montgomery establishes the first corporate-sponsored super team, the Conglomerate; which included former Leaguers Gypsy and Booster Gold. Lord invites her to set up a charity match between the Conglomerate and the JLI, but it's a trap: using shell companies and bribes to make better offers to Claire's team, she's left hanging the day before the show with no team and forced to hold tryouts.
In the best DC tradition,the scabs come out in force, but one Norman the Doorman has some promise, if a colossally stupid name: he can open dimensional portals, such as one to a world full of heroes that may be a match for the League. Claire invites them to our world and gives them jobs; and the next day at the match, as Flash and Blue Beetle badmouth the Conglomerate, the new Conglomerate arrives.
As the events seem to get rougher, Green Lantern Hal Jordan visits Oberon, who is watching from the embassy. Although he's never met them, he recognizes the "Conglomerate" on sight: they're from Qward, the antimatter universe of the Crime Syndicate! (It's also occasionally known as Earth-3, depending on when you ask.) By this time, the new Syndicate (Hal believes the originals to be gone) are in a full-on brawl, ending only when the heroes push them back through Norman's portal.
Expecting to be fired by her corporate sponsors, Claire declares the end of the Conglomerate...except the sponsors loved the show, and can't wait for more.
The status of the Crime Syndicate is always a bit of a crapshoot, but now with the current DC continuity, it's still probably just a matter of time before they appear in some form. "Evil universe" is too tempting to leave on the table...
This issue also features a Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt prequel; another Max Lord story, and the return of the Global Guardians. For some reason.
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