There's maybe a swerve or two in this one, I have to admit.

And I wasn't expecting two-thirds of this creative team! From 1996, Wonder Woman Annual #5, "The Unremembered" Written by John Byrne, pencils by Dave Cockrum, inks by Norm Breyfogle.

Not unlike the Robin Annual for Legends of the Dead Earth, this one also starts with a colony ship, but this one has apparently been going for way longer and not come anywhere near a planet, possibly due to mishap. It's been going for so long that evolution has taken some weird turns for the inhabitants within, although there were still humans, like young AylXa of the Unremembered. They were a tribe of humans, living in what used to be a hydroponics bay; and she had left before what would have been her wedding day; although it's unclear why. Y'know what, she doesn't owe me an explanation: maybe she wasn't ready to settle down, maybe she wasn't into him, whatever. We see her betrothed, ValXan, leading a hunting party elsewhere in the ship, and he does smack one of his guys in the mouth for badmouthing AylXa. The party comes across a group of Ratbats, and kills them; but later that 'night' an older Unremembered tells a barely-recalled tale, that the Unremembered and the Ratbats could have common ancestry, just adapted for different conditions. And, they also share legends: the elder tells of earth's legendary heroes--which even had dames in their number!--while deeper in the ship, AylXa watches a larger, female Ratbat use a strange instrument, to relive the history of Wonder Woman!

AylXa tries the machine out herself, and realizes the Ratbats were not that unlike the Unremembered, even more advanced in some ways; but can she arrive in time to keep the hunting party from murdering the Ratbat tribe? She might not have to...

I won't spoil it, but yeah, there was at least one twist there I didn't expect. Also unexpected was the art pairing of Cockrum and Breyfogle, but I'm always glad to see anything from them. Byrne, however...Maybe I'm being oversensitive, since I think he's maybe been creepier, but some of this one feels leering, and maybe not respectfully. But that twist maybe flips that? I don't know. Anyway, I hadn't read this one before, but we've only got one more Legends of the Dead Earth annual to go! That one will probably be sooner rather than later, since I've already bought another sprocking one of it.. Read more!

Oh, man, I hope Beatriz still flies around like that. Clears out the sinuses!

This is a pretty banged-up copy, but a moderately important one! From 1979, Super Friends #25, "Puppets of the Overlord!" Written by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Ramona Fradon, inks by Bob Smith.

It always strikes me, when I get a random old issue of Super Friends; that it was in theory the younger reader, kid-friendly version of the characters, based on the cartoon; yet still leaned surprisingly heavily on continuity and lore, even events and characters not seen on the show. Today, bad guy Overlord (really the second Overlord, the first had maybe been his puppet, or was maybe now a puppet) had taken over a small nation and was using its resources against the Super Friends, starting with a "thought-induction helmet." Since the JLA satellite was too far away and he didn't know the heroes' secret identities, Overlord strikes at them at the Hall of Justice, located in scenic Gotham City! The assembled heroes go off the rails for justice, with Batman and Superman, frustrated at having to work within the law, opting instead to take over North and South America, respectively. Aquaman realizes all the mistakes he made as King of Atlantis, and decides to correct them by taking over all the undersea kingdoms; while Wonder Woman opts to free the oppressed women of Africa, and the Wonder Twins choose to bring their superior alien culture to Eurasia. Oh and Robin goes to Australia, where he has a run-in with Tasmanian Devil--no, not that one, you know it's not! 

Batman heads up to the JLA satellite, where he immediately has to gas Green Lantern for not being onboard with his plan. Likewise, Wonder Woman throws down with her "black sister" Nubia in Africa, and Superman knocks out Beatriz Bonilla da Costa, aka the Green Fury, better known to us as Fire, in her first appearance! Her flaming--and, inexplicably, freezing--breath does nothing to the Man of Steel, so not a great start for her. Aquaman takes out Mera and Aqualad, to keep their "old-fashioned morality" from getting in his way, while Jan and Jayna's plan to rule hits a snag when they address a crowd somewhere in "the Arabian Peninsula" that didn't speak English. But, Seraph, the hero of Israel shows up to help--look, it was a different time, alright? Although even so I'm wondering what he was doing there. When Jan and Jayna change form, they snap back to their usual selves, and realize that's how they can save the other Super Friends, by changing them to their civilian identities. Except, Aquaman didn't have one, so he was going to be tougher, especially since the team had to fight him plainclothes! (A bit of lip service is paid to protecting their identities: if anyone saw this fight, it was just going to be Atlanteans, who were telepathic and could've found out anyway, if they cared.)

Aquaman puts up a solid fight, using a squid to get a Kryptonite meteorite to keep Clark out of it, then he no-sales a Green Lantern battering-ram by letting it hit him in the back of the head: his blonde hair was yellow and immune to the power ring's yellow impurity! Diana however is able to contact Mera to pop him one, and the magic lasso cures everyone of the mind-control effect, but they don't know who was behind it. Meanwhile, Overlord ponders his next attack, while one of his puppets seemingly taunts him...

Also this issue: another of DC's title-specific subscription ads; and their Daily Planet hype page! Man, I miss the latter: I know they tried to do something in that vein with "Channel 52" for a while, but it's not the same.

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New reaction image just dropped!

We mentioned (probably more than once!) that the Walt Simonson Superman Special was a speedrun through "Kryptonite Nevermore!" but without I-Ching: I didn't realize it also omits Wonder Woman! Or Diana Prince, I guess. You'll see: from 1971, Superman #241, "The Shape of Fear!" Written by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson.

Hey, we saw the previous issue a few years back as well! The powerless Superman had just defeated some killers, but instead of inspiring him to go on, he was throwing in the towel. He wanted to live, as an ordinary man, "without the responsibilities...the loneliness...of Superman!" I-Ching doesn't really sugarcoat it for him: that's rough, but the world needs Superman, and copping out would be below rank cowardice. Superman despairingly agrees, and I-Ching performs a ritual that looks like releasing Superman's astral form, to recover his powers from the sand creature that had stolen them. His powers restored, Supes then speeds out to test them, first by flying into space and punching a meteor, then by building a concrete jail at super-speed around a purse-snatcher, in the middle of a rush hour street! He plays it off as "over-enthusiastic," but a couple days later, Diana Prince reads the news to the blind I-Ching, of another super-blunder: Superman had wrecked a water system, while fixing a leaky pipe. (Aside: it wouldn't stick long, but giving the powerless Wonder Woman a 'mentor' doesn't feel right: powers or no, she still had the juice.)

I-Ching asks Clark for a meeting with Superman, who obliges, after dumping a speeder, and his car, on the top of the Empire State Building to teach him a lesson. I-Ching thought, Superman's brain was probably injured in that last powerless fight, and getting his powers back had made the injury permanent. Superman, getting more and more arrogant, disagrees; so I-Ching and Diana have to perform another mystic ritual, to find the sand creature, which I-Ching says is from "the realm of Quarrm" and I'm pretty sure he's just making stuff up at this point. Quarrm, probably not called that by its inhabitants, is described as a land of possibility, and shapeless, unformed beings. The creature had been brought here in the same incident that destroyed the Kryptonite on earth and accidentally absorbed most of Superman's powers; I-Ching hopes it can do so again. Meanwhile, another shapeless entity enters earth, which is doubtless a problem for next month.

The trio break into Morgan Edge's apartment, to summon Clark Kent, and to re-establish the simmering subplot of who was locked in a soundproof room there. Then, things start popping: the other Quarrm entity possesses a giant "Oriental war-demon" statue at a parade in Chinatown and starts rampaging. Superman smashes through a wall at Edge's--I don't know why they had to bring him there, if he was going to show up as Superman, but he's also decided doors and windows weren't good enough for him. To distract him, Diana gives him a kiss on the cheek, which admittedly, would do it; but Superman then sees the creature and flees, which I believe smashes another hole in Edge's apartment! The creature explains, he couldn't just grab Superman: because of their psychic link, to do so would cause a massive explosion, killing them both. That feels like information they could've used earlier...Superman doubles back, trying to outsmart the pursuing creature, but then sees the disturbance in Chinatown, and stops to help, showing he wasn't completely bad yet. But, after saving a kid, Superman's powers conk out and he crashes, to be dragged away by the 'war-demon.' To be continued!

OK, so it feels like a lot of what could charitably be described as "Orientalism," but this issue also features a reprint from 1957's Superman #112, "Superman's Neighbors" (Written by Bill Finger, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Stan Kaye.) Taking a rare evening in, Superman still has to pitch in to help out his neighbors, which does include a bit of Super-dickery, as to keep a young girl from wasting her life pining for Superman, he takes her on a date to show her it wouldn't be everything it's cracked up to be. Not like that, you pervs! He takes her to a dance, but keeps ditching her for emergencies. Probably sticks her with the check at dinner, too; but the evening drives her to manage her expectations, as in, settle. There's also a guy watching Clark Kent, but not for the reasons you'd expect--again, not like that!  A slight bit of fun, but a far cry from the 'modern' take O'Neil was trying to bring the book to. Read more!

Hey, sort your trash! Some of that has gotta be recyclable.

Kurt Busiek has written a ton of great books--Astro City should be on everybody's reading list, but the latter half of his Avengers run is my favorite--and today we've got an early one from him, that probably should've got him the regular gig for the title! From 1984, Justice League of America #224, "The Supremacy Factor!" Written by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Chuck Patton, inks by Dick Giordano. And the cover is, of course, a homage to that page in Amazing Spider-Man #50!

Clark, Hal, and Ollie are enjoying a rare get-together out of costume; with a waitress thrilled to have three hot guys at her table, maybe just a hint of the civilian angle Busiek would take much later with Astro City. The guys are waiting for Dinah, who has been delayed by three guys mugging another--and getting the tar beat out of them! Black Canary has to step in to stop the masked figure from killing the muggers, but then he turns out to be a far more adept fighter than she expected, setting her up for a bad throw. Worse, he shrugs off her Canary cry, but that is heard by Superman, who arrives in time to save her. (I think other JLA stories from this time indicated Supes had a soft spot for her and might've been even more protective of her than Hal and Ollie were.) Somehow, the masked man is able to slug Superman so hard he hits the outer atmosphere; then he escapes at super-speed. Still, Superman had snagged the man's trenchcoat pocket, which contained some notes.

At the JLA satellite, neither Superman nor Red Tornado are able to get much out of the equations on the notes; so Green Arrow is surprised Firestorm wanted a look. But, we know there was more to him than met the eye: Professor Stein recognizes them as relating to RNA coding. Green Lantern then searches the database for recent scientific journals on the subject, finding Dr. Joel Cochin, a very smug looking three-time Nobel prize winner. Presumably, from back when the Nobel prize meant something; but the only three-time recipient is the Red Cross! Although Wonder Woman advises caution, even suggesting maybe the Atom should investigate, Ollie isn't one to let hitting Dinah slide, and Dinah isn't either: they head to Cochin's lab with Firestorm. The lab seems unusually closed off, with no windows; and Ollie is about to have Firestorm blow a hole in the wall, when someone else does: Cochin, now in costume as Paragon, with Firestorm's powers! Smugly, he explains he possesses the mental and physical powers of anyone within a certain range, only better, so nyah. The Leaguers are thumped and captured.

Paragon doesn't depose of them, possibly because he wanted Firestorm's powers, to use to make components for his machine. (He also mentions Ollie's engineering skills, which I'm pretty sure have long since fallen by the wayside.) Born with the mental portion of his powers, Paragon had long ago become sick of "hostile inferiority" from those he considered his lessers, namely everybody; so he was going to wipe out 90% of the population, figuring the rest would then acknowledge him as their superior. The rest of the League then arrives, giving him a ton of powers; but when Firestorm gets knocked out of his range, Canary realizes the trick to beating him: Paragon couldn't copy Red Tornado or Green Lantern's powers, and they were able to keep him off-balance. Canary lands the finishing blow, but Firestorm wonders, how were they going to keep him locked up...? 

I had to look it up: Paragon would return, sort-of, post-New 52, in Grayson of all places. I think he might have done a bit better, with maybe one more pass on the costume: the underwear-over-tights look is super-traditional, sure, but it made Paragon look like he was wearing tighty-whities on the outside of his clothes. And Firestorm could rock those sleeves, but they aren't for everybody.

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You might guess the artist, but the title might be tougher.

We saw Marvel's take on Celtic mythology back in Avengers, but this might be closer to the source material: from 2018, the Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman #5, "Chapter Five: The Return of the Kings" Story and art by Liam Sharp.

Huh, I didn't think this was from that long ago. I think I have maybe one more issue of this, a six-issue limited, with Batman and Wonder Woman on the case of a murder--within the Celtic pantheon, in the mythical land of Tir Na Nog! Batman has realized something about the victim--he may not have been a local!--but perhaps too late to stop an attempted breakout to earth, that Balor of the Evil Eye and his forces are also interested in.

...I feel like Batman should be able to find that suspect for questioning. Read more!

I really expected more garter belts in Howard Chaykin's Justice League.

Well, they're all business in these issues, so maybe not. From 2006, JLA: Classified #26, "Secret History, Sacred Trust, part one" Written by Howard Chaykin, pencils by Kilian Plunkett, inks by Tom Nguyen.  

I think this was pretty concurrent with the JLA book at the time, with the Grant Morrison core team: the most seasoned of professionals, if a bit detached. They were like an encounter with a really good paramedic: if you need them, you're probably confused, helpless, and having the worst day of your life; but for them it's just Tuesday. They'll take care of you, but won't get all worked up about it.

Plotwise, this is both pretty solid and almost specifically what you would expect from Chaykin: two South American countries were on the verge of war, but both sides seem to somehow have put metahuman soldiers into the field. The JLA has to thread the needle between doing the right thing, and not overly imposing their will on foreign nations, while maybe also figuring out where the metahumans came from and not seeming too pro-America. Despite having two aliens and two monarchs on the team, they still work more closely with the U.S. government than you would probably expect; which feels real post-911 but also hopefully isn't rushing back. It's also completely not-surprising that the President is concerned about any other countries "using metahumans for international terrorism" yet being A-OK with America having them.

From Joe Kelly's run, Faith makes an appearance here, returning from the warring countries "on a mission I can't discuss for an agency that doesn't officially exist." (I honestly forget what her powers were, and I think she was traded to the Byrne-era Doom Patrol, which really feels like getting sent to the minors.) While in the field they might have been a unified front, the League seems a little back-bitey here: Kyle and Wally are seen by some of the others as a bit like children, American simpletons who don't really understand the rest of the world, no matter how many times they've saved it. (...fair.) Later, playing the king card, Aquaman throws a wrench in things, by insisting the President and the JLA make their case to the United Nations; where things get dragged to a halt by the objections of the Dutch ambassador. (Are her complaints legitimate, or somehow sinister? Maybe both, really.) While the JLA is officially ordered to stay out of the conflict, Faith takes Bruce, Clark, Kyle, Wally, and Diana undercover; on Mission: Impossible rules: if you're caught, no one's ever heard of you... 

This storyline would run through JLA Classified #31, and while I was able to get the whole thing from the dollar bins recently, I don't think it's been collected. Later in the story, J'onn plays one-man JLA to make it look like the others were where the world expected them to be; Kyle is effective undercover at a comic-con while Wally seems really bad at clandestine stuff; and the JLA honestly seems to get along pretty well regardless of if they're sometimes irritated or annoyed by each other.

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I remember a house ad for this, wonder if it's in the issue?

This was a 68-pager, and while I don't think it was the first in this format, it was part of multiple revamps for the title. From 1979, Adventure Comics #463, cover by José Luis García-López.

The opener, "Urtumi the Image Eater" is an oddball one for the Flash, as returning from Earth-2 he's attacked by a bizarre creature, which had been released when archeologists removed a Native American tablet. (Story by Cary Bates, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Joe Giella.) "Mind over Murder!" is a bit more substantial, as Deadman tries to use a somewhat-unhinged scientist's invention, to create a new body for himself. It doesn't work, and Boston continues to get irritated by Rama Kushna, who tells him that would never have worked, and he should be grateful for what he has, because he might have it for eternity...I think Rama was trying to be encouraging, not threatening, but Boston doesn't really see it that way. (Written by Len Wein, pencils by José Luis García-López, inks by Frank Chiaramonte.)

"The Night of the Soul Thief" opens with the Justice Society on the trail of Batman's true killer, and both Dick Grayson and Helena Wayne are unmasked, as their secret identities had been exposed in the wake of Batman's death. The team fights assorted elementals, before being taken before one Fredric Vaux, a sorcerer plotting to end the current age of heroes, so the ongoing conflict of Order vs. Chaos could get back on track, with Chaos victorious and him ruling earth in its name. Vaux had wanted to erase even the memory of the heroes, but too many people in Gotham City remember Batman for that to go away easily. Helena is furious that her father died for nothing, a pawn in a larger game; but on losing Vaux is discarded by Chaos and seemingly done. Doctor Fate then uses what was left of his spell, to convince Earth-2 that Batman and Bruce Wayne had both died, but had been separate men, saving Robin and Huntress's identities. (Written by Paul Levitz, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Dave Hunt.)

"Climax" is an Aquaman story, and I may need to take a moment to see if he (or Flash or Wonder Woman, for that matter) had his own title at the time: I feel like I've read several Aquaman stories in Adventure. This month, it's Aquaman vs. Aqualad, Mera, Vulko, most of Atlantis, and capitalism! Universal Food Products had entered into a manufacturing partnership with Atlantis, which everyone thought would be good for everyone; except for Aquaman, who had discovered UFP's generators were heating the sea to unlivable levels, while their fertilizers were going to deplete Atlantis's farmland. Or farm-waters; I'm not sure how it works. Arthur wasn't currently the king, and everyone seems to think he's just being stubborn; but come on: the UFP guys had a boat commander in a very Nazi-style uniform, with a friggin' monocle. Pretty sure they're the bad guys, man. Aquaman exposes them, but admits to his friends he didn't blame them, since he didn't have any proof backing him up. Feels like a trust exercise they failed, though. Also, is it my imagination, or despite having less rep Aqualad threw down with his mentor more often than Robin or Speedy did with theirs? Yeah, Robin would've been a good soldier at the time; but I guess Speedy and Ollie probably rough-housed all the time. ("Put down the needle, Roy!" "Make me!" "Put down the chili, Ollie!" "Make me!") (Written by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Joe Giella.)

Bees. My god. It's Wonder Woman vs. "The Insanity Swarm!" Intelligent bees attack the Houston space center, leaving those stung as mindless and comatose. It's old JLA baddie the Queen Bee, who, when wrapped up in Diana's magic lasso, explains she had taken their minds, but even the lasso couldn't force her to give them back: she had set the self-destruct to prevent even her doing so. But, if Wonder Woman became her slave, then maybe...(Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Frank McLaughlin.) 

 This was around DC Implosion time, wasn't it? But, there is a US Postal Service Statement of Ownership this issue: total paid circulation, single issue nearest to filing date, 91,693. As usual, those would be blockbuster numbers today, but I don't think were amazing for the time, maybe even for a bimonthly book. Still, this didn't have a copy of the house ad promoting it; not because it would've been redundant, but this book was no ads at the time! I'll add said ad the next time I stumble across it.

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I thought this was a one-shot, but more confusion would follow.

The GCD mentions this was collecting stories that were originally published digitally; but the cover doesn't mention that, or that this was a seven-issue mini! From 2021, Justice League: Last Ride #1, "If People Are In Danger" Written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Miguel Mendonça.

I'm behind on my DC continuity, but I'm not sure this one is in-continuity: the Justice League's Watchtower was largely abandoned, as the League was mostly disbanded. I say 'mostly,' as there's the sense the members would still come together for a big emergency, but only grudgingly; as they do here. Green Lanterns John Stewart, Kilowog, and Jessica Cruz had captured the murderer of the New Gods--Lobo? I really doubt Lobo had the juice for that, but the GL's want to bring him in for trial. Hal shows up, in a big shoulder-padded number: it's fancier than the usual uniforms, especially since the other GL's are plainclothes, with Kilowog in a hoodie! Still, Hal's look kind of reminds me of Parallax, which you'd think he would try to avoid. Hal gets called out by Batman: if the GL's couldn't contain Lobo, why was that the Justice League's job and not the United Planets' military? Hal was hoping to use partnership with earth, as a bargaining chip in his efforts to rebuild the Green Lantern Corps (every time the GLC needs rebuilding, drink!) with the moon as the new Oa, center of the Corps! Superman appears to be considering it, as Hal describes the League as no longer being needed if the GLC was there; but Bats blows it off as "cosmic politics" while he had Gotham to take care of.

After Mr. Freeze claims to have planted ice bombs all over the city, he is shut down cold--ha, ha--by Superman, who had wanted to talk things through with Batman. While Batman isn't "sure earth needs space cops," something had to take the place of the fragmented League. Frustrated, Superman finally goes off on Bats, accusing him of getting J'onn killed, and slugging his colossal penny. He admits to being tired; of the never-ending battle, fighting everyone, including his friends. Batman seemingly relents, although he would never say so; but he has the perfect place to hide Lobo: on Apokolips. 

The League broken up, the GLC in a rebuilding year, J'onn dead, the New Gods dead...all of those feel like things that occur relatively frequently in DC continuity, although maybe not all at the same time? Also, I seem to recall multiple stories where assorted alien races are a little cheesed that earth had so many Green Lanterns, and those were back when they only had like three or four! And why were the other GL's plainclothes? Either they were using all of their willpower to hold Lobo and couldn't spare any to suit up, or maybe Kilowog and Jessica had other things they needed to do that day. 

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80-Page Thursdays: DC Cybernetic Summer #1!

Every so often it gets really hot up here, like to the point that it's probably hazardous to go biking out in it right when I get off work. Or, it's a good excuse to be lazy and read an 80-pager! From 2020, DC Cybernetic Summer #1, with stories by Corinna Bechko, Andrew Constant, Stephanie Phillips, Heath Corson, and more; art by Paul Pelletier, Nik Virella, Scott Koblish, Nicola Scott, and more. Cover by Dan Mora, although how Batman can look so sour while driving the freakin' Metal Men is a mystery. (This one wouldn't fit in the scanner, so the pics are extra janky today; but maybe that'll encourage you to find a copy!)

The opener with Batman, "The Limits of Control," doesn't hit the right notes for summer fun, as Bats points out, "There's no summer in space." He gets out the probably then-current Bat-armor out, to stop Brother Eye from reforming. "Fandom" is closer, as Wonder Woman teams up with Platinum, to stop the other Metal Men, who have been conglomerated into an anime-derived kaiju.

Next, in "Summer Camp" Red Tornado's vacation with his family is interrupted by JL calls and a lost alien; then the real fun: "The Boys of Summer" with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold! When the beach is too crowded, Booster suggests they travel back in time to a less-crowded day...which gets more crowded, since they have so much fun, in the future they keep going back to that day, despite poor Skeets repeated warnings and a visit from King Shark.

"Cybernetic Summer" is a Flash-race, with Barry vs. the Earth-44 Mercury Flash; but then we get the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Robot R217, in "Summer Lovin'." Trying to capture an alien, Superboy tags in R217 to cover for him as Clark Kent, and the robot finds himself smitten with a local girl. (Her initials weren't LL; it'd never work out!)

"Out There" pits Midnighter and Apollo against Monsieur Mallah and the Brain; then Harley Quinn and her elderly cyborg pal Sy Borgman try to beat the heat at a water park in "Splish Splash Special."

"Summer Bummer" is a fun one: Robotman's pal Mike doesn't want him to spend the summer moping about, but human stuff isn't as much fun for him. Nor are robot activities super-fun for Mike, but maybe there's something they would both enjoy...? Finally, "Catfish Crisis" is a bit of silliness with Cyborg and Superman against...the Cyborg Superman; until from the multiverse a version of the three of them in one shows up...or does he? Read more!

I was expecting WAY more jokes about Superman's mullet, but that's low-hanging fruit.

We saw them take on Marvel last year, but today they try the proverbial other side of the street! From 1996, Sergio Aragonés Destroys DC #1, written by Mark Evanier, pencils by Sergio Aragonés, inks by John Dell, Denis Rodier, Scott Hanna, John Byrne, Ron Boyd, Jerry Ordway, Joe Rubinstein, and Sergio Aragonés.

Not unlike his foray at Marvel, here Sergio decides it's time to become "big-time super-hero drawing person!" but is shut down by their receptionist, who may deserve a raise! Undaunted, he starts his super-hero epic, forcing his long-suffering cohort Mark into providing dialog. Time for another Batman origin retelling! Needs more pearls, although there's a very 90's joke there. Wonder Woman's "glass plane," because Sergio wanted to draw it! Legion try-outs! And more!

I'm 60% sure Ambush Bug used the "villain" here too, but there's a clever way of getting rid of them, that makes use of DC's usual "two pages of ads...they always put them where they interrupt the most suspenseful part of the story!"

I may have to check my shelves, since I think I have a collection with Sergio Aragonés Stomps Star Wars. And Sergio Aragonés' Blair Which? was great! Read more!

I feel like she should have glasses, can't put my finger on why...

We've seen him on the blog a few times (mostly as a crowd filler in Serpent Society strips!) but I've always felt DC should do more with him. Even if modern readers would doubtless assume it was a riff on G.I. Joe. From 2003, Justice League Adventures #23, "Venomous Agenda" Written by Christopher Sequeira, pencils by Min S. Ku, inks by Rob Leigh. 

Of course, you have to somehow establish Kobra as a threat capable of not immediately getting crushed by the Justice League; something Kobra himself almost seems aware of. He usually spent two weeks a year disguised as one of his followers--like a more evil Undercover Boss, which would just be Undercover Boss--but has to call it early this time, as he's heard doubts in the rank-and-file, and needs to let them, and the world, know the score. A couple weeks later, Flash stops a basic bank robbery in Central City, then gets shivved by the bank manager! It's Kobra in disguise, hitting Flash with "electrified nano-particles" designed to keep him out of action for days. He then challenges the rest of the League on TV, reveals his Ark ship, and poisons a bunch of people with nerve gas. Batman and Superman investigate, and find a holographic message, with Kobra calling out Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, to face him and his second, the Baroness--er, Lady Eve, at the Grand Canyon, or he'll blow up a cannister of nerve gas already planted in a schoolyard somewhere.

Regular TV reporter Snapper Carr is already on the scene; and Lady Eve wonders if Kobra should be revealing his organization, but he claims "the media-hungry world needsss a lessson." While GL and Hawkgirl are able to wrap up the pair, Kobra still gets them with a blast of nerve gas, then teleports out, with the reporters as prisoners, and claiming the heroes would die in 24 hours. Superman and Wonder Woman had found the schoolyard gas cannister, but it was empty: they still didn't have a sample to try and make an antidote. Kobra then confronts the team in their own Watchtower headquarters, able to disable the Martian Manhunter with his own mental discipline, and the Ark hacked the Watchtower's systems. His next challenge: Wonder Woman and Superman, versus Kobra's elite troops, at the Colosseum in Rome! Or, he'll launch two separate missiles full of nerve gas. Still, Batman has realized Kobra's error: he saw the League as stereotypes, only taking into account their most surface powers.

Superman and Wonder Woman fight well, but eventually go down under a high-tech blaster barrage. Batman then challenges Kobra himself, one-on-one, no weapons, casually dropping his utility belt as he taunted him. Lady Eve advises against it--he had everything to lose, and nothing to gain--but Kobra's ego won't let that go. After a solid fight, Batman has him, and Eve has to intervene for her boss, trying to spin it as "the ways of the snake lead to victory!" Batman is down, but not beat, and tells Kobra so: even if he did fall, the Flash and the Manhunter would be back, or regular people would stand against him. "No one believes in you."

Furious, Kobra launches his missiles, which Batman had been waiting for: he had Superman and Wonder Woman playing possum, and WW plays to the camera as she smashes the Ark up. Flash had been tracking the missiles through dozens of weather and surveillance satellites, and could feed the trajectories to the Manhunter, to telepathically update Supes, who takes both missiles out. He saves the nerve gas, though, to make an antidote. Even wrapped up in Wonder Woman's magic lasso, Kobra still orders his troops to attack, but Lady Eve declines, refusing to sacrifice any for him; planning on bringing the cult back under her leadership. Kobra ends up in maximum security, although without his trademark hood he looks like Lex Luthor! 

I still don't have all of this series, which is mildly disappointing, but just means there's still some out there yet to be read. Previously, we've seen the last issue, #6, and #30; although we probably saw some of the later Justice League Unlimited as well.

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I'm sure New Yorkers would be thrilled Superman and Wonder Woman ceded jurisdiction to a jock and Professor McFloatyhead.

90% sure this isn't a rule when Batman's on the JLA. Ever. From 1982, Fury of Firestorm #4, "The Icy Heart of Killer Frost!" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Rodin Rodriguez.

Killer Frost has sucked the heat out of most of New York, freezing everyone except Firestorm in their tracks: in the best comic tradition, instead of being corpsecicles, everyone could be revived, maybe, if the Nuclear Man can stop her. But, she knows she's got him over a barrel, and starts making demands: namely, for Firestorm to bring her Burt Reynolds Curt Holland from Hollywood. Before Firestorm can run that little errand, he just has to maybe fight his way past the Justice League, who arrive to take over the situation. But, Firestorm worries they would only make things worse, pointing out Superman himself got beat by Frost before, and he was fighting to save his friends and family.

A short fight, before the distraught hero realizes that wasn't helping. Despite describing themselves as the "pros," the Leaguers are pretty understanding, too; with Zatanna pointing out an "unspoken rule" of the team: "The hero on the spot has primary responsibility." In the JLA satellite, Firestorm catches them up on the situation, and reveals what had been a secret to most of them: his true identities, Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein. While Stein works on a portable refridgeration unit to stop Frost (despite being able to do stuff like launch icicles, she didn't have traditional ice powers; she drained heat, so if she herself was frozen she was powerless) Ronnie and Red Tornado try to recruit Curt Holland, who declines. Still, Ronnie has a plan, and Firestorm brings "Holland" to Frost, who immediately tries to murder him with a kiss. It was really a disguised Red Tornado, who had the freezer implanted in his android body; and he and Firestorm are able to draw enough heat from her to knock her out. The pair are then able to gradually heat up New York and save the citizens, glossing over what would be a ton of flooding and water damage; yay, happy ending!

I'm fairly certain the cover for this one was on a DC house ad at the time, but I first read it this week! Read more!