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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No "all along the Watchtower" jokes here...damnit!

On paper, so to speak, this doesn't seem like a recipe for one of my favorite Batman stories: an aged, but not Dark Knight Batman; the only Rouge's Gallery villain used is Z-list Robin foe the General; and cartoonish art more in the vein of Judge Dredd than traditional Batman. But somehow, it all falls into place nicely: "Watchtower", from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #55-57, written by Chuck Dixon, art by Mike McMahon.

Set far enough in the future for Batman to be rocking the Nick Fury/Reed Richards gray temple look; Gotham City is still a mess even with all the big bads like the Joker, Two-Face, etc. behind bars. Bats actually misses them a little, though, since now he feels "more like a garbageman" as he wades through thugs and bottomfeeders.

Meanwhile, having had some success averting financial disaster by privatizing other public services, the mayor announces plans to turn over police services for the poor Tricorner district to Vigil, Inc. Even though Gordon and Batman both think it's probably not a great idea, they admit they aren't going to be around to protect Gotham forever.

Using aerial surveillance cameras, Vigil lowers the violent crime rate for the area within six months; although that's in part to the lower rungs of criminals deserting the Tricorner area. Wondering where all the big fish have gone, Batman receives word that the General--he had been a child prodigy crimelord in Dixon's Robin, now a grown-up crimeboss with a military fixation--has a "bunker" in Tricorner.

Of course, Vigil turns out to be corrupt on almost all levels: from the patrolmen who beat to death a low-level pusher, to the deals the upper management cuts with the General and other bosses. After a savage beating, the past-his-prime Batman struggles to recover, but finally opts to take Vigil down by working smarter, not harder.

Well, there's more to Batman's plan than this, but you get the idea...As usual, your enjoyment of gun-toting Batman may vary, but I still like this one. Read more!

JLApe part one, JLA Annual #3, "Gorilla Warfare"!

JLA Annual #3, "Gorilla Warfare" opens with Solovar, longtime good leader of Gorilla City, ending the super-intelligent apes policy of isolation, so they can join the United Nations and work on solutions for the problems facing man and ape alike. And Solovar gets assassinated inside of two weeks, killed by a car bomb--shortly after name-dropping 'actress' Silver St. Cloud, who was never an actress in her appearances in Detective Comics. It's not a good start, bringing up a character from a classic story, but badly...

Thankfully, on the next page, Lois Lane, and Chase and Sarge Steel, are all dealing with the fallout of Solovar's death. In Gorilla City, as anti-human sentiment rises, Solovar's nephew Ulgo takes the reins of power; but he's the puppet of sinister apes Abu-Gita the sorceress, Admiral Trafalgo the naval captain, Grimm the crime boss, and General Zolog. All of whom are obviously the puppets of longtime DC baddie Gorilla Grodd, because duh. (It's not intended to be a surprise, and we saw him in the prologue last week!)

The next phase in Grodd's plan? Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash are invited to Gorilla City, as intermediaries for peace. (The Flash at the time, may or may not have been Wally: in a red and silver costume, his identity was at the time unknown, even though Superman vouched for him.) They are attacked almost immediately upon arriving, but it's a distraction, so the apes can use their...gorilla gas! Whatever it is, it turns the heroes, and the Martian Manhunter (who had been there invisibly, as backup) into apes and turns them to the apes' side! J'onn stays himself, though, and telepathically is able to restore the others' minds...for now.

Still apes, they return to the JLA Watchtower, where new GL Kyle is momentarily convinced that they're messing with him.

Batman and J'onn study a captured 'gorillabomb,' and Bats realizes the circuitry and gas don't really do anything: they're a figurative smokescreen, and the bomb works with a crystal that affects the earth's morphogenetic field. Sound familiar?

Animal Man! This might be Buddy's first post-Vertigo appearance...maybe. I have nothing to back that up. Buddy is also apparently tripping out something fierce, when J'onn shows up as a big green monkey, which doesn't help.

The apes' alterations and tampering with the morphogenetic field has been affecting Buddy's mind, and writer Len Kaminski seems to take this as an opportunity to try and write off some of the more...abstract Animal Man stories. (Or, to take the piss out of Grant Morrison's work on the character, and all of the Vertigo run? That may not be intentional, but that's the impression.)

Meanwhile, back at the Watchtower, the ape Leaguers are staging courting rituals, the dominant male fighting for Wonder Woman. "Best not to dwell on it," says Batman, who doesn't break eye contact with a super-mad Superape. (That would've been seen as weakness, and Supes would've torn him apart.)

The situation worsens, when Ulgo goes to speak in front of the United Nations general assembly, and promptly declares war on humanity. But Ulgo plans a war without bloodshed, since they'll be using the gorilla-gas to turn humans into apes. The UN, and Green Lantern are gassed, and mayhem ensues. J'onn and Bats have figured out how to reverse the effect (and Batman has managed to avoid being changed) but they can only change a certain amount, and the JLA themselves would put them over the weight limit. By 2.37 tons, which I guess might be their gorilla weight.

Fittingly, the two-page spread there, is interrupted by a fold-out ad, for Playstation game Ape Escape. That ad would show up a few more times in the crossover, but I couldn't tell you if it was intentional...I'd say no.

The UN restored to humanity, the apes and Ulgo are still free, since they had "diplomatic immunity." Which I'm pretty sure doesn't work like that, but whatever. J'onn had performed a quick mind-scan, though; and had the apes' other targets: Themyscira, Atlantis, Central City, Bludhaven, Metropolis, and low earth orbit. The team splits up to investigate, but Batman stays behind to ask J'onn what he was holding back from the others. J'onn's worried that the others could revert to gorilla mind-set at any time, particularly Kyle, who was just turned. He also turns invisible and ditches Bats, not unlike the way Batman is constantly disappearing around Commissioner Gordon.

This is nowhere near in the league (boo!) of Grant Morrison's JLA, which I want to say was just about done when JLApe came out. From GCD: JLA Annual #3 was published September 1999; that same month was a Mark Waid issue. Morrison's last storyline, World War III was a couple of months out.

That said, it's not a terrible start, here: for every touch of the DC universe that doesn't quite fit, there's another that does. And I thought the art was pretty solid throughout: not mindblowing, but straightforward and pretty clear storytelling. The ape jokes don't do a lot for me, though. When he's turned into a gorilla, Kyle seemingly turns directly to the camera and says "It's a madhouse...a madhouse!" That feels like a reference I should get, but nothing. And of course, I only paid a buck an issue for these...

Scans today from JLA Annual #3, written by Len Kaminski, pencils by Jason Orfalas, inks by Jordi Ensign. Next week: Batman Annual #23!
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JLApe part eight, Martian Manhunter Annual #2, "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of the Apes"

That is a pretty good title, there. The last chapter of JLApe begins with J'onn J'onzz telling of his time in the wild, not merely observing, but living with the apes. In the form of an ape, J'onn observes the anthropologists observing the apes, until poachers kill both while J'onn is away. Experiencing "the intensely focused madness of primate rage," J'onn holds back and instead telepathically induces in the poachers a compulsion to confess.

From the whole experience, and humanity's "persistant misrepresentation" of other primates in movies, TV, and comics; J'onn attributes it to a subconscious projection of man's brutal nature to their innocent monkey relatives. "In the ape," J'onn realizes, "Mankind sees a reflection of itself as it would be if freed from the constraints of civilization."

It's usually safe to say, J'onn has a unique perspective on things. But he does cop to overphilosophizing about the current gorilla invasion, and he beams up to the JLA Watchtower, to confer with Batman. J'onn and Bats are both a little snarky today, but they both may have been up for days at this point. While Bats catches the rest of the JLA up, J'onn sets out to get some intel on Grodd, and Aquaman is still pursuing the apes' sub Kong. The Kong opens fire on an American sub, and even though they're apes, the American apes move to retaliate.

As detective John Jones, the Martian Manhunter interviews Detective Chimp, Monsieur Mallah, Congorilla, and Sam Simeon of Angel and the Ape. (That last one, J'onn meets as the Manhunter, since he knows Sam is a fan.) All three tell of Grodd's brutal ambition, but Sam admits when he chose to leave Gorilla City and become a comic-book artist, his brother Grodd was the only one to support him.

In Africa, the JLA evacuates Gorilla City, and J'onn shows up after piecing the puzzle together: Grodd has been turning people into gorillas, because he can siphon off their mental energies. Grodd gives J'onn the monkey equivalent of a slow-clap for figuring it out, because by this point Grodd's sucking the juice of several million gorillas...that line didn't turn out right. Grodd forces J'onn into his pointy-headed mode ('Gumby') but J'onn just takes it, "venerating in the presence of a superior mind." He professes his admiration for Grodd and his courage, in sacrificing his ego and transcending the material universe.

Grodd has no idea what that's about, and J'onn explains he won't just be absorbing all that mental energy, Grodd will become "the foundation of a wonderful syncretic collective." Grodd will lose his identity, to a larger gorilla group mind; and Grodd didn't sign up for that crap: he rejects the power, and goes into shock.

Aaaaand the rest is all clean-up: Ulgo apologizes to the JLA, and pledges to work for peace in Solovar's name. Steel and Batman write up the plans for a "de-apifying resonator" that Green Lantern can make with his ring and restore humanity. And J'onn admits that everything he told Grodd was a lie, since he knew anyone with an ego like his would never be able to give it up.

Scans from Martian Manhunter Annual #2, "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of the Apes" Written by Len Kaminski, pencils by Gus Vasquez, inks by Mark Propst and Claude St. Aubin.

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80-Page Thursday: JLA Showcase 80-Page Giant #1!

In recent years, DC's 80-pagers have moved away from simple numbering, to going by year. I'm curious if there's any particular reason for that: were sales declining because of numbering? Is there a bump in sales for Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 2011 that you wouldn't get if it was #4? And that doesn't explain the title of today's book, anyway. From 2000, JLA Showcase 80-Page Giant #1, featuring stories by Dwayne McDuffie, Len Kaminski, Terrance Griep Jr, and more; with art by Ariel Olivetti, Bachan, Val Semeiks, Gordon Purcell, and more.

What makes this a "Showcase" rather than a regular 80-Page Giant? Um, team-ups? That and "The Century War" came out the same year, so it's just squeezing in another issue. While there are more than a few known names, there's also a fair amount of new talent trying out here.

In "Progress," Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern (Kyle) face the Hand of Krona, an alien cult that improves worlds, sometimes by force. Kyle was no longer the green rookie here; he'd been around long enough to recognize Krona's name: "Wasn't he the guy that almost blew up the universe?" The cultists are of the opinion that sometimes science involves breaking a few eggs, and there's no stopping progress; but they'd consider leaving earth alone if Kyle agrees to join them. (Interestingly, they don't want him for his ring: having the last GL on board would be a PR get.)

The JLA faces a crisis they weren't prepared for in "The Dogs of War." With the core team deployed, the only Leaguer available for monitor duty is...Plastic Man.

Although thought of as irresponsible by most of the team, Plas steps up as a one-man Justice League to stop an alien invasion. An alien invasion by relatively harmless dog aliens intent on improving their street cred, but still.

Investigating the ruins of Eclipso's temple on the moon, Superman and Kyle find a "Space Wolf." I liked this one, but that may also be from fond memories of the werewolf-on-the-moon storyline from Scud the Disposable Assassin. Then, in "Communications Error," Steel and Aquaman don't have much in common, but come together when the Watchtower is threatened by the "Oblivion Meme."

In a satellite-era tale, Barry and Dinah face a troublesome fairy named Liverstains. Which sounds like fun, except he was promised a baby to eat. Or the Flash, either or. It's amusingly weird, more so than the next one, "The Flashback of Notre Dame," where Captain Atom takes a day off with his fiance in Paris, and runs into a mess of gargoyles. The issue ends with "Toy Story," as two boys have to outsmart a bully to get their action figures back. (Would a toy manufacturer in the DCU sell figures of Doomsday and the Joker? They are multiple-murderers...)

So, Showcase isn't as strong as the prior three JLA 80-Pagers, but not without its merits either.
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80-Page Thursdays: Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #2!

For the next stretch, as long as I can find them, every Thursday we'll check out an 80-page comic! Not 64, not 100, 80-page giants only! Today, Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #2! Featuring "Team-Ups from A to Z!" and stories from Priest, Abnett and Lanning, Mark Waid, Marv Wolfman, Chuck Dixon, and more; art by M.D. Bright, Oscar Jimenez, Andy Kuhn, Mike McKone, and more.

Priest and Bright open with Aquaman and Kyle at the bottom of the sea, with an alien artifact, altered aging, and a trapped French sub. Next, Kyle tries to teach art appreciation to Big Barda, as a museum is robbed. Then, one of Kyle art teachers runs afoul of Deadman when he's accused of drug dealing; and Kyle visits Guy Gardner's Warrior bar.

Mark Waid and Mike McKone pit Kyle against Hector Hammond...and Impulse.


Plastic Man and Kyle have a run-in with a mysterious green shape-changer at the JLA Watchtower; then Steven Grant and Matt Smith send Kyle to Zatanna's magic show, where they face a mysterious attacker, a power-swap, and don't really seem to hit it off, at all.

A lot of fun. I know I have at least one of the other two Green Lantern 80-Page Giants, so maybe we'll see another later.

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"You Better Recognize."

I've been really enjoying Cartoon Network's Young Justice since it came back on; and last Friday's episode featured the Justice League and guest cameos from Plastic Man, Guy Gardner, Blue Devil, and from Milestone comics, Icon!

If you haven't watched the show, the JL's computer announces a team member's entrance to the Watchtower or Secret Sanctuary by reading their name and designation number. (It could be a sneaky way of introducing a character without always having to introduce them...) We don't know Blue Devil's number, but he has to be pretty far down the list...BD became a member on or around Justice League America #98 in 1995; the series would end with #113, we'll leave it at that.

If Young Justice has been pretty good, last Friday's Batman: the Brave and the Bold just crushed it: Batman and Space Ghost? That filled an empty spot in my soul I didn't even know I had. And the recent Wonder Woman cold open, with old-school theme and sound effects? Man, that series could run for a million more episodes, and I'd be A-OK with that.

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I honestly thought this was going to involve time travel...

Ooh, so close to an 80-pager! From 2005, Justice League Unlimited #3, featuring "Small Time" Written by Adam Beechen, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Walden Wong; "Escape from the Slab!" Story and breakdowns by Steve Vance, pencils by John Delaney, inks by Ron Boyd; and "Rolling on the River" Written by Steve Vance, pencils by John Delaney, inks by Ron Boyd.

In the lead story, the Atom discovers a microscopic invasion of the JLA watchtower satellite, and shrinks Wonder Woman, Ice, and Firestorm to help him fight it. (Firestorm has a fair question, "Couldn't we just, you know, step on them?" But there's a fair in-story reason.) Since none of them have shrunk before, Atom has to give them a crash course on the basics, like maybe don't eat a bean burrito before shrinking. Tiny vomit everywhere...

The "Johnny DC" kids books all had bonus pages this month; this issue reprints two shorts from Adventures in the DC Universe. Mr. Miracle gets forced to help a prison break, and Power Girl helps a harbor patrol cop with some hijackers stealing superweapons. The Miracle story is better, partly because it also features Big Barda and Oberon, as well as a recognizable host. There's also some coloring pages, and ads for a ton of games and Kangaroo Jack: G'day, U.S.A.!

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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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"The End" Week: JLA Classified #54!

Sometimes, we find a last issue more by chance than design. Like this book! From 2008, JLA Classified #54, "Final Justice" Written by Roger Stern, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Mark Farmer. 

This was the conclusion of a five-parter, split between the classic, pre-satellite roster and the Watchtower team; both facing evangelical alien supergod Titus. Railing against earth's current religions, Titus offers himself as an alternative and in his initial visit, offers the JLA spots in the pantheon under him. On his return visit, he's mostly just out for revenge, and Wonder Woman worries his victory may be prophesied.  

Titus's "thou shalt have no gods before me" schtick could be tiresome, if these issues weren't straight punch-'em-up.  Design-wise, he resembles Kalibak a bit; and even has a big honking mace; but there's no New Gods tie-in here. Still, a perfectly fun wrap-up to this title.
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80-Page Thursdays: The Century War!

During the Comic Book Shop's 23rd anniversary sale, I picked up a nice pile of 80-pagers on the cheap, so we'll take this next month or so to look one every Thursday. Today, we've got one I'd been looking forward to for a while: JLA 80-Page Giant #3, "The Century War II" Written by D. Curtis Johnson, art by Dale Eaglesham and Andrew Hennessy, Christopher Jones and Ande Parks, and Steve Scott and Mark Propst.

I had seen this around a few times, and was excited for an 80-page JLA adventure with the big guns incarnation of the team, plus Steel and the Atom. The cover also features Pariah and Harbinger, from Crisis on Infinite Earths, which seems to make this adventure a big deal. Maybe.

The moon is spiralling into the earth, the tidal effects are being felt worldwide, asylums are crammed full to bursting, and there's time-space distortions. All in all, a relatively typical day for the JLA, but J'onn and Arthur are both having half-remembered dreams of a mysterious girl that seems to be a forgotten teammate. Investigating an anomaly, the team heads to Barstow, CA; and meets astronaut Hugh Klein, of Apollo XXV. Hugh's been waiting for them, since he knows the older JLA members: his daughter was a member.
On the final manned moon landing, Hugh discovers a mysterious cave. Investigating, he finds a holographic message from the Hundred, Roman alchemists and philosophers who used their advanced science to flee the corruption of Rome. Eventually, they died out, but they left the "Praemonstra Supra, 'she who will point the way.'" A baby.

Hugh brings her back to America, where the Apollo program is out of money. (You might think they'd find something in the budget for this, but it was probably the seventies...) With the government's approval, Hugh and his wife Jenny raise Laura as their own. She proves to be both a genius and a gifted athlete, then develops super-powers at 16, and Hugh has to tell Laura her secret origin.

Laura decides she needs to know what the Hundred expected of her. Borrowing the lunar excursion module and some spacesuits from the Smithsonian, she flies herself and Hugh to the moon; where the Hundred have left her a costume, some equipment, and a warning of a foe they created themselves. Laura takes the name Laurel, the Moon Maiden, and becomes a super-heroine and apparently part of the Justice League.

The Leaguers are understandably skeptical, since they don't remember any of this. Investigating the moon, however, the Hundred's cave is right where it should be. Hugh then tells of Laurel's foe, the Centurian: the Hundred had planned to give a young poet immortality and other powers to spread their message of peace. Unfortunately, he was stabbed in the back by a rival named Valkus, the very moment the power-beam was sent. Valkus became the Centurian, measuring his life in centuries, and developing a number of powers like "hypnotic influence, uncanny perception, and worst of all, his ghost army." Before the JLA can ask about that one, they meet them: the reanimated souls of all the soldiers that died under the Centurian's command.

Flash remembers fighting the ghost army before, and that Laurel told him the ghosts have to keep fighting to stay coherent. Retreating, the ghosts fade; but back at the Watchtower, some old friends are waiting for them:

Pariah makes it sound like the end of everything every time he shows up, but Harbinger admits it might not be Crisis-level bad. They had been working on "a self-generating map of the universe," but there were paradoxes, holes in space-time that were returning to continuity. Using their map, they restore the heroes memory of the first Century War.

The Centurian, whose symbol looks like a C and a fist in an upside-down Superman logo; was on the verge of bringing world peace. By taking over. The remaining heroes still opposed him, but the Centurian's secret weapon has given him the edge: he can wipe his targets from history, wiping them from existence and memory. Already, Superman, John Stewart, and the Centurian's ally Lex Luthor have been removed from the board.

As the remaining heroes fight through the Centurian's forces, the ripple effects of his weapon are made known: Raven had been erased from history, which meant the Teen Titans never formed. Nightwing turns back into Robin, but since he never quit, Jason Todd never became Robin and disappears from the fight. Alan Scott got erased a couple days ago, "but the universe is just now getting around to the matter of his two children." Jade and Obsidian disappear, without Alan ever existing, he never had kids. Which points out a serious flaw in the weapon, as Laurel explains once they take it away from the Centurian: if you take Superman out of history, what about the numerous times he saved earth? (I had the same problem with Dr. Who, a few times: if the Doctor never existed, the universe would have been destroyed by the Daleks alone, fifty times over.)

Centurian realizes he's made a mistake, but the weapon won't target him. Laurel sacrifices herself, cracking its casing and wiping them both from continuity. As Hugh explains, afterwards he found himself in his old Apollo module: a museum piece in the Smithsonian, never used. In the new history, he never made the astronaut corps, never met his wife, never went to the moon to find Laurel. But with the overwritten continuity snapping back, the Centurian strikes first, gathering alien armies into his new Ghost Army, with his 'daughter' Laurel by his side.

Even though the retroactively-inserted teammate has been done before in JLA (Triumph, anyone? I thought not.) this isn't a bad one-shot. Guest-spots from Power Girl, Deathstroke, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, and Adam Strange as well. Major Hugh is a neat character as well, predating a recent resurgence of sci-fi involving Apollo missions. Still, the last chapter seems a bit rushed, with Centurian and his forces defeated in relatively short order. And while Moon Maiden's origin is told in the pages of her comic, the art style of the comic-within-a-comic doesn't really differentiate it from the rest of the book: if it had been done in a proper sixties (or even nineties) style, that could've brought this one up a notch.

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We previously saw the Question take the lead in Justice League Unlimited #36 some time back, but I'm not positive I had read this before, or just seen it on the internet. From 2005, Justice League Unlimited #8, "The Island" Written by Adam Beechen, pencils by Carol Barberi, inks by Walden Wong.

The Question explains this issue, that he had a pretty good reason for joining the Justice League when they asked: because it would've looked suspicious if he hadn't. He keeps his teammates at more than arms' distance, but also makes a role for himself there: while the League might be great against big threats, little sneaky ones may not be their forte. During his routine sweep of the Watchtower's ventilation ducts, he finds a bomb filled with a nerve gas that would kill just about everyone, from Kryptonians to Martians. Looks familiar, too...Unwilling to risk confiding in the wrong person, the Question continues to work the case alone, but is that the right tactic?

Lex Luthor isn't the prime suspect, but he's up there: he suggests to the Question, "No man is an island, but you're trying to prove them wrong." Worried he's missed something, the answer could be right in front of the Question... A fun little issue I won't spoil! Dig it. Read more!

In which we see what Batman doesn't need in his trophy collection.

From 2004, Justice League Adventures #34, "Past Tense" Written by Stuart Moore, pencils by Tim Levins, inks by Mick Gray.

Batman and Superman narrate over their respective origins, but what they don't notice is a familiar bracelet-laden arm reaching through a bright light to take a shell casing from the Wayne murder scene, and a piece off of Kal-El's rocket. An ancient, bald man in a wheelchair orders Wonder Woman to place the items and her tiara in a shrine, putting his plan in motion.

Meanwhile, Batman is in Metropolis, following up on a rumor that Lex Luthor is planning revenge on Superman and himself. Bats is also dismayed to be discovered by Superman about thirty seconds in. They begin to check out the under-construction Metropolis Museum of Tomorrow, but are suddenly stricken by a mysterious energy that saps their strength. They push on to the "Ultimate Time Capsule," a lead-lined bunker within the museum; where they find Luthor. Not the Luthor they know, but one from the future, and one that's expanded his repetoire to include "Qabalah" and magic. By travelling in time, old Luthor has figured out Bruce and Clark's secret identities (in JLU continuity, I don't think Diana's ID was secret) and had his plan leaked to lure them in. The spell will suck all the life-energy out of Supes and Bats, killing them; and feed it into Wonder Woman, blowing her up. But for good measure, Luthor orders Diana to beat them to death. And seems to enjoy that a little too much...

Fighting off Luthor's control, Diana throws Supes into the "Qabalah" altar, destroying it, and with his future possibly changed, Luthor disappears. Meanwhile, in prison, the present-day Luthor has an idea:

Back at the JL Watchtower, Superman shares his newfound memento with the rest of the team, thankful for a reminder of his birth-parents, and friends to share it with. While in the dark of the Batcave, Batman drops the shell casing in a chasm: he can see his parents' death every day, and therefore needs no reminders.

This was the last issue of Justice League Adventures, although there would be another 46 of Justice League Unlimited. Adventures may have been stronger overall, though...
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"The End" Week: Aztek #10!

Hey, remember Aztek? Big gold helmet, created by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar with artist N. Steven Harris? Even if you do, you might not recollect his solo series, which despite the creators and guest-spots by Green Lantern, the Joker, and Batman; only made it to issue #10: "a league of their own" Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, art by N. Steven Harris and Keith Champagne.

Still, Aztek is going out strong, as he's up for membership in the Justice League of America! He's already impressed Kyle and Batman, and seems like a stable, level-headed guy...even if his equipment and training was provided by a mysterious organization...

Meanwhile, at Aztek's day job as Dr. Curt Falconer, Professor Ivo is brought to the hospital in bad shape. Ivo's immortality serum seems to be breaking down, and he's fading fast. Perhaps not fast enough for his creation Amazo (or a Amazo) who pins the JLA in their watchtower with a GL power bubble, then attacks the hospital.

Aztek takes a licking--there's a nice, subtle sequence of Amazo beating his ass from 21st to 281st street--but manages to stall the agitated android until the JLA arrives. Knowing he's beat, the rather-chatty Amazo says he wasn't there for a fight or even to kill Ivo: describing their relationship as like Tom and Jerry, Amazo doesn't want to lose Ivo, and brought a serum to save him. Which is actually poisoned, but Ivo had taken an anti-toxin...Aztek's love interest uninterested doctor friend notes they really are like Tom and Jerry.

Even though this is his last issue, several future plotlines for Aztek were teased, like encounters with the Puzzler and Patti Celeste, the Super-Groupie. With the hat and mask of the Crimson Avenger ("the first of our kind," J'onn J'onzz points out) the JLA initates Aztek onto the team. I wonder how that'll work out for him...oh, right.
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I'm sad Kyle and Wally didn't get to hang with him like this, but they might'a thrown Batman in the volcano to keep him like that.

You have probably seen some panels from this one and not realized it, too: from 2008, Superman/Batman #46, "K, chapter 3: Varietals" Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, pencils by Shane Davis, inks by Matt "Batt" Banning.

Superman and Batman are midway through a quest to rid the earth of all forms of Kryptonite; with Batman working tirelessly, methodically, and tactically...and surprisingly, with Superman following suit. In his action-figure ready anti-K armor, Supes rips the heart out of Metallo; replacing it with a non-Kryptonite power source, that would keep him alive but not much else. Although he wants to take a break and see Lois, Superman keeps pushing; and next, Batman's satellite scan finds another small amount, at the Oblivion Bar, which I believe was mostly from Shadowpact: think dive bar for DC's magic guys and gals. (And the Creeper, who makes a cameo!) After Detective Chimp gets them in the door, the Phantom Stranger helps them find what they were looking for: a mysterious silver-ish charm, which Superman is compelled to touch, knocking him out.

Taking him up to the Watchtower, Batman gets a bit of a lecture from Zatanna: despite, oh, I dunno, everything, Batman seems stubbornly resistant to acknowledging "magic" as a thing. Then, Superman wakes up...and sees the Leaguers in attendance as cartoony versions, and has the munchies, and no attention span. Hmm. That seems familiar somehow; I can't put my finger on it. Anyway, Batman had already had John Stewart thrown the silver-K into the sun, but Zatanna explains they need the other half of the amulet to break the spell, and it was on Dinosaur Island...because why wouldn't it be? Zat says it's because the island, like the Oblivion Bar, was outside of normal space/time: yeah, that only narrows it down to like 20 other places in that hemisphere...Batman continues to be kind of a jerk the whole trip, saying magic still had rules, and could be broken down and understood; while Zatanna tells a tyrannosaurus to "tis!" (Editor's note: Read Zatanna's magic spells backwards!)

The locals explain, the amulet was inside a volcano, because they felt it was too dangerous for anyone to have. And, the old gods wouldn't allow magic in there; so Batman would have to go himself, with his talisman drawn on his chest. While Superman makes a run to the sun, to see if he could still get a hit off'a the first half of the amulet; the second half tempts Batman, with his parents alive, and Zatanna...wow, Superman is fu--oh, Batman resists. Then, when Zat asks him what he saw, he plays it off as huffing too much volcanic gases. She knows that's not it, but Batman doubles-down; I think because he doesn't want to let her get too close. (In the sense of, he feels like letting anyone get close to him would either undermine his effectiveness or open him up for future pain; not because of any Identity Crisis/lingering mindwipe resentment.) Superman recovers, and acknowledges that the amulet had done something for him: given him the break he didn't even know he needed. But, doesn't everyone need a break? Except Batman, of course...Batman ends the issue, alone, looking out the window at earth, presumably with a scowl that can be heard in space.

Superman hangs out and plays video games for a bit, with Supergirl, Red Arrow, and Red Tornado: Supergirl seems mildly afraid of him, while he sees Red Tornado as a wind-up toy robot, which is kind of condescending? I suppose we're just lucky this was Roy in his Red Arrow days and not Speedy...I wish Kyle and Wally had been there instead, although I could see them exacerbating the situation. If it had been Blue Beetle and Booster Gold...no, Batman would never have left Superman with them, never mind.

I feel like this one's reminding me to do something this weekend...oh, yeah, go see the new Superman movie, duh. Yes. That. 

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