Justice League America #62 (May 1992)
Justice League America #62 (May 1992)
Superman and the Justice League are trapped by the Weapons Master, who is apparently into some kinky 50 Shades shit. As seen last issue, the Weapons Master kidnapped the whole JLA to steal Guy Gardner's Green Lantern ring and sell it for big bucks, but then decided to play with them for a while (he's very lonely) using a magical chess board that teleports people to certain deaths. Ice is the first to get teleported into what looks like the inside of an active volcano, but Blue Beetle manages to teleport Superman to the same place to save her.
Ice, naturally, uses this opportunity to hit on him.
While the Weapons Master amuses himself by creating naked green women with Guy's ring (I told you he was lonely), Beetle figures out how to take the ring away from him and reunite his teammates. Unfortunately, they're all still stuck in the Weapons Master's dimensional playground while WM himself escapes to his private sailboat – which is then assaulted by the League's mysterious new friend from last issue, Bloodwynd. Bloodwynd frees the Leaguers and is thus automatically enrolled into the team… along with Maxima, because she was standing next to him, I guess.
Apparently it does "please" Maxima to stay, because we next see her taking a bubble bath in the JL headquarters. It's not like her home planet needs her or anything. MEANWHILE: We see that Maxima's home planet has been conquered by a space tyrant for the second time in, like, three months. Whoops.
Romance-Watch:
Maxima still wants Superman to be her King but, as seen above, things between him and Ice are… I can't do it. I can't make that pun. But anyway, this leads to the second most emotional Guy Gardner scene since that issue where he took Ice on a date to a porno theater:
Dang. That sad floop always gets me.
Who The Hell Is Bloodwynd-Watch:
Who is he? I don't know. But Blue Beetle is curious about why Bloodwynd knows so much about the League and wants to find out. Also, Bloodwynd says he found the Weapon Master's sailboat by using his magic to "telepathically" scan one of his weapons. Hmmm. Could he be Jean Grey of the X-Men?
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
A pretty great issue where the “weakest” member must do battle with The Weapons Master. Not the best plan by the Weapons Master–it would have been infinitely easier to NOT toy with Ted Kord, slip the GL ring off Guy’s finger and get paid, but, lucky for us, he insisted on the former.
The art is quite interesting in this issue–rather than the cartoony, smooth inks of Rick Burchett we have the linear, thinner inks of Jackson Guice, and it’s a good look as he fleshes out Jurgen’s layouts (though he still has some issue with foreshortening when characters are seen from a low angle, or looking up, like Ice on page 3, Superman on page 6, and most especially Weapons Master on page 10).
I love how blasé Blue Beetle is when dealing with the “all-powerful” Weapons Master, never giving him the satisfaction of mortal fear, because the game is rigged anyway. Telling him to shut up on page 3 is one of my favourite Beetle memories of all time.
PANEL OF THE WEEK honours go to the bottom left panel of page 7, where Superman gently and sweetly encourages the weak and possibly dying Ice to keep fighting despite the volcanic temperatures. I get the feeling that if Ice were in really bad shape he’d use his arctic breath to cool the air around her, but I like seeing Superman’s kindly leadership here, coaching Tora to fight for herself, and proudly praising her as she manages it. We can really see how a crush on Superman could develop, under these circumstances.
I like how Beetle pieces all the information together, and how Bloodwynd as wild card turns the tables (and the boat) on Weapons Master. In the art department, there’s lots to like, from the rock monster that Maxima defeats, to the drop dead gorgeous drawing of Fire on page 18.
I’m not sure about how Max Lord looks in these pages. I’m used to him being a stand-in for Sam Neill, but in these pages he looks a lot more like Larry Hagman (and in a few panels, fellow Jeannie alum Paul Lynde). [Max: He looks like different people? Holy crap, I figured it out! Maxwell Lord is J'onn J'onnz in disguise! Moving on..] Max getting Bloodwynd’s name wrong was really funny, and I could see Image Comics artists of the time reading that page and rushing out to copyright Deathwind and Bloodsky.
I also like Oberon’s non-plussed reaction to Bloodwynd’s weirdness, as well as Beetle’s continuing curiosity about who Bloodwynd is. There’s a huge hint in Bloodwynd’s posture as he meditates on page 21.
Lastly, it wouldn’t be a Maxima comic without her being scantily clad, and yup, last page, bathtub. All in all a great start to the Superman Justice League era, with a shadowy figure promising it’s going to get worse before it gets better.