Justice League Spectacular #1 & Justice League America #61 (April 1992)
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Justice League Spectacular #1 & Justice League America #61 (April 1992)
Spinning out of "Panic in the Sky": the new Justice League of America! Now with more Superman, and more Dan Jurgens! The team makes its debut in Justice League Spectacular #1, in which the Royal Flush Gang (baddies themed after playing cards) take some foreign dignitaries hostage in an amusement park. Superman is about to ditch work and head there when Batman intercepts him just to casually bring up how there's no Justice League right now, and it sure would be nice if Superman reformed it.
Despite his "the world needs the Justice League" speech the other day, Superman passes on the job because he "works better alone." This, of course, is followed by Superman getting his butt kicked by the Royal Flush Gangsters, who now have access to high-tech weapons thanks to a mysterious benefactor. One by one, former JL members (including Beetle and Booster, Fire and Ice, Gardner and his haircut, etc.) arrive at the park to fight the villains and save the day, forcing Superman to admit that teams are great and he'd love to be in one.
In Justice League America #61, the mystery benefactor is revealed to be an interstellar arms dealer called the Weapons Master, who's been hired to steal Guy Gardner's Green Lantern ring. After studying the Leaguers as they fought the Royal Flush Gang, the Weapons Master comes prepared to deal with all of them, but two new additions throw him off: Maxima and the mysterious Bloodwynd, one of the top name/costume combos of the ‘90s.
Unprepared to deal with Bloodwynd, the Weapons Master teleports himself and all the other Leaguers into another dimension, where he forces them to play a game of chess with him – DEATH chess, that is! Each piece looks like a Justice League member, and if they fall on the wrong square, they'll be teleported into a certain death situation. (Spoilers: They're all "the wrong square.") To be continued, of course.
Plotline-Watch:
Maxima isn't officially a member of the League yet: in this issue, she just showed up because she's looking for a "suitable mate" before she can return to her home planet. There are a couple of volunteers, but she's only interested in Superman.
Maxima and Superman are actually tied for "most lusted after character in this book" right now: Ice also has the hots for Superman, and she happens to be Guy Gardner's ex-girlfriend. Yes, it's like Degrassi in here.
The reason Batman asks Superman to be the leader of the new JLA is that the Martian Manhunter has disappeared (and Bats himself doesn't wanna). Completely unrelated to the previous sentence: Bloodwynd is a brand new character who appears out of nowhere and who has powers like flight, invisibility and shooting rays from his eyes. Oooh, I know who he really is. He's Magneto, isn't he?
Don Sparrow has plenty to say about Dan Jurgens and Rick Burchett's art in this issue, so go read his section next!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We begin with the cover, the first of a few visual homages. This one refers back to the chess match cover from Justice League of America #1, all the way back in 1960, and it’s appropriate, as this is very much a #1 type story–nowadays, I’m sure they’d drop the numbering, and just start fresh, but I appreciate the continuity of the numbering, as well as the remaining characters under the new creative team. The rarely seen team of Dan Jurgens and Murphy Anderson really emulate Ira Schnapp’s original cover, especially Anderson’s finishes, which really give the image a Silver Age flair, right down to a Green Lantern disappearing.
Inside, we have our second homage to a #1 issue, this time to the first page of Justice League #1 from the Giffen/DeMatteis era, with Guy Gardner sitting alone holding court in the old Happy Harbour cave hideout. In our version, the cave has seen better days, after the events of "Breakdowns," so it’s a funny contrast.
Unfortunately for Guy, in either case, showing up early didn’t get his the chairmanship he wanted, as Booster and Beetle mutiny before the other members even arrive. Jurgens and Rick Burchett are an interesting pairing, and I get the feeling the credits (in the last page–hate that!) are accurate when they say that Burchett contributes the “finished art” which usually means that the penciller only drew very loose layouts. This makes sense considering at this time Jurgens was writing both books, and also pencilling a pretty excellent run on the main Superman title–so I’m amazed at his ability to draw two high-profile books at the same time. (Tom Grummett would also do double duty in a year or two, drawing both Adventures of Superman as well as the Robin ongoing). Burchett’s looser, cartoonier style works pretty well for these characters, who, while lacking some surface detail at times, never seem sketchy or unfinished. This team really seems to excel at slick, shiny surfaces, and there’s plenty of those to go around, between the costumes for Maxima, Booster Gold and our mystery villain.
Speaking of Maxima, her entry panel on page 3 (see Plotline-Watch above) is excellent, and makes you understand Booster and Beetle’s reactions.
PANEL OF THE WEEK: The pacing of the introduction to Superman is also really cool, as it’s a slow reveal building up on page 4, and it’s always an interesting visual contrast to see the primary coloured Superman in a real world, corporate setting. I love that second panel on the page, with him opening the glass door with office drones gawking. So it’s this week’s panel of the week!
Very quickly after that we meet our story’s villain–Jack Shephard! Obsessed with returning to a mystical island with healing properties, Jack tries to steal a Green Lan–JUST KIDDING. No, despite looking nearly identical to Matthew Fox, the villain is actually an update of The Weapons Master, a very literally titled villain who also dates from 1960.
His battle with the League is well choreographed, and his blows (and in particular the burns from his energy staff) look very painful. Superman’s full-page punch on page 12 also looks powerful, though since the guy is still standing afterward, he must be holding back a bit.
Ice’s valiant fight against Weapons Master is pretty inspiring. Ice is portrayed as so sweet and gentle, whenever she faces a really vicious threat, it almost seems unfair. She reminds me a lot of Gentle Heart Lamb from Care Bears (yes, I’m a man of diverse influences) in her meekness. But when it really counts, she never gives up, and it’s cool to see.
Bloodwynd’s entrance is well handled–stoic and silent, adding to the mystery of this character. It’s a nice touch that even the Weapons Master doesn’t know if he’s a good guy or not, and given his power set, the evidence leans toward him being a bad guy.
The background in Weapons Master’s weird pocket dimension is a good effect, especially given the print limitations of the day. Having those blocks of solid colour with no inked delineation must have been tricky, but it really gives the intended disorienting effect.
Lastly, the panel of Ice in the volcano world is pretty difficult to see, even if she’s turning it into her own scene from Flashdance. What a trouper.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
Hey Beetle, telling a woman you used to be a powerful rich industrialist is maybe not the best pick-up line. It’s like telling someone you used to be a bodybuilder–what are you right now?
Weapons Master’s energy staff looks fairly similar to Blue Devil’s staff. Hmmm.
I can’t think of a character who has gotten more panels focused on her posterior than Maxima. Not complaining, merely observing. [Max: Well, earlier on we get a shot of Booster's booty, too.]
Not too sure about Superman’s forceful characterization here. He really does come pretty close to gloating as he’s fighting Weapons Master. If he hadn’t barreled in quite so quickly, he might have done his trick from fighting Bloodsport, and ionized the air around him, disabling his ability to warp. But then again, it seemed like John Byrne was ALWAYS ionizing the air around things, so I can see why Jurgens would stay away from the concept.
I know Fire was kidding, but I really do think of this era as “Justice League Superman”. I was a huge fan of the Giffen/DeMatteis era, so to add my favourite character to that mix was very exciting at the time. Plus, the JLI always needs a straight man, and with Batman having quit, and Martian Manhunter definitely certainly off-planet, and appearing nowhere in these pages, Superman makes a good foil for all the craziness around him.
After being so offended when Superman calls him cheap, Weapons Master sure is quick to use the same epithet on Bloodwynd.
What’s this about boners, Blue Beetle? [Max: Ice looks utterly traumatized.]
Callback! Weapsons Master references the “red-skinned, three-eyed alien” of 1960’s Justice League #1. Hard to imagine Despero having a garage sale, but there you go.
