Justice League: Generation Lost #3 (Early August, 2010)
"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue."
Script - Judd Winick
Breakdowns - Keith Giffen
Pencils - Fernando Dagnino
Inks - Bit & Raul Fernandez
Colors - Hi-Fi
Letters - Sal Cipriano
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99
It's been a little while since the last time we discussed an issue of Generation Lost... so, let's have ourselves a little bit of a catch-up.
Maxwell Lord was one of the twelve folks brought back by the White Lantern... and his first order of business was to use his powers of suggestion to make the world forget that he ever existed... and it almost works! The world (minus the Gen-Lost Justice League) couldn't tell a Max Lord from a Mack Truck.
Or, I guess you could just click on one of these covers for a more complete recap...
This led to the League being looked at as... ya know, delusional. More delusional than the bwah-ha-ha League is usually looked at. When we last left them, Booster Gold received a trouble-call from... Ted Kord?!
Worth mentioning, today is Free Comic Book Day... so, if you're a newcomer to the fandom, welcome aboard! Just remember that comic shops are open and ready for you EVERY day... not just the ones that begin with the word "Free".
Haw haw, who am I kidding? We'll see ya in 364 days!
In the meantime, #BrightestMay rolls on!
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We open at the castle outpost of Checkmate where Fire is informed that she is not only unwelcome... but she's been relieved of her duties as well! Ya see, she failed her psych test... twice! Probably something about believing that there's the fella named Maxwell Lord roaming around. Meanwhile, in El Paso Jaime Reyes and his family are being attacked by OMACs!
Booster Gold, Ice, and Captain Atom arrive on the scene. Booster informs Beetle that these OMACs aren't completely artificial... there are innocent humans inside, so, ya know... don't kill 'em. Tora is bewildered as this breed of OMAC came around while she was un-alive. Skeets fills her (and us) in on how they came to be.
Inside, Jaime's pop decides "enough is enough" and starts swinging his cane at a lumbering OMAC... which would be adorable, if it weren't so sad. Ice suggests they beat a hasty retreat, but Booster figures that'll only cause the OMAC to follow... endangering anyone in their path. Suddenly, a portal opens... and hundreds more OMACs emerge!
Back at Checkmate, Bea is being read the riot act. The Black King calls out her family's mental history... and really makes a mess of things. Then, from the corner of her eye, Bea sees... a rather chuckleheaded
Max runs for a bit just to get out of sight before waiting for her to arrive. He mocks her a bit... and tries to get her to question her own sanity, before causing himself to combust in her green flame.
Bea panics, and bursts through the castle walls. The Black King calls off his men, suggesting that she's now the Justice League's problem.
Back in El Paso, the heroes (and Reyeseseses) are surrounded by OMACs. It's a pretty neat scene in that Beetle's suit keeps telling him ways to kill all of the OMACs... and doesn't immediately get the point that they're looking for a non-lethal solution. I give Winick a lot of grief for his poor dialogue, but this scene (hell, this series) is a great showcase for his abilities.
Finally, Beetle and the suit realize that powers of magnetism might be the best approach... which means, Blue Beetle has magnetism powers? I guess? Oh well, he uses 'em... and causes the OMACs to fall into a stasis.
Then suddenly, a portal opens... and begins to suck 'em all in. Beetle fights the pull, until Booster suggests they just follow 'em in. Tora ain't on board... but Booster doesn't really give her a choice in the matter.
They wind up in... Russia (three guesses as to where this is leading). They've completely lost the OMACs, and so, have a moment to gather their thoughts and breathe. Beetle asks a simple question... "Who's Max Lord?" Ya see, his suit/scarab, like Skeets, are forms of artificial intelligence, and therefore weren't affected by Max's "Forget me now" stunt.
We also learn that Jaime never sent the distress call to the League... the OMACs did that by attempting to "hack" into his Beetle armor. Almost like whoever sent 'em knew that the Gen Lost League would check it out. Hmm...
Then we wrap up... and since we're in bwah-ha-ha Russia, you know we're about to get a little Rocket Red.
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Moving right along... I'm still really enjoying this revisit.
Though mostly an action issue, they still managed to nudge the story forward enough to where it felt like a full-fledged "chapter". So often these days it's like we give up one for the other... like, here's the "big fight"... next issue, the heroes will stand around and talk for a bit. Here, we get both... and it's pretty satisfying.
Let's get Bea out of the way... her sanity (or psychological health) is called into question by Checkmate. As she fights to make her point... she sees friggin' Max Lord! The cause of all of her problems... he's just skulkin' around in plain sight! What a bad ass.
As soon as we see her "flame on", we get that pit in our stomachs... it's like "that's exactly what Max wants you to do!", which is what makes it so great. There's that idea that the more people tell you that what you think is wrong, the more steadfast in that belief you become... and so, with people telling Fire (and the Gen Lost League) that Max Lord was never a thing that existed... they only dig their nails deeper into the belief.
I'm not exactly sure what happened with Max bursting into flame though. Was that really him? Was he projecting his visage just to mess with Bea's mind? We didn't see a trickle of blood coming from his nose or anything, right? Dunno... still liked the scene though!
Then there's the El Paso scene. More good stuff! Really dug the dynamic of Beetle with the Gen Lost League... he's a natural fit, and not just because of his heroic namesake... though, it does help. I really dug the "conversations" he had with his suit... pleading with it to deduce a non-lethal solution to their OMAC problem. Makes me wish Winick had this kind of grasp on dialogue a decade earlier. It's funny, without going for that Kevin Smith/Bendis "snark". Winick is good when he's not trying to be someone else. Also, no soapboxes here... which is also a gigundous plus.
The art here is pretty good... though uneven. We get some panels that are just flat-out awesome... and Dagnino mostly does a great job with "cute" female faces. I don't say that in a disparaging way either... this is really good stuff. On the other hand, some of the pages do look kind of rushed... and some of the dude's faces are a bit "chuckleheady".
Overall... still having a blast with this one. This series is probably my personal highlight for the entire Brightest Day "crossovent" (ya like that?). Of course, nothing came of it... but, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it. This series is still worth a look!
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826
The artwork is gorgeous.
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