Justice League of America (vol.2) #48 (October, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Five"
"Cogs, Part 3"
Writer - James Robinson
Pencillers - Mark Bagley & Pow Rodix
Inkers - Rob Hunter, Norm Rapmund, Don Ho, Derek Fridolfs, Rich Perrotta & Ruy Jose
Colors - Ulises Arreola & Zarathus
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $3.99
Remember when your parents would wake you up for school in the morning? Remember pleading with them for "five more minutes"?
That's kinda how I'm feeling right now.
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We open on the Moon with Alan Scott and the amalgamated Jade-sidian threatening our heroes. We then jump to Earth where Mr. Terrific has Supergirl and Power Girl "science" their way into a schematic to counter the Starheart. Karen understands "the science" and Kara....'s mother was part of the Science Guild, so that's good enough.
Back on the Moon, Dr. Mid-Nite returns the chest-gem to Mikaal Tomas.
On the battlefield, Dr. Fate casts the spell of restraint on Jade-sidian, and successfully separates the siblings.
And then...
Ohhhhh yeah, this is a Brightest Day crossover. Jennie stays all White Lanterny for a moment... but it fades pretty quickly, at which point... Obsidian suggest that they combine again. Before it gets too weird, Jade recharges Kyle's ring... who then snags Todd, and takes him as far away from Jennie as possible.
Then... more constructs. Six (more) pages of construct battling. Worth noting, that Power Girl and Supergirl cracked the schematic... and have brought the Earth-bound heroes into battle. As the battle rages, we get that one scene we knew was coming the entire time. Jennie is able to draw the darkness from Alan... who finally begins to realize who he really is.
Who he really is, is... Green Lantern. Duh.
Hoo-hah, everything's cool again... and we jump into our "epilogue"... well, the epilogue of the issue. There's an issue-long "The Dark Things, Epilogue" issue in our future.
We wrap up with Supergirl wondering why she was never corrupted. She suggests she just "got lucky"... but she should really know better, nobody involved with this story... readers included (and especially), can be considered "lucky".
There's also the back-up... which I'm going to give as little thought as the Robinson seemed to. Cyborg is able to bring Red Tornado back from the brink... and doesn't even have to resort to the big "risk" we were cliffhung with last issue.
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We've covered our share of stinkers here at the blog, but this one might just be the stinkiest. I really want to apologize for perhaps a less thorough/pleasant than usual "outing" here... but really, it was all I could do to push through. Odd, I don't remember hating this quite so much back in 2010. I must've just been in comics nirvana or something.
You know when you're cramming for a test... and you reread the same pages of text over and over again... and each time, it becomes more and more muddled? That's how this arc has felt for the past few days. I had to read... and reread, because there was just nothing there to keep me entertained and engaged. Don't even get me stah'ted on the back-up either.
For the past week the blog has become something of an assignment. Something I "had to" do, rather than something I had some fun doing... and I can't promise that that didn't come through in my writing. That is not what this site is all about... and, from this point on... if we start an arc that absolutely sucks, we're not going to force through it. I think we'll all be happier that way.
For the issue itself... Supergirl and Power Girl use "the science" to counteract the Starheart... kinda? Then, just like we've all seen coming for the past few days, Jade draws the darkness from her father... who is finally able to break through. Yawn.
There's a sort of interesting (and creepy) deal between Jade and Obsidian. It ends pretty quickly... and leaves us in a position where... I don't think we want to know what happens next? When Kyle dragged Todd away, I'd have been happy never to see him again.
I haven't mentioned it, but for this entire arc anytime Jesse Quick or Hourman were on panel, there would be a narrative caption about how much they love one another. I didn't mention it because, really... there isn't all that much more to say about it. We could look at it as a feverish codependency... or we could contrast the lack of "love" in everyone else's narrative captions and see just how alone/unlucky in love the rest of their teammates are. Either way... it's not terribly interesting.
Did we really need this many issues to tell this story? Hell, did we even need one entire issue to tell it? Like I said the other day, this story would struggle to fill an annual, much less eight whole issues. We all saw the ending coming from a mile away... the whole magilla could've been sorted out in the amount of pages the Cyborg/Red Tornado backups got.
I think I actually had more fun with Superman: Grounded... at least I could muster the interest to get mad at that piece of garbage. This was just an exercise in boredom... an insanity test, which I'm not sure I passed!
Overall... you don't need this arc in your life. I have trouble reconciling in my mind that this is that James Robinson. The James Robinson who captivated a generation of DC Comics readers over the course of 80 issues of Starman. Bagley's art is still quite good... though the fact that there were like 30 inkers on this issue made things look rather uneven. I'm gonna freestyle that the inkers just kept falling asleep on the job. And if that was the case, I can't say that I'd blame them one bit.
We'll epilogue this one tomorrow... then put it behind us forever.
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Justice League of America (vol.2) #47 (September, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Three"
"Cogs, Part 2"
Writer - James Robinson
Pencillers - Mark Bagley & Pow Rodix
Inkers - Rob Hunter & Ruy Jose
Colors - Ulises Arreola & Zaratus
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $3.99
Read "The Dark Things". It's only five-parts, I says to myself... not realizing that there is also a two-part prelude. Seven-parts ain't no thang, so long as the story is interesting...
... Guess the joke's on us.
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We open at the Hoover Dam, where Congorilla is holding the entire magilla up while the area is evacuated. During this, he unfortunately falls victim to the Starheart madness. All around the world, things are just going nuts... even with our Justice League: Generation Lost pals.
The makeshift Seven Soldiers arrive on the dark side of the Moon, and after checking in with the All-Stars (who have their hands full with a lot of emerald energy) they enter a strange "five-sided room". Everything goes sideways (literally), while Shiloh attempts to solve the situation.
It takes a few pages, but he finally cracks the code... only for the group to be attacked by a pack of rabid constructs. Mister Miracle takes rather a whupping... and has to resort to Mother Boxxx (with three x's, yes) technology to be healed.
Unfortunately, this leaves the League one soldier short when s'more (super-villain themed) constructs attack.
We shift scenes over to the throne room of Alan Scott. He is flanked on either side by Obsidian and Dr. Fate... and his former teammates, Jay Garrick and Wildcat (along with Faust) are knelt before him. Alan sends Obsidian to "deal with" their visitors. Very pretty page... it's really quite a shame that this art is being wasted on this story.
The captives try and chat Alan up... attempt to maybe encourage whatever's left of the man to fight off the Starheart madness. Alan's reply implies that there is no more Alan Scott... all there is, is Zuul the Starheart.
Then Faust decides to chime in. He asks Starheart what he wants with the world now that it's within his grasp... to which, Starheart hasn't the foggiest. Faust then gets a bit pushy... he asks why the all-powerful Starheart has to resort to using Dr. Fate in order to keep them bound.
Before he can answer... we shift scenes, and rejoin Dr. Mid-Nite. If you recall (and I can't blame you if you don't), Mid-Nite voluntarily jumped into Obsidian's portal in an earlier chapter. What he finds is... Mikaal Tomas!
We rejoin the Soldiers for several pages of hot-n-heavy construct fightin'... which, well... it's something, I guess. Looks pretty! Anyhoo, Obsidian shows up and tries to convince Jade to join with him and their father.
Before she can decide... there is a burst of emerald light. When it clears, we see... not Alan Scott... hell, not even Hal Jordan, but Kyle Rayner! Jennie is happy to see him, after all, they could use his help. He then informs her that he's not here to help... he's been sent by the Guardians to kill Alan Scott.
Well, that would've been one helluva cliffhanger... if it weren't for the damned backup story. We're back at S.T.A.R. Labs-Houston with Cyborg. Dr. Light (the good one) offers him a job as head of S.T.A.R. Robotics! Did Vic earn his Doctorate and I missed it?
We then jump into a flashback, which... in fairness, ties this story together with The Dark Things... elementals are going nuts, and if you recall (and again, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't) we wrapped up the last one of these with Vic going toe-to-toe with Red Tornado. Vic laments that due to the improvements he himself made to Red Tornado, it's impossible to "turn him off"... unless he make a certain high-stakes risk.
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I'm sorry guys, I feel like my heart's just not in this one. Hmm, ya don't think... nah, couldn't be that I'm suffering the effects of the Starheart, could it? Well, no... what I'm suffering is the effects of a very dull story.
To be completely honest, if it weren't for the Kyle Rayner-flavored cliffhanger (that I'd totally forgotten about), I can say with confidence that we would'a "tapped out" on The Dark Things with this issue. We've only ever done that once here... but, ya know... if I'm not having fun... what's the point? I mean, it can't be much fun for anyone reading this (if, in fact, anyone is) to read the ramblings of an obviously bored blogger.
This isn't even so bad where I can get comically angry at it. It's just a poorly-paced, and wildly dull affair. Maybe Robinson is trying to evoke the frenetic "vignette" style of the main Brightest Day series? Because, if we really look at it... that's all we're really getting here.
You ever play the Uncharted games? Or really, any third-person shooter, I guess. You spend some time exploring beautiful scenery... then all of a sudden you enter into a clearing, with a whole lot of convenient formations to take cover behind. That's when you know there's going to be a firefight. That's how this arc is starting to feel. We get lost in the art for a moment... then fight. It's very formulaic... and, by the seventh or eighth time, it begins to feel like more of a grind than anything.
When I become more interested in counting how many pages are being wasted fighting "constructs" than actually enjoying the battle scene, that might be a problem. In fairness, that might just be my problem, but... it's a problem none the less.
So, what did we learn here? The Starheart has fully taken over Alan Scott (which will likely end precisely the way we imagine it will). Mikaal Tomas is hooked up to some sort of construct cropping. Dr. Fate is the one keeping Flash, Wildcat and Faust captive. And Kyle Rayner has been sent to... kill Alan Scott. Oh, and Mother Boxxx now has three x's (probably a Morrisonian touch, though I wouldn't swear to it).
The backup also "happened", but this time it feels more tied in with the lead-off story. It's still not all that interesting... but has some fun visuals.
I'm guessing this is a far more satisfying read in collected format... though, that's also something I wouldn't swear to. These Brightest Day stories don't get all that much lip-service... and maybe there's some non-New-52! reasoning for that. I couldn't recommend rushing out any grabbing this at anywhere near cover price ($3.99). If you find it on the cheap... well, the art is very nice.
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Justice League of America (vol.2) #46 (August, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part 1"
"Cogs, Part 1"
Writer - James Robinson
Pencillers - Mark Bagley & Pow Rodrix
Inkers - Rob Hunter, Norm Rapmund & Belardino Brabo
Colors - Ulises Arreola
Letters - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $3.99
Okay, so the Prelude to "The Dark Things" kinda left me cold... and confused. We could pack it in right now... but that's not the way we do things here (unless we're reading The L.A.W., then all bets are off).
Today we will continue to soldier on through the Brightest Day... in hopes that maybe this will all make sense when we come out the other end.
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We open with Supergirl and Batman (Dick Grayson) on patrol of Gotham City. If you recall, since the whole Starheart thing went down, all of the magic/elemental/chaotic metas have been corrupted... among them, water elemental and former Primal Force member Naiad. I gotta hand it to Robinson, he'll pull some obscure characters, I tell ya what. Dick takes aim at Naiad while Supergirl quells the tsunamis she's brewing in her wake. Seems like these two make a pretty good team.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, the oddball team of Congorilla and Jesse Quick are able to subdue the Samurai... as in the fella from the Super Friends cartoon. What a way to make "a splash" in DC Comics. Of note, Congorilla tells Jesse that he had worked with her father back in the long ago.
We catch single-panel vignettes of other Justice team heroes taking down some corrupted threats, including Blue Devil and Klarion the Witch Boy... before flashing back to just moments after Alan Scott and Obsidian decimated the heroes and took their leave. It's a pretty contentious little meeting, with Wildcat accusing Jade of causing all of this with the Starheart... he even goes so far as to suggest that she's not actually who she says she is. After all, Jade's dead, right? Nevermind all that Brightest Day stuff going on... Lord knows by now we've all forgotten that that's even going on in the background! We also learn that Power Girl was corrupted because she's a "solar battery", which doesn't explain why Supergirl wasn't... but, at this point are we sure that even matters?
The team decides to split off to tackle the disparate corrupted threats... and we join Donna Troy and Jade as they fight off a twisted Klarion the Witch Boy (with his cat Teekl). Once the subdue the brat they proceed to plan their next move. Jade thinks maybe the answers lay within... a lantern.
And so, we follow them to the home of Alan and Molly Scott (Alan's wife and former Harlequin... not that one, and not that one either)... where Jade requests use of her father's lantern.
Jade holds the piece aloft and... with a Black Lantern logo in the sky behind her (eh?) scans the cosmos for her father and brother. After reciting the Golden Age Green Lantern Oath... she's found 'em!
Before we know it, Mikaal Tomas is already en route to the location provided... the Dark Side of the Moon. Thankfully, instead of finding Eclipso... he comes across an emerald construct swirling with a whole lotta Alan Scotts.
The construct Scotts notice his presence, and they attack. Amid the distraction, the real green deal is able to sneak up close and nyoink the gem from Mikaal's chest!
That's the story... but not the end of the book. My friends, we have... a back-up. I'm not sure what we did to deserve this, but we've got several pages of Cyborg and Red Tornado team-up ahead of us. We open with Kathy Sutton asking Vic if she's crazy to have fallen in love with the Red Tornado. Which... I mean, they've been together forever at this point... why ask that now?
The above scene is actually a flashback. Presently, Vic and Reddy are duking it out... with Tornado pleading with Vic to figure out a way to destroy him once and for all. Annnnnd, that's it.
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Well, this was better than last issue. Damning with faint praise, perhaps... but, it's a start!
Let's talk about some of the good points. I really enjoyed the interpersonal dynamic between the paired off heroes. I always say that you can really test your strength as a writer if you were to lock two characters who (on the surface) had very little in common in an elevator. Ya follow? They'd have no choice but to talk and share and learn about one another.
That's sort of what we get here. Dick and Supergirl haven't ever been a "thing", especially not this Supergirl. It was pretty cool having them together, and seeing a tentative team-up breed mutual respect between them.
Congorilla and Jesse Quick was a neat little team-up I never knew I needed. Adding the wrinkle that Bill and Johnny Quick had worked together on an African documentary back in 1953 was a fun idea too. It gives them some common ground, which could've been built on if DC hadn't... well, you know... one year later.
Donna and Jade is an interesting team-up... and with their history, I assumed it would've been a bit more standoffish. I mean, it wasn't too long ago we discussed the two of them fighting over Kyle Rayner. Jade mentions the Donna/Kyle relationship in a narration caption... but they don't speak of it aloud. Feels kind of like a missed opportunity... but, who knows? Maybe I'm just a sucker for Green Lantern drama?
Another item in the "plus" column is Robinson's use of some oddball characters. I always appreciate it when a writer pulls from the past... and, while this story hasn't exactly been rocking my socks, I will definitely give Robinson his due... he lovingly uses bits and pieces from DC's past, seemingly with every opportunity he gets!
The "Dark Things" story gets a little forward momentum... we discover where Alan and Obsidian are camped out... and that's about it. Not really bad for a "Part 1"... hell, it's certainly more progression than we get today.
The back-up... just sorta "happened" to us. Don't quite know what the point of it was... feels kind of out of place. Unless this is a way to facilitate Vic joining the League a few issues down the line, I just don't see a reason for it. You know me though, if a backup doesn't consist of Clark Kent writing in his diary... or feature Mr. and Mrs. Superman, I could care less.
Overall... ehhh. It's an okay issue, featuring some pretty fun character interaction. I'm less confused than I was yesterday... but unfortunately not a whole lot more intrigued either. This is probably a far more satisfying read as a collected edition.
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