Justice Society of America (vol.3) #42 (2010)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #42 (October, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Four"
Writer - James Robinson
Penciller - Mark Bagley
Inker - Norm Rapmund
Colorist - Allen Passalaqua
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Rachel Gluckstern
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $2.99

Gather 'round friends, it's time for a scary story.  Picture it, there's a young-ish man who makes daily "discussion and review" posts about some silly thing or another... and lately, it would appear that he's been trapped in within the dullest of subjects.

With sweat on his brow, he thinks to himself, "it's okay... there are only two days left."  Slump-shouldered, he reluctantly ventures into the cardboard metropolis that he'd allowed his front room to become... and reaches in for his next taste of his medicine, which would be bitter... if it weren't so dull.

The number 42 flashes before him... but that's not the story.  Behind #42 features a familiar "brand"... the Brightest Day continues?

Curious.

Fingers trembling, he gets a closer look at #43... and sees the four words that will forever be imprinted on his soul...

The

Dark

Things

Epilogue

So yeah... we went from a five-part story... to a seven-part one, counting the prelude issues... to now, an eight-part story!  Remember, that "decompressed" storytelling?  All in our heads, friends.  Doesn't exist.

--

We open with Kyle Rayner... and he's already singing a very different tune.  Remember how we wrapped up with him saying he was there to kill Alan Scott?  Well, now he's claiming that that's only a "last measure".  That's how real people talk, right?  Fly in, threaten to kill a guy... then be all "whoa, whoa... why are you all freaking out?".  Panicked, Jennie decides to take Obsidian's hand... and really, at this point, can we even blame her?

The heroes are suddenly surrounded by constructs... and then, well...

From here, (stop me if you heard this one) there are several pages of heroes fighting constructs.  Worth noting, Kyle's ring seems to be getting sapped of energy with the quickness.

We shift scenes to rejoin Dr. Mid-Nite and Mikaal.  They get a page of hot walking-down-a-hallway action, before the former leaves the latter in order to find help.

Next stop, the throne room.  Faust continues to prove that he's one of the more annoying characters around as he prods Starheart about his powers.  It's riveting stuff.  It's confirmed that Dr. Fate is the one keeping them bound, which I thought we'd already known.  Anyhoo, Dr. Mid-Nite sneaks up behind Fate, and removes his helmet.  This frees the captives.  In the confusion, Jay nyoinks the Starheart from Alan's hand.  Wildcat hauls off and socks Alan... causing him to shatter into teeny tiny green pieces.

So, where's the real Alan Scott?  Well, he's on Earth fighting Girls' Super and Power.  He's having a great time experiencing pain for the first time.  It's a twisted idea, that would be fun... if it wasn't wrapped in so much boredom.  Power Girl is then "affected" again... and starts to fight Supergirl... again.  Is Vince Russo booking this?  Do we really need to waste more pages at this point?!  Karen manages to fight off the possession... and Alan Scott vamooses.

We shift scenes back to the big ol' group of heroes... and they're, c'mon... fighting an army of constructs.  Still... for pages and pages.  Kyle's ring is still being sapped.  They are eventually joined by Dr. Fate and the formerly captive heroes (and Faust).  We wrap up with Alan Scott arriving... again.

--

You guys.

I haven't felt like this since we covered Millennium all those months ago.  This is just such a boring story... and, if we look at it... it has no right to be!  I mean, by all accounts this ought to be an action-packed JLA/JSA romp.  Instead we get a story that would struggle to stay interesting if it were only an over-sized Annual.

To be honest, if I realized this was going to be an eight-part "epic", and that it was going to be this aggressively dull, I wouldn't have started it.  Negativity isn't what this blog is all about and I really mean that... I'm not just saying that in order to keep getting free swag from DC (and no, I don't get any free swag from DC).

We find out last issue's cliffhanger was a bit of a bait-and-switch.  Nothing really new about something like that, I guess.  You'd figure with Jennie and Kyle's (and Donna's, even) past, there'd be a bit more drama here... but no, it's all very surface level.  Just a couple of "I loved you"s... which is kinda lame... and kind of a missed opportunity.

I guess I'll just put it plainly.  This arc is unfun, and if not for the Bagley art... I'd tell ya it has no reason to exist... or occupy any space in your comics library.  It's repetitive... the pacing (and stakes) are all over the place.  Just a mess that insists on taking up as much space as possible.

I feel like we've reached the point of no return... so, we kinda have to finish it up... right?  I mean, we've come so far.  Ehh, I guess we'll see how I'm feeling after I read the next chapter.

--

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Justice League of America (vol.2) #47 (2010)

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.

--

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.

--

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 Society of America (vol.3) #41 (2010)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #41 (September, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Two"
Writer - James Robinson
Penciller - Mark Bagley
Inker - Norm Rapmund
Colorist - Allen Passalaqua
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Rachel Gluckstern
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $2.99

The Dark Things rolls on... and, well... that's about all we can really say.

How many days does May have in it?

--

We open with... Miss Martian reporting in that she doesn't think she'll live much longer.  Hmm... well, that's random.  Don't worry it'll all make sense soon enough... I can't promise it'll be interesting, but we will wrap back around.  We then shift to Dr. Mid-Nite, Sebastian Faust and Jay Garrick in Opal City.  Ya know, since this is a James Robinson comic.  They're here to chat up the Shade... again, since this is a James Robinson comic.  What they find instead, however, is the corrupted pair of Dr. Fate and Obsidian!

After four pages of fighting, the heroes are abducted and taken into a portal.  Dr. Mid-Nite, who managed to sidestep the fracas voluntarily hops into the black portal.

From here we get a few more vignettes of our heroes combating corrupted magis and elementals... including Devastation, JSA All-Star Cyclone, Livewire, and... Yellow Peri?!  How 'bout that!  I've missed her.  Another great pull from the past!

We shift over to Alcatraz, which has apparently been reopened in order to contain super-powered baddies.  Not sure when that happened... and, I'm not sure it matters.  Anyhoo, inside... several more JSA All-Stars Lightning and Mr. America (and no, that's not me sarcastically referring to them as "All-Stars", that was the name of their team) are fighting off a prison guard named Burke.  Just an ordinary dude who has been corrupted by the Starheart situation.  This serves to illustrate that it isn't only a "meta problem".

Anyhoo, they fight off this prison guard for four pages before being jettisoned from "the Rock".  Lightning grabs Mr. America and helps him safely land on a chunk of rock jutting out of the bay.  It would appear that there might be some romance a'brewin'.

We jump ahead to the demolished Justice League Watchtower, where the amalgamated League plans their next move.  Turns out Miss Martian was enlisted in order to telepathically relay Mikaal's thoughts to the group.  This is where they learn about our gem-nyoinking cliffhanger. 

And so, Miss Martian continues to relay Starman's thoughts... and this is where we circle back to the open, where she says "I don't think I'll live much longer".  See, told ya it'd make sense... I didn't promise it would be interesting or satisfying... just that it would make sense.  Suddenly, Miss Martian transforms into a terrible beast, who threatens the heroes... for a single panel before being kayoed by Power Girl.  Why was she corrupted?  Is Mars an element now?

Anyhoo, as we draw to a close, Dick then splits the group assembling a team of six heroes who are the least likely to fall to the Starheart's corruption... Donna Troy, Jade, Mr. America, Jesse Quick, Hourman, and himself... Batman.  They'll be the ones headed to the other side of the Moon.

Well, you know as well as I do that you can't march into danger with only SIX soldiers... and so, we close out with the introduction of our Seventh... Mister Miracle, Shiloh Norman.  Because... ya know, Seven Soldiers... that was a clear reference, no?

--

Not gonna lie... this is pretty dull.  In fairness (I guess), this is very clearly being written "for the trade", which means... we've got pages to kill!

We get not one, but two four-page fight scenes... which really, we could've done in one.  If the Stargirl/Yellow Peri fight only gets a single panel, Mr. America and Lightning fighting a possessed prison guard didn't require much more than that.

Robinson, like many writers, has his habits... some, I love... like digging up and utilizing obscure characters (Yellow Peri!).  Others, I tolerate... like over-using The Shade.  We get it, the Robinson run on Starman (vol.2) is legendary.  Ask any DC Comics fan to name some of their favorite all-time runs, Starman will very likely be on it.  But dude, enough with the Shade.  Especially if you're only using him to job him out.

Now some important (and progression-facilitating) things did happen here.  We learned that humans (or lower-metas) can be corrupted by the Starheart, which raises the stakes exponentially.  It's still not interesting, but it is more dangerous.  We learned that Mikaal Tomas can survive having his gem forcibly removed from his chest.  And we introduced Shiloh Norman as the Seventh Soldier of Starheartory.

Overall... well, it still looks pretty great.  The story, however, is moving way too slowly to keep my interest... and we still have three more chapters to go!  Love Robinson as a writer, but I'm thinking that he and the Justice League just weren't a good fit.

--

DC Nation:

Hints about "what the future holds for the DCU"
Conspicuous by their absence... Fifty-Two new #1's!

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For once the poor focus isn't my fault!

841

Justice League of America (vol.2) #46 (2010)

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.

--

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.

--

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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