Justice League International #8
"Moving Day"
plot and breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: J.M. DeMatteis
pencils: Kevin Maguire
inks: Al Gordon
letters: Bob Lappan
colors: Gene D'Angelo
editor: Andrew Helfer
grade: A-
The other day,
wildfire2099 made a comment that has really resonated with me:
I always felt like #7 was the real beginning of the series.. while 1-6 was just sort of a holding pattern while DC figured out what they wanted to do.
I'd only add that JLI #7, wrapping up the Gray Man storyline and spending much of the rest of the issue getting that international status in place,
still feels like a transitional issue before things really get started. Truly, this issue feels like the ground floor of a whole new series that's finally ready to get going.
Heck, the structure even parallels how Giffen structured Justice League #1, beginning with media reports serving as the mouthpiece of fans critical of or hesitant about the new approach:
all while a nosy crowd surrounds the HQ, never once suspecting the amateur behavior ensuing inside.
And yet, Giffen improves upon the old format, resisting the urge to impose a conflict upon the team and instead giving them more time to interact and reveal their characterizations for the readership. Instead of making the mistake of giving the spotlight to two or three key players, he takes a more diversified approach and gives us a chance to get to know just about everyone better as they establish their new HQ in New York, as well as embassies in Paris and Moscow.
Martian Manhunter:
Initially the most serious member of the group and, after the first issue, pretty much the least characterized member of the group, suddenly has a well-guarded funny side that he lets through on occasion.
Giffen once mentioned in an interview that he intended to make J'onn's obsession with Oreos a running gag, but Helfer overruled him. Here, when not taken to an extreme, it does a nice job of softening up the character, allowing him to continue Batman's role of being a strict leader who shows his lighter side on rare occasions.
Mister Miracle:
Formerly mostly lacking in characterization beyond being a bit of a wimp, he's now the tech guru of the group who sets up their security system and acquires their state-of-the-art new heli-vehicle. He also comes off as a bit of a perfectionist with a high frustration rate.
Captain Atom:
The new guy who is anxious to find his role in the organization but is somewhat dopey in this respect.
He also reveals a quick temper when he gets shocked by an electric cable and then blasts the entire security system to bits in response.
Guy Gardner:
Still has the inverted personality thing, but it isn't overplayed to the same extent that it was last issue.
Rocket Red:
Not much revealed about this guy yet, and I suspect that's the point. The completely covered face (you can't even see his eyes) and the completely generic name (we saw a whole troop of "Rocket Reds" in the third issue) reflect both Giffen's take on Russia's Communist ideal and, perhaps, an unwillingness on the part of the League to see him as a human being. It's interesting that he never takes off his helmet. Generally speaking, an artist
wants an opportunity to show the character and emotions in someone's face.
Booster Gold and Blue Beetle:
Here we have the very first buddy moment between the two, as they lounge around in Paris, and Beetle watches Gold strike out with a girl he's sure he can pick up.
The hilarity builds when it turns out she is the consulate to the JLI's French embassy. And, for the rest of the issue, Beetle continues laughing at Booster, unable to restrain himself.
Black Canary, in contrast, continues to play the straight man (or woman). Giffen is at least generally consistent about asking us to take the veteran League members more seriously unless/until they
decide to be funny in front of the team.
Meanwhile, Batman, once the center of this team, plays an ancillary role, appearing in order to make sure the establishing of the Moscow embassy goes well, but not really showcasing his personality at all. Giffen allows him to step aside so that others get the spotlight.
But beyond establishing characterizations and being really and truly funny once again, I feel the subtle intelligent critique beneath the surface coming back as well. We're watching the world turn its attention to a team of utter buffoons who cannot do the simplest of things right in this issue (rewiring a house, carrying crates up a staircase, picking up a woman, stopping themselves from laughing during a serious moment), culminating in the big finale -- the dramatic arrival of their new state-of-the-art vehicle.
The message is clear -- these guys are clueless, and yet it's not being done just for simple laughs, as a powerful contrast to the tone of this story is established with the B story that follows...
"Old News"
plot and breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: J.M. DeMatteis
pencils: Kevin Maguire
inks: Al Gordon
letters: Bob Lappan
colors: Gene D'Angelo
editor: Andrew Helfer
grade: A-
A short, but simple story that contrasts the start of the new and utterly clueless Justice League International with the team they don't even realize they are putting out of a job. The Global Guardians never had a UN sanction because it never had Maxwell Lord on its side, but even just by sitting around, talking in their soon-to-be-mothballed HQ, it becomes immediately clear that this team is far more worthy of a UN sanction than the JLI. There's a clear and dark injustice presented here, as this team takes itself
very seriously and comes off as both competent and passionate; two qualities we seldom see from the stars of this mag.
In fact, just in case the contrast wasn't immediately clear, we get this moment at the end where one of them comes in, complaining about not being able to get his parking ticket validated, and they all find themselves laughing at the absurdity that something so small should be worthy of their attention and concern.
They then purposefully allow that laughter to break up the heaviness of their predicament. Meanwhile, the mundane is
all the JLI ever really concerns itself with. They have no particular knowledge of nor interest in the missions they are sent on, but Oreos, faulty wiring, and picking up chicks takes up nearly all of their attention and concern. They are the polar opposite of this team, and the message is therefore clear: as funny as this title is, what's wrong with this world we live in when politicians and businessmen could believably put their trust and support behind a team of incompetents over time-honored heroes who know what they're doing and take the job seriously? Of course, it speaks to a deep injustice in our society that we're all too familiar with -- it's not what you do, but who you know. Giffen does a masterful job of using this lesson to cast doubt and suspicion across the entire world political landscape of the 1980s, even while also allowing us to laugh at the situation and therefore experience relief.
Powerful, masterfully executed stuff.
Minor Details:- In the lead story, the members of the JLI were hopping continents so quickly that it was confusing. How were they in Moscow or Paris one minute, and back in NY on the next page? I got really thrown when Booster and Beetle met that woman in Paris who ended up being their Bureau Chief, because they ran into her later on the same page at the New York HQ. There was no sense of time elapsing beyond their now being in costume. I figured it was an hour later until I realized they were back at the NY HQ. And then what were the chances of them running to this woman in Paris one scene earlier, before they knew who she was and vice versa?
- This is old old news, but are we
ever going to find out who hired The Royal Flush Gang to attack The League at the precise moment that Maxwell Lord was pushing for the team to accept Booster as a member way back in Justice League #4? I keep waiting to find out that Lord set this whole thing up, but it's never been brought up again.
Plot synopsies:
In the main story, the team establishes their new HQ in New York and their embassies in Moscow and Paris, Batman confronts the Russian Bureau Chief about the embassy being bugged while Rocket Red intimidates two KGB who have a problem with Guy Gardner being back on Russian soil after issue #3. Meanwhile, Mister Miracle picks up a wondrous new vehicle from STARR Labs that he promptly crashes when he tries to land it on the new HQ's brittle roof, and Booster Gold strikes out when trying to pick up a woman who ends up being the Paris Bureau Chief, much to Blue Beetle's amusement.
In the second story, The Global Guardians are being disbanded after becoming redundant in the wake of the JLI receiving official U.N. Sanction, but the team decides they can continue on unofficially, and Jack-O-Lantern flies off in a rage, presumably to confront the JLI.
