Justice League International #15
"Gnort and South!"
plot/breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: J.M. DeMatteis
pencils: Steve Leialoha
inks: Al Gordon
letters: Bob Lappan
colors: Gene D'Angelo
grade: A-
This comic continues to get better, even with Steve Leialoha turning in some seriously lackluster art. Sure, we've still got the hilarity of Lord Manga and his underlings
but it's finally the heroes, themselves, who get the spotlight in this issue and, for the first time, really start coming into their own. This time around, Giffen divides the team into two clear groups and attempts to build interpersonal relationships from there. For starters, even though we've only seen Blue Beetle and Booster Gold hang out by themselves once, and nothing all that impressive happened then, their relationship is now repeatedly discussed as if it's attained some kind of infamy.
And the addition of Fire and Ice rounds out this little pocket of personality nicely.
The humor is less deliberate and laugh-out-loud funny than in the past, coming off as more genuine banter. These folks know and enjoy each other. Giffen tried previously to round out the boys' club with Black Canary, but she was outnumbered and too militant in her response. Fire and Ice are not threatened by their male companions; they just enjoy showing them up. It makes for a more harmonious relationship.
Heck, together, the five (including Mister Miracle, though he's still practically a non-entity on the team) actually WIN their first ever battle without any outside tampering/assistance:
Clearly, Giffen knew he'd found something magical here.
The other pairing is Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter, which meets with less success. Giffen commented once in an interview I can no longer find that Helfer made him back off on turning J'onn J'onzz into comic relief like the other characters, specifically mentioning the obsession with Oreos that Giffen tried to give to J'onn in
Justice League International #8. Helfer was not a fan, and thus we have a deadly serious J'onn contrasted against a playful Captain Atom who is busting out Blue Beetle-style jokes, only with a little more self-doubt and tragedy attached to the remarks.
While these exchanges are usually played for comedy in the issue, we get a few serious ones. I'm not sold on the relationship, but I suppose there was dramatic potential in there.
So Giffen and DeMatteis are having the most success with characterization yet, even while Guy Gardner and Batman remain out of the picture. In fact, aspects of this issue feel like a setup for a new team line-up. We've got repeated comments that the team doesn't know where Guy is and needs someone to step in and fill his shoes
and then
this guy conveniently shows up in the pages of JLI AGAIN:
When G'Nort was first introduced in these pages, I couldn't figure out why. But just as Fire and Ice's first cameos in this title must have seemed random at the time, I begin to suspect that Giffen had bigger plans for G'Nort:
Sure seems like he was intended to take Guy's place, and his persona would really help to round out the Martian Manhunter/Captain Atom/Rocket Red personality cluster, but a last minute ending gets tacked onto this story where we see Guy still very much affiliated with the JLI and trying to bring Batman back to them. A step in the wrong direction, in my opinion.
Furthering the idea of roster changes, though, I commented earlier on that Mister Miracle has never managed to properly jibe with the rest of the team. Thus, he gets launched into space in this issue and separated from the team, but not before observing that
and, sure enough, Barda has joined up with the team at the end of the issue:
Sure seems like she's an intended replacement, even after they rescue Scott.
Of course, it seems like the JLI lineup is consistently shaped by the ever-changing whims of editors more than by Giffen and Helfer themselves, so G'Nort doesn't stick around, Guy and Batman come back, and I honestly don't know where Miracle and Barda land, but Giffen struck some real magic with the interpersonal relationships in this issue, and I cannot wait to see where he goes next.
Important Details:- The team's first legitimate win, doing enough damage to convince Lord Manga to retreat before losing any more money. For what it's worth, the most significant damage was done by G'Nort. Of course, one could then argue that it wasn't the JLI itself that earned the victory. Heck, I'll count it anyway. They fought well and worked together fluidly for once.
Plot synopsis:
G'Nort shows up and significantly impedes Lord Manga's mission, causing him to speed up the deadline to destroy the Earth, but the JLI is able to do enough damage to persuade him to retreat, but not before Mister Miracle gets stuck aboard their ship, causing Big Barda to join several of the JLI on a rescue mission that will presumably take place next issue.
