That is one goofy-looking Lord of Time! It looks like Batman could swing right into his mouth if he's not careful.The Story: "The Lord of Time Attacks the 20th Century!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Vietnam vet(!) Eddie Brent becomes a pawn of the Lord of Time, and has him use futuristic weapons to take on the JLA. Luckily the JLA figures out the Lord of Time is duping Brent.
Roll Call: Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow
Notable Moments: Hey, Gardner Fox remembered Aquaman is in fact a member of the JLA!
This issue guest-stars Robin for no real good reason, maybe with the Vietnam angle they thought they needed a younger POV, and Snapper Carr, being a total a-hole, didn't count.
The story opens in the jungles of Vietnam: "'Somewhere in the central highlands of Viet Nam, an automatic rifle chatters in flaming fury...' 'This is as far as you get, V-Cs!' Vatta-Vatta!" I'm sure actual Vietnam vets talked like that.
At the end of the story, the JLA literally gangs up on the Lord of Time, in a panel I found a tad distubring to look at:
...not only is it a little unfair, but the combination of the JLAers looks of glee with Lord of Time's look of pure misery makes me feel like this isn't one of their most heroic moments. The Lord of Time was such a pansy you could've just had Green Arrow take him out.
The story does have a nice ending, though--Eddie Brent is cleared of all charges, and receives a medal from an off-panel President Lyndon Johnson. It's a genuinely well-intentioned moment, marred only slightly by the fact that there are gaudily-costumed superheroes(including Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantrern, The Atom, and Hawkman) in the background.
That picture of them clocking The Lord of Time is pretty unnerving. And I can't believe Arthur swott'd him.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, they really needed to work Batman into more covers. Like as the central focus. It's almost like he's not a member. Got any JLA covers with Batman front and center?