We said, no one escapes the Manhunters!The Story: "No World Escapes the Manhunters!" by Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the Manhunters are still hunting for Green Lantern, who along with Green Arrow and Black Canary, have eluded their captors for the moment.
While Wonder Woman and Flash are trying to head off an intergalactic war, Superman and Batman follow a hunch that the planet--Orinda--that Green Lantern "blew up" is, in fact, still there, but hidden. Its here that one of the Guardians explain to them the close relationship between them and the Manhunters.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Flash have run out of time and air, since the Manhunter's leader The Grandmaster has encased the JLA satellite in an indestructible bubble. But Wonder Woman digs out the Dharlu (from JLA #130!) from the JLA computer and uses its abilities to break the bubble.
The JLA figures out that Orinda has not, in fact, been destroyed, and it was all a plot. One of the Manhunters--Mark Shaw--realizes he's been deceived and turns on the Grandmaster, who turns out to be an android.
There's a neat sequence with the JLA fighting the Manhunters where we get to see Batman as the unstoppable fighting man who helps figure out this plot:
Mark Shaw is left a bit disillusioned, but tells the JLA he still wants to use his skills to fight for justice...somehow.
And while it seems the trouble is over, Green Lantern informs his teammates that he's been trying to contact Aquaman, Elongated Man, and Atom...but can't find them anywhere! To be continued!
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary
Notable Moments: Not only was Dick Dillin drawing more pages now, but Englehart was throwing all kinds of stuff at him--alien races, hordes of Manhunters...Nothing Stops Dick Dillin!
Wonder Woman has been giving Flash a lot of grief in the last few issues, but here she explains that her newfound sense of liberation is butting up against Barry Allen's ingrained sexism. A neat little character trait, and it fits well with the "old fuddy duddy" personality that Barry had.
I remember liking this conclusion more than I liked the set-up...maybe because of the way Wonder Woman and The Flash act, or maybe because I *knew* GL hadn't destroyed a planet, so the drama from the first part seemed wrong somehow...Anyway, I enjoyed this issue and looked forward to the next issue featuring three of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteQuick story here, I actually bought this issue of the old squeaky rack before the previous issue. It was the first of a reoccurring story in my young comic collecting. (Got X-Men 136, 135, then 137)
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this and realizing just how expansive the DCU was. Whole other worlds (that hadn't exploded...), the back story on the Manhunters and more on GL.
Plus, I think Buckler hit two solid ones with these two covers. We are deep in what I think of when I remember the Justice League.
You can tell this issue was written when the television show "Happy Days" was popular, because in one panel, Manhunter tells Green Lantern to, "Sit On It". hahaha
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