Justice League of America #242 - Sept. 1985

Part of the new JLA vs. Amazo, plus Aquaman's search for Mera!

The Story: "Battle Cry" by Gerry Conway, George Tuska, and Mike Machlan. Picking up from last issue, we see Aquaman as he begins his search for his wife, Mera. He asks some of his finny friends, who tell him they saw her "Southeast--place of dark currents."

Meanwhile, the JLA is in the Yukon searching for the rampaging Amazo.

The Elongated Man and Gypsy are the next JLAers to run afoul of the super-powered android, and then soon after Zatanna uses her powers to conjure an image of what's happening to her friends and teammates. She and Steel take off to find them.

By this time, Martian Manhunter (and Dale Gunn) have awakened after their beat-down by the hands of Amazo. Manhunter takes a cool drink from a nearby stream, and something clicks in his head--"that's the answer--water."

Back with Aquaman, we see him reach "the place of dark currents"--off the continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean, a crevice as vast as the Grand Canyon. Arthur senses his wife is near:

Back in the Yukon, Steel is going after Amazo, and has just as tough a time as Manhunter did. Meanwhile, Zatanna has rounded up Vixen and Vibe (yeah, they'll be a lot of help) when Amazo gets the drop on them, too!

Laying on the back of a softly swimming whale, Aquaman and Mera discuss their differences, and when Aquaman admits he inadvertently cut himself off emotionally from his wife, Mera welcomes him "home."

We see that Manhunter and Dale Gunn are on their way to Superman's Fortress of Solitude, claiming the solution is there. Manhunter told the rest of the team not to engage Amazo, only to keep an eye on him.

But obviously that hasn't worked out, because we see Elongated Man, Gypsy, and Vixen trussed up and dropped in a hole, which Amazo attempts to seal forever:

To be continued!

Roll Call: Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe, Gypsy

Notable Moments: I absolutely love the old-timey cover by Chuck Patton, even if it strikes me as odd--first off, why is Patton still doing covers even after he left the book so unceremoniously?

And second, the JLA was in dark period here, and the cover's light-hearted tone doesn't really match the events inside. But what the hey, its still nicely composed, and this Aquaman fan is happy to see Arthur happy, if only for a moment.