Justice League of America #243 - Oct. 1985

Aquaman returns, and the final chapter of the Amazo story!

The Story: "Storm Clouds" by Gerry Conway, George Tuska, and Mike Machlan. Continued from last issue, we see Aquaman--with Mera--return to the JLA's Detroit headquarters. He isn't relieved when he sees its empty.

Using the JLA computers, he sees the JLA headed for the Canadian Northwest, and he gets a feeling in the pit of his stomach--a bad one. Has he abandoned his friends when they needed him most?

Back in the Yukon, we see most of the JLA, unconscious and trussed-up, as they remain trapped in a pitch-black pit, put there by Amazo.

Vixen suffers from claustrophobia, but she finds it in herself to stay calm, and the power of her Tantu Totem allows her to break free of her rope bonds. Now...to dig herself and her friends out!

Meanwhile, Manhunter and Dale Gunn have arrived at the Fortress of Solitude, which was, before the melee in the Yukon, Amazo's last known address, as it were.

Vixen does manage to move the rock Amazo left there and dig herself out, helping her teammates out of the pit. She is met by another JLA shuttlecraft, and she is shocked to see it's Aquaman, and he's not alone:

Back at the Fortress, Manhunter finds what he was looking for: how Amazo escaped. Turns out it was an errant meteor that crashed and freed Amazo, not some supervillain or Amazo himself. To Manhunter, that means that all this destruction he is causing is from whatever human he first encountered, whose personality he assumed.

While Mera tends to the wounded JLAers, Aquaman tracks Amazo, who has made his way to Vancouver, and is ripping up the town!

They fly the shuttlecraft over him, and Aquaman dives out, getting a few good shots in on Amazo before he knew what--or who--hit him.

Back in the small town where all this started, Manhunter finds out that Amazo has been calling himself "MacGregor." Who's MacGregor? The local constable tells him:

...Tuska may not have been the best choice for superhero slugfests like this, but I simply adore that portrait of MacGregor--its so perfectly realized. Cartoony yet real--many artists tend to draw heavy people so they look grotesque, like Jabba the Hut, but Tuska nails it.

Anyway, back to Vancouver (where I'm sure all the destruction is causing the many, many movies always being shot there to halt production), Steel recovers enough to try again with Amazo. Amazon responds by throwing an unconscious Vixen at him.

Amazo is then confused when he meets--himself, Slick Jake MacGregor! But...how can that be?

Amazo is distracted long enough for Aquaman to deliver a two-handed, knockout wallop upside Amazo's head. MacGregor reveals himself, of course, to be Martian Manhunter using his shape-shifting powers.

Aquaman is happy, but Manhunter demands and explanation. He gets one, but probably not the one he wanted or expected:

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

Notable Moments: And with that abrupt ending, Aquaman's quarter-century career with the Justice League comes to an end.

At the time, I was furious that this story ended like this--I had been waiting for the eventual payoff to Aquaman being such an AquaJerk these past few months, but instead he ditches the JLA, gets back with the wife who seems to leave him every few months (I know she's hot an all, Arthur, but there are plenty of fish in the sea!), and leaves the JLA. I was fifteen, and the word "stricken" comes to mind as I recall reading this comic for the first time.

Of course, I now know some of the external forces that caused this, and while I wouldn't trade the superb Neal Pozner/Craig Hamilton Aquaman mini-series for anything, I really wish a better compromise could have been worked out between what Gerry Conway was doing here and DC's plans for Aquaman.

Also, this cover marks JLA Detroit co-creator Chuck Patton's final work on the book. After a fill-in next issue by Joe Staton, a new regular penciler takes over, the last one the book would ever have.

Interesting tidbit: on the JLA Mail Room page, letter writer Kent A. Phenis (who seemed to get more letters printed in DC books than anyone save T.M. Maple) wonders if the Phantom Stranger is still a member, since he wasn't around to be forced to make a choice.

Editor Alan Gold isn't sure, but I think its a safe bet that if Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman, et al, showed up too infrequently for Aquaman's tastes, then the Stranger was definitely out. He probably would've sent the Stranger his JLA membership card torn up into little bits, if he had known where to send it.

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.

Justice League of America #241 - Aug. 1985

An old foe returns to face the new JLA!

The Story: "Sea Change" by Gerry Conway, George Tuska, and Mike Machlan. We open in the the Yukon, where we see a drunken, staggering man named Slick Jake MacGregor cursing the small town he's stuck in.

Jake gets caught in a blizzard and bumps into an ice-encrusted, strangely dressed stranger, who grabs MacGregor and starts to shake him, his hands heating up, until MacGregor screams in agony!

Cut to: the JLA's Detroit headquarters, where Aquaman is taking a swim while talking to Vixen.

Vixen is trying--again--to convince Arthur to go search for his wife, Mera. Aquaman is having none of it, saying she left him, her choice, and he wants to respect that decision. Vixen calls shenanigans:

While Vixen rejoins the rest of the League in preparing a meal, Aquaman sits in his quarters and broods. He told Vixen his mind is made up, but we see he's anything but sure.

Back in the Yukon, we see the local sheriff as he staggers out of a local bar. He can barely drive his truck, but that's the least of his troubles, as he runs into the same mysterious stranger, who picks up the sheriff's car, tosses it, and then blows it up with...heat-vision?!?

Meanwhile, we see Steel, Vibe, and Ralph and Sue out on the Detroit streets together, when they get a JLA distress signal. Vibe says this is his chance to try on his "new suit":

I'm not sure who designed it, but I do like this new costume of Vibe's much more than his original. And even though my...uncertainty about Tuska's work on the JLA has been said before, what he was best at sometimes came through: I just love the look on Gypsy's face in the second panel there.

Anyway, Manhunter explains they have two problems--news of what's happening in the Yukon has reached them, and the fact that their leader, Aquaman, is missing!

Manhunter figures out, based on what kind of destruction this stranger is wreaking, that it is their old foe, the one-man JLA, Amazo!

The JLA arrives in the Yukon, and they split up to search for Amazo. Its Manhunter who finds him, who alone proves no match for the super-powered android.

Meanwhile, we see where Aquaman went:

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: After one issue by Mike Sekowsky, having a major story line drawn by George Tuska, instead of regular artist Chuck Patton, was disorienting as heck.

I never understood why Aquaman just took off, as opposed to telling Manhunter--or at least Vixen--where he's going. It seems as irresponsible as the JLAers he railed against for not showing up during the Earth-Mars war.

JLA/Aquaman fan Vince Bartilucci generously sent me a scan of a page of original Tuska artwork from this issue that's in his collection:

I'm struck at how much nicer Tuska's work looks to me in the original black and white. Colorists tended to color Tuska's work in day-glo, coloring book-style colors, so I guess its no surprise that it looks better like this.

Thanks Vince!

Justice League of America #240 - July 1985

A blast from the past for the JLA!

The Story: "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be!" by Kurt Busiek, Mike Sekowsky, and Tom Mandrake. Early morning at S.T.A.R. Labs, Temporal Research Division (of course they have one of those), we see two scientists, named, er, Fred and Daphne, discover something amazing--a human figure trapped in the timestream!

They use a handy (very handy) machine to get information on this time traveler, "viewing" events from his life, and they learn this man is Dr. Phineas Quayle, one of the world's leading physicists.

One day, in 1932, he came home to find an armed man waiting for him, who demands money! Dr. Quayle is no easy mark, however, and he quickly knocks the man upside the head with his umbrella, knocking him over.

But the doctor is also a kind man, and offers the disheveled man a meal and a few bucks to tide him over.

The man accepts, but Quayle realizes something bigger must be done, something to help all the people in the grip of this countrywide depression. He decides to build nothing less than a time machine, to go into the future, find a solution to the depression, and bring it back to his time!

He actually succeeds at this, landing in the mid-1960s. Scenes of an assassinated president, campus unrest, and riots in the streets horrify him. How did all this happen?

He determines its because of all these so-called "super-heroes":

A malfunction with his time machine makes Quayle realize he cannot return to 1932, stranding him in his horrible new time.

He can, however, look into the future, and sees that things only get worse--an endless war in Southeast Asia, a president who resigns in disgrace, and this "Justice League" living in an orbiting satellite, like overlords. Enough!

He decides to fight the JLA in their own terms, as a supervillain, Dr. Anomaly!:

He then goes about capturing each of the JLAers, using weapons derived from the future. In short work he captures Superman, then Aquaman, then Hawkman, then Batman, condensing them all and placing them in tiny colored jars!

The rest of the JLA arrives at their Secret Sanctuary, wondering where everyone else is. Suddenly Anomaly attacks them in their own HQ, and the JLAers seem no match for him!

The Flash tries to run rings about Anomaly and trap him in a super-speed vortex, leading to this hilarious pay-off:

...I love how GL and Wonder Woman don't even bother to help as their friend hurtles past them.

While the others try and stop Anomaly, we see the Superman jar start to wobble, toppling itself over onto the floor, where it cracks!

Anomaly's lab explodes, as we see the trapped JLAers, now reformed, burst forth! Anomaly is trapped, realizing even he can't fight them all at once. He only has one option--to disappear into the timestream!

Back with Fred and Daphne, who reason that Anomaly didn't follow a specific path in the timestream, so he couldn't be followed. But that left him stuck there, until an explosion rocks their lab, and there before them is...Dr. Anomaly!

Anomaly gets his bearings--its 1985--and says if he is to save the world, he "better get cracking!" He disappears once again.

Fred and Daphne are stunned, and leave their lab. Over the course of this, the two have let on they have feelings for one another, so they decide to have dinner and talk about...the future.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman (all in flashback)

Notable Moments: I am of two minds about this issue.

First, its a delightfully charming story, capturing a lot of the goofy fun of the 60s JLA stories, but with a modern slant. And having the JLA's original artist, Mike Sekowsky, return to the book after almost 20 years was an ingenious touch.

My only problem is, I think they couldn't have run this at a worse time. The new JLA was a wobbly contraption at best, and they had just finally wrapped up the last loose end (i.e., the departure of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash). Now was the time to plunge straight into a new JLA-only tale, one that might've helped establish these new heroes are the rightful heirs to the JLA legacy.

Instead, we get a jokey story, featuring nothing but the biggest names in the DCU. As a reader at the time, I felt like the new JLA's momentum--such as it was--was stopped dead in its tracks.

Coming to think of it, this would've made a great issue of JLA: Classified.

Justice League of America #239 - June 1985

Vixen finally confronts her past, as does the new JLA!

The Story: "In The Shadow of the Ox" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Mike Machlan. Picking up from last issue, the new JLA has returned home, with the missing Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash in tow.

The three heroes demand to know how and why Aquaman could've done what he did--disbanding the Justice League!--while they were gone.

Aquaman tries to explain, and tells them about the Earth-Mars War. He then reiterates a short history of the team, about how it started, how it evolved, and the state is was in when Mars attacked:

The Flash suggests that maybe its time for the League to change again, and for them to give these newcomers a chance. Superman and Wonder Woman agree, and they wish Aquaman and the others good luck.

Sue Dibny reminds them of the conundrum of that, to the rest of world, the three heroes have been gone for weeks, not the half a day Superman and the rest claim. Manhunter suggests it was one of those "time pardoxes" that seem to be occurring lately (due to the ongoing Crisis). Flash offers to take his friends back in time three weeks to avoid any further time hiccups. They head out, no longer members of the Justice League of America.

Later, Vibe's sister Rosita arrives at JLA HQ, saying that a beloved member of their community, an old woman named Mother Windom, has been kidnapped.

Turns out she was taken by The Ox, who says he will turn her over if Vixen turns herself over to him!

Vixen agrees, but Aquaman tells her no. Vixen refuses to listen to him, and tries to run off. Aquaman then hits her with a mental blast, which stops her in her tracks.

This is all too much for the Martian Manhunter:

Manhunter believes she must handle this on her own, and a stewing Aquaman looks on.

In downtown Detroit, we see Vixen arrives at the abandoned movie theater where the Ox told her he would be. When Vixen confronts Ox, he tells her he wants her Tantu Totem, or Mother Windom dies.

Vixen hands it over, and when Ox puts it on, it transforms him into his namesake--a giant, demonic, human/ox hybrid creature! He loses all control, and starts smashing everything in his path, including his own henchmen!

Vixen gets Mother Windom to safety, before taking on The Ox head-to-head:

Whether she meant it or not, The Ox, the man who haunted Vixen ever since she was a child, is dead.

Roll Call: Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe, Gypsy

Notable Moments: Of course, this is issue--the first half, at least--is monumental, since the last link between the old and new Leagues was broken.

Sure, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are a bit too complacent in accepting what happened, but as Elongated Man pointed out back in JLA Annual #2, between Batman leaving, the Atom disappearing, and Green Lantern resigning from the Corps, the JLA had been breaking up for the past couple of years.

Nice to see Manhunter finally confront Aquaman on his jackassery; too bad it never really gets resolved.

Oddly, this was Chuck Patton's final issue as penciler. After taking such a huge role, along with Conway, in redefining the League, it seemed so odd that he would leave so relatively soon. And for the most part, Patton seemed to disappear from comics entirely not too long after.

Justice League of America #238 - May 1985

The new JLA comes to the rescue of the old one!

The Story: "Savage Symphony" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Mike Machlan. Continued from last issue, we see the new bad guy in control of Allegro's sinister keyboard, named Maestro, using the monsters that emanate from the machine to torture a paralyzed Wonder Woman.

Meanwhile, the JLA, in their shuttle, head towards Russia to find them.

There's a moment here where the JLA discusses what the newspapers having been saying about the new JLA, about how its a disaster, and how can these second stringers replace Superman, Wonder Woman, etc?

Vixen says that's because a lot of people are afraid of change, and never want the world to be different than the one they know. Hmm...

Their musings are interrupted when they are met by Soviet jets, but Zatanna uses the weather to neutralize them without harming the pilots.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, Allegro and his two friends are helping Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash escape from their prison!

Back with the JLA, Martian Manhunter dispatches another set of Soviet jets, and when he returns, he is greeted with the kind of warmth he never got in the old JLA:

This leads an odd sequence where Zatanna confides in Elongated Man that she is personally repelled by Vixen. Interesting...

Anyway, the JLA aims its shuttle for a river as not to be seen landing. Moments later, as Gorki aims his soldier's guns at Allegro and the paralyzed heroes, Aquaman and the other burst out of the water, to an astonished Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash:

The JLA fight the Maestro's demons, but start to get overwhelmed. Finally, Allegro uses the confusion to grab a rifle, sneak up to Maestro, and smash his powerful keyboard. Gorki then shoots him in the chest.

Gypsy then grabs Gorki, and we see the best example yet of her powers--she has the ability to transfer herself and someone else (or is it they just think they've been transported?) to another location! Gorki thinks he is miles up in the sky, and screams as he "falls." He is no longer in his right mind, as he lays in the snow, whimpering from fear.

Superman asks Aquaman what's going on, but he promises to explain everything when they get home. Meanwhile, Manhunter carries off the dead Allegro.

Roll Call: Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe, Gypsy

Notable Moments: After months of hanging around, nice to see Gypsy get something real to do--and saving everyone, to boot.

I wouldn't want to be Aquaman, having to explain what he did. We'll see tomorrow whether Superman grabs Arthur and throws him into the sun.

Justice League of America #237 - Apr. 1985

The missing JLAers return, only to meet an old foe!

The Story: "Lest Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot..." by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Mike Machlan. We open in the new JLA's Detroit headquarters, where the team's leader, Aquaman, keeps a quiet vigil.

Vixen happens to see Arthur by himself, and asks him what he's thinking about. Turns out his missing wife, Mera, is on his mind. He's angry at her for leaving, yet cannot get her out of his mind.

Vixen suggests he go look for her, but he dismisses the idea, saying he can't leave the League. Also, he's been wondering, where have "they" been all this time?

The "they" are Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash, who disappeared without a trace just before the Earth-Mars war, and haven't been seen since.

Their timing is fortuitous, since, at that exact moment, the old JLA's satellite proximity alarm goes off:

We find our three heroes understandably confused as to what has happened to their satellite, since, according to them, they've only been gone half a day's time?

Superman notices a small satellite hovering nearby. Wonder Woman recognizes it to be of Soviet design. A few moments later, Aquaman alerts his League that his friends are heading into Russia. Steel says he'll ask his grandfather, with his extensive government contacts, for more information.

Once Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash show up in Soviet airspace, they are fired upon, but they make short work of them. They get the Soviet pilots to land, saying they don't want to fight.

On the ground, they are met by a group of Russian soldiers, and...one strangely-dressed man, carrying...a keyboard? Flash says the hardware looks vaguely familiar, but before he can place it, the man strikes:

These demons that emerged from the man's keyboard attack the three heroes, and knock them out, with the man then encasing them in some sort of greenish amber.

Later, at KGB Headquarters, demands are being made of the Russian Premier. With the three heroes--and this seeming supervillain--under the control of General Gorki, he demands total control over the country. When the offer is refused, the Premier and his guards meet with the same gruesome hate at the hands of these demons.

Later. we see the three heroes, paralyzed, being tended to by some male nurses, including one who the JLA knows as...Allegro!

Turns out, after his defeat by the JLA (way back in JLA #163), he defected to Russia, where he was institutionalized by Gorki, and his powerful weapon stolen from him.

Gorki arrives, and says he is here to begin the next phase of his plan...executing one of the Justice Leaguers! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe, Gypsy

Notable Moments: I like bringing Allegro back, I think it gives a nice verisimilitude to the DCU--after all, what happens to these one-shots super-villains once they finish their jail time? Not everyone can be a professional bad guy like Luthor or the Joker.

Aquaman makes an off-hand mention here about Green Lantern, having "accepted" what happened to the JLA, making his departure from the team official. Kind of a shame that a founding member ends his run with the team with such a whimper, but this was around the time Hal had quit the Corps in his own book.

Justice League of America #236 - March 1985

Part 4 of the introduction of the new Justice League!

The Story: "Rebirth: Part Four--Gypsy Genius" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Rick Magyar. Picking up from last issue, the JLA finds itself in the clutches of a new team of super-baddies called The Cadre!

The Cadre is run by a giant, masked man named The Overmaster, who speaks of himself as "I/We." He considers himself a god.

Overmaster does seem to have almost god-like powers, as he shoots blasts of energy out of his hands, scattering the JLA. After they get to safety, he then unleashes his Cadre after them.

First up is Black Mass, a guy who can change his internal mass and control gravity. Next is Shrike, an evil pixie-like harpy with a sonic scream. Both of them attack the JLA simultaneously.

Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Dale Gunn is met by Gypsy, who is waiting for him back the JLA's HQ. She tells Gunn she thinks the JLA are in trouble.

She's right, of course, and we see the JLA barely holding its own against The Cadre. Crowbar tells them that all he has to do to retain the powers Overmaster gave him is to kill the JLA, which he tries to do. But luckily Aquaman is now getting his bearings:

...I love this sequence. After so many issues of being a hard ass, Aquaman gets to be cool.

Anyway, Shatterfist destroys the oncoming crowbar, and smashes the ground, creating a giant crevice, which the JLA escapes into. Aquaman wonders, as he and his team has to run, if he has made a giant mistake.

While Dale Gunn and Gypsy try to find where the JLA went, we see they make an amazing discovery in the bowels of the mountaintop hideaway of the Overmaster: that the entire HQ is made of up high-tech machinery!

They follow a tunnel, and make an even more amazing discovery:

While Manhunter tries to read the creature's mind, they are found by Overmaster and the Cadre, who attack them again.

Aquaman and Manhunter hatch a plan, and J'onn takes off towards the creature. To buy him some time, Aquaman leads his team on a forward charge--after all, they are the Justice League!:

Manhunter discovers a glowing jewel above the creature, which seems to be the source of the telepathic presence both he and Aquaman sensed. Overmaster doesn't like this, and tries to stop Manhunter. But he is distracted by an attack from...Gypsy!

Manhunter then takes on Overmaster directly, and tells Gypsy to touch the jewel. Finally deciding to risk her life for something other than herself, she does, which shoots off a blinding light, taking all The Cadre with it.

Dale Gunn then arrives, and tells the JLA he has brought a new shuttlecraft.

On the flight home, Aquaman and Manhunter tell the rest of the team what they figured out that--that this Overmaster was really just a parasite, feeding off the energy of this sleeping creature, who has been on Earth for millions of years and been involved with various species' birth or extinction.

They then watch as the mountaintop rumbles and shatters, and a giant spaceship, carrying the sleeping creature, blasts off into space.

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

Notable Moments: Probably the best issue of the new JLA's run, since after this the team gets involved in either wrapping up loose ends (like what happened to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash) or getting carried away by story lines that were occurring outside of the regular JLA book (the Crisis, the upcoming Aquaman mini-series). In a lot of ways, this new JLA got hobbled before it ever really began.

The covers to issues 233-236 were released as a poster around this time. If you combined all of them, they made one large image:

...they don't quite line up right (there's overlap which interferes with the disembodied heads), but at least DC was trying to give the new JLA a little promotion.

That said, it occurs to me as write this, I don't think I ever saw one ad for the regular JLA comic at this time...

Justice League of America #235 - Feb. 1985

Part 3 of the introduction of the new Justice League!

The Story: "Rebirth: Three--Heavy Metal by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Mike Machlan. This issue opens with the JLA having an emergency meeting, as news reports show footage of Vixen breaking into the local prison, as she did at the end of last issue.

She did so to get information about where the man that killed her father, a military strongman nicknamed The Ox, currently is. What she doesn't know is that he is looking for her, as well.

As the JLA argues over what to do, we see that Gypsy is there, too. She's considering revealing her presence to them, but is put off by their bickering.

Steel quickly falls into an argument with Aquaman, who seems to be mainly concerned about the damage to the new League's public image Vixen is doing. When Steel loses his cool and smashes a nearby pillar, Aquaman shows an extraordinary new level of power, and crosses a line:

Mind-controlling Steel, snapping at the lovable Sue Dibny? Aquaman is in full-on Jerk Mode right now.

While Steel clears his head outside, Gypsy is there waiting for him. As she sort of flirts with Steel, they are attacked by one of The Cadre, a goofily-dressed baddie named Fastball. After a few well thrown explosive balls, Steel drops a slab of concrete on him, but not before Fastball is transported away to safety.

Meanwhile, Vixen arrives in New York, who drops herself off a helicopter, right into the glass window of The Ox's high-rise apartment!

The two of them fight, and when The Ox's henchmen shoot at her, one of themhits her in the shoulder, causing Vixen to fall out of the window onto the ground below.

As the henchmen find Vixen and prepare to finish her off, they are stopped by...The Justice League! They rescue Vixen, carting her off into the JLA's shuttle (Vixen isn't hurt so bad she can't flirt with Manhunter in the process).

Before Aquaman can board, he is stopped by the local police, who want to arrest Vixen, for busting up the Detroit jail, if nothing else. Aquaman waits a moment, while the League wonders what he'll do.

Finally, he tells the League she is one of them, and "The League takes care of its own." They board the ship and take off.

While flying back to Detroit, their ship is blasted by a ball of energy, the JLAers transported away, and when they wake up, they are met by...The Cadre!:

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: Mike Machlan inks this issue (the first of many), and his smooth lines work well with Patton's pencils. He would stay on the book the longest of all of Patton's inkers.

The JLA Mail Room runs three pages this issue, featuring letters on the second JLA Annual. Reaction seems to be split, and editor Alan Gold suggests that that was the general reaction of all the letters received.

At the time, I was shocked that Aquaman was being written this way. He dips into megalomania mode, messing with Steel's mind as he does here. It's frustrating to me to know that Gerry Conway would've eventually dealt with this, but because of events outside his control, never got the chance to. So, as far as JLA readers would ever know, Aquaman is just one big jerk.

Justice League of America #234 - Jan. 1985

Part 2 of the introduction of the new Justice League!

The Story: "Rebirth: Two--Claws" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Bill Anderson. This issue opens up with The Vixen, as she apprehends two men on the run from the police.

She soon learns from a TV reporter that the men were members of a terrorist group called Red Dawn, an extremist group financed by the Central African nation of M'Changa and its head strong man, General Mustapha Maksai. With cameras still on her, Vixen becomes openly enraged when she hears that name, and takes off.

The other JLAers, watching all of this on TV, later ask Vixen who this Maksai guy is, but Vixen tells them its none of their business. Steel is insulted, but Elongated Man takes it in stride, saying the old JLA had to learn how much to get involved in each other's lives, as well.

This leads Steel down a road of introspection, and he takes a quick dip in the new HQ's pool. He remarks how special he is, with his new powers:

...that dark fist belongs to Aquaman, who pastes Steel so hard he flies out of the pool!

When Steel asks what the hell that was about, Aquaman tells him its to help train him to always keep his guard up. Being a Justice Leaguer means being ready for anything.

Steel isn't mollified by that, but Zatanna steps in and tries to calm Steel down. It doesn't work, and he storms off. Zee then turns her attention towards Arthur:

Meanwhile, Manhunter discovers Vixen doing research on General Maksai--aka The Ox--but she tells him to go pound Martian sand, too. At the same time, we see The Ox, now in New York, noticing that this Vixen women is carrying the "Tantu Totem." He orders his men to find her and bring her to him.

Back in Detroit, Vibe is having troubles of his own, trying to prevent the budding romance between Steel and Vibe's sister, Rosita.

While out on a date, Steel catches a glimpse of Gypsy, who he tries to catch. She gets away, and Vibe mocks Steel for his poor detective skills, speaking the immortal words--"Chu not bad, chu sad."

They then spot Vixen quickly headed somewhere, and follow her. At the same time, Manhunter is cluing the rest of the League in about the crimes of The Ox, about how he staged a military coup, killing the country's elected leader and his half-brother, Rev. Richard Jiwe--Vixen's father.

As the JLA decide what to do, Vixen breaks into the local jail, beating the two men she captured earlier into a pulp, demanding information on The Ox.

Meanwhile, via The Monitor (Crisis on Infinite Earths being less than a year away at this point) we see that the Overmaster has created and is training a team of supervillains he calls The Cadre. This issue ends with him corralling one more member--a monk named Shatterfist.

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: There's a nice moment where Elongated Man is frustrated with the JLA's inability to go after Maksai, and, casting about for an idea, suggests "taking him out." When Manhunter suggests that means assassination, Ralph quickly regrets what he said.

But I bet in that moment, he wished he was part of the Outsiders.

I hate to admit it, but Aquaman is really kind of an a-hole in this issue, especially towards Steel. If I was Hank, I'd be pretty fed up, too.

Justice League of America #233 - Dec. 1984

Meet the new Justice League!

The Story: "Rebirth: One--"Gang War" by JGerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Bill Anderson. We open with Vibe, newest member of the new Justice League, about to do something we've never seen a JLAer do before--breakdance!

As Vibe busts a move (several, actually) on the streets of Detroit, he draws a crowd, including two of his fellow JLAers in plainclothes--Zatanna, and Mari McCabe, aka Vixen.

Zatanna remarks how none of the team's former members would ever be caught doing something like this, and marvels at the changes that have taken place.

Their reverie is broken by members of a street gang, led a crowbar-wielding named, well, Crowbar. He smashes a mailbox to get Vibe's attention (hey, that's a Federal crime!), but Vibe tries to calm him down instead of starting a fight.

But when another member of the gang pulls a knife on an old lady, Zatanna and Vixen show up to shut it down. Vibe tries to warn them off, but gets drawn in to the fight when a gun is pulled:

That ends the fight, but Vibe is mad at his teammates, castigating them for getting involved where they don't belong. As the debate rages on, the mysterious girl known as Gypsy watches from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, at the JLA's new HQ, Aquaman, Manhunter, and Dale Gunn are testing Steel to see what the limits of his powers are. When Steel almost collapses under a huge weight he's trying to keep aloft, Aquaman criticizes him for failing. Steel is ashamed, but Dale Gunn tells him off:

Later, Zatanna and Vixen inform the rest of the League about the coming gang war, and then we see that happen, between two gangs--the El Lobos (led by Vibe's big brother) and the Skulls (led by the aforementioned Enemy of the Post Office, Crowbar).

Vibe is caught in the middle, and tries to stop both sides, but gets stabbed in the back for his efforts!

The Justice League arrives, quickly ending the fight. The final blow is dealt to Crowbar's head, delivered by Gypsy, who just as quickly disappears.

Vibe's brother Armando is none too pleased the JLA has gotten involved, and tells them to shove off. Aquaman realizes, while they did save lives, this is somewhat of a battle that isn't their business.

Later, we see Crowbar in his prison cell, when a mysterious ball of energy enters, calling itself The Overmaster. It flashes a light, andd, in an instant, Crowbar is gone. To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: Patton and Anderson make a nice art team; it kind of seemed like DC was trying out all different kinds of inkers to pair up with Patton. Too bad this and the next were Anderson's only issues.

For the first time in many years, the JLA Mail Room header is changed, reflecting things both and old new:

...cute.

This is obsessive (although isn't this whole blog?), but I'm not listing Gypsy yet as an official member. While she appears on the cover, on the mail room header, and in every issue, she doesn't officially join up until #236.

Fun Fact: Blogger's spell check does not recognize the word "breakdance."

Justice League of America Annual #2 - 1984

The biggest change to ever happen to the Justice League of America! New faces, new motivations, new leaders!

The Story: "The End of the Justice League!" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Dave Hunt. Following what transpired in the Earth/Mars war in JLA #s 228-230, the members of the League who were present take a space shuttle to go back and see what--if anything--is left of their beloved satellite headquarters.

The various members of the team fan out and start assessing the damage. Black Canary wonders if it can be rebuilt, and Firestorm jokes "rebuild what?"

But Aquaman isn't in such a goofy mood. He takes one look at what has happened, and mutters to himself that this is the end of the Justice League:

(click to JLAify!)

Hawkgirl wonders if she heard Aquaman right. Hawkman, worriedly, says that she did.

After they return to Earth, Green Arrow suggests they start rebuilding immediately. Aquaman walks away, suggesting that even if it could be rebuilt, the team itself may not be able to be repaired. He says for everyone to meet him at the U.N. in one week.

He heads home, happy to finally see his wife, Mera. Unfortunately, she has left, leaving him a message saying that clearly his duty to the League is the most important thing in his life. She suggests he not try to find her...

One week later, at the U.N., Aquaman calls for a special audience, and makes a startling announcement:

...in just five pages, the JLA we all knew is gone.

The announcement is heard all over the world, like by an older man who seems to have massive wealth, and by fashion model Mari McCabe, who abruptly quits her job upon hearing what has happened.

At a high-rise apartment in New York, the JLA--such as it is--is deciding what to do next. They are met by a mysterious stranger, who seems to have fantastic powers!

She is revealed to be the super-heroine The Vixen, who says she is there to join up. Another new hero makes his introductions, as well, a man named Steel:

Steel comes with a new HQ, in Detroit. Its a fully-functioning base, complete with living quarters, a pool, training rooms, etc.

They are met an armed guard, who attacks them for breaking into this place. Steel busts the guy's head, and we learn that inside the suit is Dale Gunn, an old friend of Steel's grandfather, and sort of a surrogate father to the young man. Both Zatanna and Vixen like what they see.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a young man, a street kid/grafitti artist named Paco, who goes by the name "Vibe." When he runs afoul of some gang members, he displays amazing powers that can be directed at people and shake them uncontrollably.

This little show is seen by Steel and Vixen, and Steel tries to talk Aquaman into letting the kid join. Aquaman says no, pissing off Steel in the process, but he reconsiders when Vibe walks up to their front door and Aquaman gets a first-hand lesson in what this kid can do.

The kid is full of himself, that's for sure:

On the way to meet Vibe's family, he and Steel meet another seemingly super-powered person, a young street thief that the people in the neighborhood call "Gypsy."

While Steel meets Vibe's family (and is immediately smitten by his sister, Rosita), Zatanna introduces herself to Dale Gunn, in about a forward a manner as possible:

While these two flirt, Gypsy breaks in to the HQ, setting off the security alarms!

The JLA all run to the sound, with Martian Manhunter using his shape-shifting powers to nab Gypsy. When they ask who she is, she gives them a long, implausible story. When pressed for the truth, she disappears.

Aquaman is worried none of this is going like he planned, but his doubts are interrupted by a neighborhood welcoming committee, who are throwing a block party to welcome their new neighbors:

Of course, to be continued!

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

Notable Moments: Well, what to say? This turn of events absolutely floored me when I read it, way back in 1984. While I was *thrilled* that Aquaman was taking such a large role in the JLA, I was very unsure of these new characters.

And while I was happy to see action-hogs Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern depart, it was the removal of my other favorites, like Green Arrow and the Hawks that made me scratch my head.

I was even more confused by this passage in the annual's text page by editor Alan Gold:

...in retrospect, of course Gold was just trying to make sure comic fans didn't storm the DC offices like the mob in Frankenstein, but it left me confused. Were "The Big Ones" gone from the book, or not? And if not, what chance did these new characters have? Questions, questions!

Before we move on to JLA Detroit's (as it came to be known) first appearance in JLA proper, we'll take a moment tomorrow to try and answer some of the questions about this strange turn of events in the history of the World's Greatest Superheroes, when the JLA Satellite talks to the man himself, Gerry Conway! Be here!