JLA Who's Who Entries - 1986/1987

The Classic JLA got two listings over the first two volumes of Who's Who, a series I never missed.

The first appeared in the Feb. 1986 issue, drawn by then-penciler Luke McDonnell:

...a nice shot.

The Classic JLA got one last bite at that Who's Who apple, in Oct. 1987, drawn by then-Justice League penciler Kevin Maguire:

...I love how he got everybody's personality in this crowded shot. Arrow and Canary's PDA, Vibe's attitude, Superman's pride, the Hawks' quiet dignity.

And even though by this time the original JLA--team and book--were gone, they all got lumped together in this "class photo." The next JLA listing in WW would concentrate solely on the JL team, and its then-current membership, which was a totally different animal.

Secret Origins #32 - Dec. 1988

The secret origin of the JLA!

The Story: "All Together Now" by Keith Giffen, Peter David, Gardner Fox, and Eric Shanower. On the distant planet Appellax, we see seven would-be leaders--all of whom claim to have assassinated the previous leader--being sent off to Earth to fight to the death.

Whoever is the winner of this battle royale will return to Appellax and claim the throne. Simple, no?

One of them has the temerity to ask, but what if they are overcome by someone, say, from Earth?

The judge says this is absurd: "You are the best Appellax has to offer. If they defeated all seven of you, we'd never go near Earth again."

And so it begins:

The first hero who will meet these would-be Appellax conquerors is the Martian Manhunter:

He faces the giant stone creature, but in the melee his power of invisibility turns off, revealing him to the local citizens. They think he's a special effect from a movie.

Next up is the King of the Seven Seas:

...he encounters the Mercury creature, and with the help of his finny friends, keeps it from turning him permanently into a blob of mercury.

He then hears of a strange meteor that landed in the Florida Everglades, and heads there. Once he arrives, he sees someone else...

But before we find out who, we see the next hero up to bat is Black Canary:

She takes on the Glass Creature, and a well-place Sonic Cry reduces him to bits.

She also hears the story about Florida, and heads there, too. She meets others who have arrived there ahead of her.

Next up is Green Lantern:

He takes on the Golden Roc (of course its yellow!), and then heads to Florida. He gets too close before he can be told he stay away, so...

Last is The Flash:

He fights the Fire Creature, defeats him, and likewise heads to Florida.

He is the last to arrive, and suffers the same fate as the other heroes:

...of course, you all know the story form here...sort of. The heroes use teamwork to defeat the Wood Creature, and the head for Antarctica, where there were reports of one last meteor.

Except when they get there, Superman is already mopping up. He takes no notice of the star-struck heroes, and flies off.

Flash liked how they worked together, and proposes forming a club, or a society? Howabout calling it The Avengers, after that TV show?

No, wait, howabout The Justice League:

...not the end!

Roll Call: Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary

Notable Moments: There were a couple of reasons not to include this book on the blog: one, it was published outside of the run of the original JLA book, and two, it features the dreaded ret-conning, where classic stories are rewritten to match current storyline concerns.

Normally that stuff make me roll my eyes, since I think a lot of damage can be done to great, classic concepts for the sake of momentary necessity.

This is such a case--the JLA was and is the big seven of the DCU circa 1960, and suggesting the Big Three weren't part of that seems so silly.

Complicating that even further, was replacing Wonder Woman with a later member, Black Canary, which disrupts even more classic JLA stories--every one for the first eight years, actually. I understand the need to have at least five members, and one of them be a woman, and DC had a real lack of heroines from this era--who else was available--Miss America? Firebrand? Phantom Lady? But having Black Canary in here just seems...wrong.

All that said, I included this because this retelling--changes and all--is so darn fun. Its got a good sense of humor, the heroes are real people, and Giffen and David wisely don't mess with the basics of Gardner Fox's immortal story. Plus, the art is gorgeous--Eric Shanower wasn't someone who you saw do a lot of superhero work, so his take on the World's Greatest Superheroes is a real treat.

JLA Satellite Interview with J.M. DeMatteis

I couldn't let this blog wrap-up without a talk from the man who, after 261 issues and 27 years of continuous publication, wrote the final chapters in the story of the original Justice League of America, J.M. DeMatteis:

JLA Satellite: How did you end up writing JLA?

J.M. DeMatteis: DC editor Andy Helfer, one of the best editors I've ever worked with, said, "Hey, Gerry Conway just left Justice League and I need a writer. Want to help me out?" As I recall, I'd just left Marvel after being under contract there for a number of years and was happy to have the work.

JLA Satellite: When you took over the book, did DC already have its cancellation scheduled, and it was just a matter of getting to that point?

JMD: I believe the cancellation was already in the works. My job was to finish up the Conway story that was in progress, then go in and write the final storyline.

JLA Satellite: To me, one of the hallmarks of your writing is an inherent gentleness, even when there's lots of super hero fisticuffs going on (there have been some exceptions of course, like the "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline). Was it difficult writing stories that were so grim and violent, like when Vibe and Steel were murdered?

JMD: Violence in super hero comics has always been a problem for me. I love the characters, I love the genre, I love the metaphorical power of the super hero; but there are times I've been incredibly uncomfortable with the "smash and punch and kill" aspects of the genre. (In fact I've got a new series coming out next year from IDW, The Life and Times of Savior 28, that faces the Super Hero Violence issue head on. It's a piece of work I'm very proud of.)

As for JLA: I suspect, although, honestly, I don't remember, that the discomfort was a little less so with that final storyline because I had very little connection to those characters. I never quite made an emotional link with Vibe and Steel. As I recall, the characters I was emotionally hooked into were J'onn (this was my first time writing him and he immediately became an all-time favorite) and Gypsy (primarily because of J'onn's emotional connection to her). Happily, they both came out alive.

JLA Satellite: Was it your choice as to which of the new characters got bumped off, or did DC say "Save Vixen and Gypsy, kill off the other two"?

JMD: My memory is that I was told which characters had to go and which would stay.

JLA Satellite: Was it difficult writing a book that featured mostly new characters, none that you created, that didn't have a lot of history behind them?

JMD: I suspect that, if I'd had more time to get to know the characters, I could have found the emotional hooks I was talking about earlier; but jumping in just to wrap things up made it much harder for me. So, yes, it was difficult.

That story was much more about my technical skill than emotional investment. Not my favorite way to write. That said, I tried my best to put as much genuine emotion into the story as I could.

JLA Satellite: As a writer, did writing the final issue of JLA have any impact on you (in terms of making comic book history--"Wow, I'm writing the very last issue of Justice League!") or were you mostly concerned with just getting to the end so the new book could be started?

JMD: I never thought of it as the "final issue" because, by then, I knew the relaunch was in the pipeline. What I didn't know was that I'd be an integral part of that relaunch and that it would be the beginning of a partnership with the great Keith Giffen that would still be going strong more than twenty years later. If there's one great thing that came out of the JLA assignment for me, it's that.


As a teenager, buying the final issues of my all-time favorite comic, I wondered just what the behind-the-scenes stuff was, so I'm jazzed that I got to finally find out from the man who was at the helm for the final case of the Justice League of America.

Of course, J.M. DeMatteis would go on to make an even greater contribution to the history of the team, but that's for another day and another blog. Thanks J.M.!

Justice League of America #261 - April 1987

It all ends here--the final issue of the Justice League of America.

The Story: "Last Stand" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Bob Lewis. We open on Professor Ivo, laying on his side in an insane asylum.

Even here, in a straightjacket, he has dealt a blow to the JLA that all its other foes could only dream of--killing two of its members.

He ruminates on his history with the League, and is conflicted by the impulses in his mind. He wants revenge, but murder is wrong. But Martian Manhunter killed one of his "sons." But...

Ivo blows up his last therapist, still unable to deal with the conflicting thoughts on his mind.

Meanwhile, Vixen--to hell with the Presidential order--is on the hunt:

In Detroit, Manhunter is having a drink with Hank Heywood and Dale Gunn, but he is so racked with anger that he swears Steel will be avenged.

Dale warns him that that's revenge, not justice:

Vixen uses her animal powers to sniff out Ivo, and she finds him waiting for her, with dinner, no less! But Ivo is also in a mental institution, so...

Vixen goes along with this fake civility for a few moments, and then attacks Ivo. Ivo in turn calls out a mob of his androids, who attack Vixen. She's able to fight most of them off, but there are too many of them!

Then Martian Manhunter bursts in, and starts busting more android head. He then grabs Ivo, ready to kill him, but finds he can't.

Vixen is not so squeamish, but:

They find the real Ivo, locked up. Turns out Ivo escaped Arkham Asylum, built the androids, who in turn committed Ivo, realizing their creator was insane. But since they were built from his mind, he could still control them from afar, and his madness led to all this.

Manhunter and Vixen talk at the Secret Sanctuary. Manhunter says that for their deaths to have any meaning, the League must continue in some form, Presidential orders be damned.

Vixen agrees, but says she can't continue with him. This road is too violent, too bloody, and she just doesn't want to keep going. They say goodbye:

...and that is the end of the Justice League of America.

Roll Call: Martian Manhunter, Vixen

Notable Moments: Well, this is it--the last issue of Justice League of America.

While I understand the business end of this--that this book had to be cleared out to make room for the all-new (and immediately big-selling) Justice League book, I wish that Justice League of America--one of DC's flagship books--had been given more of a royal send off.

The cover is fine, except as the last JLA cover ever, and I still--all these years later--hate the fact that the book ends 27 years of JLA adventures with essentially a plug for another book. Jeez, DC, the corpse isn't even cold yet! Would it have killed you to coral George Perez to do a "classic JLA" pin-up or something?

But I got to give them credit--this was a ballsy, gripping way to end the series. Ivo's revenge plan is sinister to the nth degree, and I bet to this day he still brags to other villains that he killed not one, but two members of the JLA. Luthor's been trying to kill one hero for like 20 years.

Goodbye, Justice League of America.


So now what? Is this blog over?

Well, not quite--as I've mentioned a few times before, I've got about a week's worth of fun posts to come. A few sort of "greatest hits" style ones, an interview or two, another special JLA comic that falls outside my timeline but I felt had to be included, all concluding with a final post that I guarantee none of you will expect.

But before we get to all that, be here tomorrow for a chat with the fine writer who brought the original JLA to a close--J.M. DeMatteis!

Justice League of America #260 - March 1987

Professor Ivo's plan of revenge continues!

The Story: "Flesh!" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Steve Montano. Ivo's android--the one that save Gypsy-- reverts to its original programming when confronted by an angry Martian Manhunter, and a battle ensues.

Manhunter tries to see inside the mind of the android, but is repulsed by all the contradictory impulses he finds there.

The battle continues, with neither side giving in, until Manhunter gets so mad he ends up ripping the android's arms off, and then punching its head off!

But he's not done--enraged over Vibe's death, he pounds the still-talking android head into little bits, smashing it into the ground:

Meanwhile, Vixen and Steel are at her apartment. Steel is infuriated he can't go hunt for Vibe's killer, but Vixen admonishes him to listen to Manhunter--the two of them need to lay low for a while.

Steel won't listen, so he suits up and heads out, daring Vixen to stop him. Guess which hero went on to a further career in the DCU?

While Ivo struggles with this sanity, Steel draws attention being out on the streets in his costume. He sees one of the police officers surrounding him is, in fact, one of Ivo's androids!

Meanwhile, Gypsy learns from Manhunter that Vibe is dead. She, too, wants revenge, but he tells her to stay with her family, and go back to the normal life she deserves. She tearfully agrees, and they part.

Back with Steel, we see him threatening the android cop. Not knowing the truth, the local citizenry start taunting Steel, demanding him to let the cop go.

Realizing this was a trap, he drags the cop off to a secluded spot--big mistake. Its here that the android lets loose on Steel, blasting away parts of his skin until a lot of Steel's internal robotic systems are showing through.

Steel staggers to the main drag, followed by the android. No longer caring about the illusion, he blasts Steel unmercifully, until he is almost dead:

Manhunter arrives to see his friend in agony, and carries him off to his grandfather's headquarters, the original home to JLA Detroit.

Hank Heywood Senior says there's nothing he can do, and takes Steel off of life support. The machine beeps a few times, until it stops. Steel is dead.

Meanwhile, Professor Ivo sits in a padded room, muttering "I'm sorry."

To be concluded!

Roll Call: Martian Manhunter, Vixen, Steel, Gypsy

Notable Moments: Another nasty end to a JLA member--he should have listened to the Martian Manhunter.

JLA Mail Room editor Greg Weisman reveals that, yes, the next issue of JLA will be the last.

*sniff*

Justice League of America #259 - Feb. 1987

Professor Ivo continues his revenge on the Justice League!

The Story: "Homecoming!" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Bill Wray. We open on the lifeless face of Vibe, after he was murdered by one of Professor Ivo's androids.

The body is found by Manhunter, Vixen, and Steel, who are so enraged that Vixen threatens the life of a bystander who she thinks is involved.

Given the current feeling about superheroes, Steel convinces her to calm down, while Manhunter tells them--Vibe is dead.

He touches the weird mask on Vibe's face, lifts it off, and stares at it for a moment, thinking:

The police arrive, but the heroes pay them no heed, and carry Vibe off.

They don't realize Ivo is watching them, and he moves to phase 2 of his plan--kill Gypsy. He has realized the best revenge is to kill these innocent heroes, make them pay for the crimes of the original League, hurting them in a way that just killing them never could.

But he is conflicted over Gypsy, because even to him, she seems so young and innocent. He consults another android therapist, but gets mad when it agrees with him. He quickly changes course and orders the hit on Gypsy.

Gypsy decides to head home--to her real home--and hitchhikes a ride with a creepy, dead-eyed guy.

Meanwhile, Vixen and Steel want to know who this "Ivo" character is Manhunter keeps muttering about, and he tells them about his and the League's history. He figures out Ivo's sick plan and heads out to search for him.

Meanwhile, Ivo's android reveals himself and attacks Gypsy, who manages to defend herself for a little while. Finally, though, the android delivers the "killing" blow, leaving Ivo racked with guilt.

But all is not what it seems:

The android explains he and his brothers were made from Ivo's brainwaves...his thoughts and feelings. Ivo's doubts about murdering Gypsy simply manifested themselves in this android, who realized it was wrong to kill. He drives Gypsy home, who has a tearful reunion with her parents.

As he watches the scene from outside, a hand grabs his shoulder--a hand belonging to the very mad Martian Manhunter.

To be continued!

Roll Call: Martian Manhunter, Vixen, Steel, Gypsy

Notable Moments: ...and then there were four.

I'm glad whoever at DC decided who would live and die chose to spare Gypsy. As Ivo said, she was so sweet that killing her would've been so grim it might've been unbearable.

The deck was stacked with Vibe--he was written by several writers as a jerk, so he was first on the chopping block. But Gypsy, thankfully, was spared.

JLA Mail Room editor Greg Weisman hints at the identity of #255's co-writer Michael Ellis, but doesn't say who he is exactly.

Justice League of America #258 - Jan. 1987

The final case of the Justice League of America!

The Story: "Saving Face!" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Bob Smith. We open on the monstrous face of Professor Ivo, as he is undergoing psychotherapy.

He is telling his therapist about how the Justice League ruined his life, by turning him into a monster!

The therapist tells Ivo he knows that's not true, that it was he who attacked the League--

Ivo cuts him off, and then turns him off. We see that the therapist is nothing more than a robot, built by Ivo to have someone to talk to.

Back at the Secret Sanctuary, the JLA is dealing with their failure to help Firestorm defeat the villain Brimstone (in Legends #1). As usual, Vibe makes a bad situation worse:

This quickly degenerates into name-calling, and then even a fight breaks out between Elongated Man and Vibe!

Manhunter breaks it up, but says that, following the President's order that all super-heroes withdraw from public life, he is disbanding the Justice League.

Gypsy tries to argue, but Vixen says J'onn is right. Elongated Man agrees, saying they've all got personal lives to deal with. He apologizes to Vibe, but Vibe blows him off.

There's not much left to say:

After Manhunter leaves the room, the rest of the heroes decide to head back to Vixen's apartment to talk. They invite Vibe, but he turns against them, sulking.

Meanwhile, we see that Ivo has built dozens of androids, and sends one of them out to find its "intended victim."

Later, we see Vibe aimlessly wandering his hometown streets. He runs into a little boy who worships Superman. Vibe is angry the kid doesn't know about his own people's superhero--him--but then dejectedly walks off.

He then runs into Ivo's android, who immediately attacks him!

With the kid watching, Vibe uses his powers to fight him off, telling himself he won't be defeated, won't let the kid down.

He hits the android over and over again with his powers, until it falls over and stops moving. The kid is thrilled, and runs off, desperate to tell his friends and family about their homegrown superhero, Vibe.

Vibe then decides to call the League about this, and realizes he was wrong to dismiss his teammates. But then:

Vibe is dead.

The android's mission completed, it walks off, leaving a member of the Justice League lying dead on the street like so much garbage:

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: This story--both this issue and eventually the entire four parts--blew my mind. I couldn't believe what I was reading--not only were they killing off a member of the JLA, but they were doing it in such a nasty way. Vibe learns the error of his ways just before he is strangled to death. Ouch.

The new-ish JLA logo used since the second JLA Annual is replaced by the old school, mid-60s one.

Justice League of America #257 - Dec. 1986

The final showdown with Adam!

The Story: "Coming Down!" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Bob Smith. Picking yup from last issue, Martian Manhunter is desperately trying to reconnect the mental link he had with Zatanna and Gypsy as they toured Adam's psyche.

While he tries, we Zatanna wake up on some sort of beach, followed by Gypsy, who is unconscious.

Zatanna realizes she insisted Gypsy come along to teach her a lesson; feeling she was too naive in wanting to help people like Adam, even after all he has done.

Realizing that was wrong, she uses her powers to send Gypsy back to reality, where she arrives safe and sound.

Still in Adam's psyche, though, Zatanna has a troubling encounter:

While in the embrace of Adam (eww), her father Zatara resurfaces, and shows Zatanna who Adam really is, turning him into a type of demon, a representation of Adam's lust!

She runs away, and finds even more bizarre psychic landscapes, with seemingly no way out:

Zatanna then comes across the God-Head itself, as it begins to devour Adam's psyche. She flings herself into the God-Head, after getting a message from her father, saying to come find him. She does, and then the God-Head promptly spits her out!

Manhunter is furious with Zee, thinking she gave up trying to save Adam, but actually the opposite is true--while being one with the God-Head, she saw "the plan". She takes Adam's hand, and he wakes up!

They both start to talk that the God-Head wanted this to happen, wanted them to be bonded like this and take this trip together. After calming down a hysterical Pam, Zatanna and Adam depart, Zee nonchalantly resigning from the Justice League and maybe even Reality itself:

Later, Manhunter and Gypsy tell the rest of the team what has happened, none of them liking what they hear. But they don't have time to discuss it for long, since Firestorm suddenly arrives, needing their help!

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

Notable Moments: This story continues in Legends #1, and then dovetails back here, for the next issue of JLA.

At some point, not sure when, but I guess Batman resigned from the League, since he makes no more appearances in the book after #254.

The end to the Zatanna story is weird and abrupt, and certainly partly dictated by DC's plans for the League. But its weird in a sort of compelling way--you don't know what the hell Zee is talking about, which gives the thing a loose end, which isn't always a bad thing.

Justice League of America #256 - Nov. 1986

The JLA faces the awesome power of Adam!

The Story: "Back to Godhead" by J.M. DeMatteis, Luke McDonnell, and Bob Smith. Last issue, John Jones (aka Martian Manhunter) caught a few slugs while investigating a murder.

Of course, that doesn't do much to him, but ending up in burning building did!

While Manhunter struggles to get out the flames, he begins to hallucinate(?), and he sees H'Ronmeer, who is nothing less than the God Martians pray to! He reaches out to J'onn, and is instantly transported away!

The same thing happens to Gypsy during a run-in with a homeless woman, and both of them realize they've undergone illusions, courtesy of Zatanna, who is currently on the floor of Adam's secret headquarters, nearly unconscious:

Manhunter tries to reach into her mind to communicate with her to wake her up, which works. Manhunter is skeptical when Zee tells him her father--her late father--is the one who brought them both here to help her.

Suddenly, the four of them (Gypsy's friend Pam is along for the ride) start tripping through different dimensions, none of them knowing what if any of this is real.

Staggering into the room is Adam, who looks lost and in utter agony.

Zatanna tells them that Adam has forcibly achieved in one day what other mystics spend a lifetime trying to reach--transcending the ego and "merging with the godhead." Without preparation, it simply brings madness.

Manhunter asks Zatanna to try and help Adam come back from the edge of madness, which she reluctantly does. To do so, she has to go into Adam's psyche. Which she does, and how:

Zatanna and Gypsy travel through Adam's psyche, where they are attacked by a horde of demons (as Zee explains it, transferring thoughts in Adam's head into something they could comprehend), which pull them down into the murky ground.

Manhunter, who has been the anchor point for this trip, loses the connection, and begs Adam to help them. But how can he, when he can't even help himself?

To be continued!

Roll Call: Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Gypsy

Notable Moments: J.M. DeMatteis may have only had the steering wheel of the JLA for a few months, but he certainly floored it once he took the wheel!

Even though this isn't very "Leagueish", I'm kind of glad he didn't cram the other members into this story--there's just no room for them in this issue.

Justice League of America #255 - Oct. 1986

Zatanna in the fight of her life!

The Story: "Rising" by Gerry Conway, Michael Ellis, Luke McDonnell, and Bill Wray. When we saw Zatanna last, she was a captive of the mysterious Adam, who seems to be the god-like figure in a cult that Zee's friend Sherri is a part of.

Zatanna is tied down a grimy mattress, which a tough-looking nurse watching over her. She dreams(?) she is talking to her late father, the master magician Zatara.

Zatanna and Zatara squabble over what is real and what is not, and Zatanna starts to recall the events leading up to where she is now.

She sees herself on the yacht, sees her friend Sherri, except she remembers events as different than what we saw last issue. Instead of getting hit on the head, Zatanna remembers it as:

She then remembers being put under Adam's creepy operating machine, which he wants to use to steal Zatanna's genetic code, so he can become one of the Homo Magi.

Zatara leaves her with promise that she won't be hurt again, which wakes Zee up. The nurse sees this and tries to ply her with more tranquilizers, but Zee uses her magic powers to throw the woman across the room and free herself from her constraints.

Zatanna, as she is escaping, runs into Sherri, and then is blasted by Adam, dressed in a costume befitting a would-be demi-god. He uses his powers to trap Zatanna in some magical bonds.

Zee managed to hit her JLA signal device, but Adam is powerful enough to "see" the signal arrive at JLA HQ, where the team regroups and heads out to find Zatanna.

Meanwhile, John Jones. P.I., works on the murder case he's been framed for, which leads him to the real culprit--the woman's husband's mistress, who claims it was he who "made her do it."

The adulterous husband loses control and fires a few slugs into John, which of course doesn't hurt him. What does is when the force of the bullets knock him into a fire raging in a fireplace! The man and woman leave Jones to die.

Later, we see the JLA arrive at the building where Zatanna is. But when they get there, she's waiting there for them, telling them it was all a false alarm:

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: This is Gerry Conway's last JLA issue. Too bad it was such an ignominious end--after almost eight uninterrupted years of writing the World's Greatest Superheroes, DC yanked Conway off the book in the middle of a story.

Also--I don't know who this Michael Ellis guy is. I assume its some form of pseudonym, since this is Ellis' only DC comic book credit. Weird that this credit would appear on Conway's final issue, with Ellis credited for the script, as if Conway needed help with that.

I find the sequence of Zatanna trying to recall what happened truly disturbing. Maybe I'm reading into it, but Zee's prone position in the second panel I posed, surrounded by faceless, threatening men, has a dark, disturbing subtext to it, only exacerbated by the fact that Zee is stripped naked and has her body violated by Adam's creepy machine.

Again, maybe I'm reading into it.

Justice League of America #254 - Sept. 1986

The final battle with Despero--will the new Justice League be up to the task?

The Story: "Desperate Climax" by Gerry Conway, Luke McDonnell, and Bill Wray. Picking up from last issue, we open on Batman, grimly staring into the Fire of Py'Tar, trying to figure out a plan.

Despero experiences another agonizing renewal of his power, and walks out of the fire, only to be temporarily blinded by an explosive gas pellet thrown in his eyes by Batman.

Despero chases after Batman, blasting away at everything in sight, enraged more at Batman's guts than the explosion itself.

Meanwhile, Vixen tires to wake up the other JLAers, knocked out by Despero's last attack. They finally do, and Vixen tells them of Batman's plan.

When Vixen tells Vibe Batman is in there, fighting Despero alone, he basically gives up and says they have no hope of stopping him. But Steel doesn't want to hear it:

The JLA heads toward Despero's temple, and Vibe initially starts to walk away. Finally, he realizes his cowardice, and turns out to join his friends.

Inside, we see Batman has been captured again by Despero, but he's still trash-talking him anyway. This drives Despero nuts:

Batman even goes so far to call Despero "a pathetic little loser"(!), which distracts Despero long enough for the JLA to sneak in and hit him with a series of blows, courtesy Vixen and Steel.

Vixen then frees Batman, and they and the rest of them fight the various stone demons Despero has created. Despero then blasts at Steel, which infuriates Gypsy, who uses her hallucinogenic powers on Despero, causing him to go completely berserk.

Vibe then uses his powers on the Flame of Py'Tar, causing the effect on Despero that Batman guessed it would:

Everything Despero created disappears into nothingness, and Batman credits Vibe with the final blow.

Vibe is touched by Batman's compliment, and asks if they can double-date. Batman's answer: "Don't press your luck."

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

Notable Moments: Maybe the new JLA's finest moment, sad to think this was Gerry Conway's last story line with the team he wrote for so long. Despero is defeated by teamwork and logic, not some deus ex machina event at the end. I think, over time, if just a couple older JLAers had returned to the team, this could've been a workable concept. But of course, it wasn't to be.

This issue's cover is inked by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, another unusual choice as inker.

Justice League of America #253 - Aug. 1986

Despero takes on the entire JLA!

The Story: "Pyre" by Gerry Conway, Luke McDonnell, and Bill Wray. The JLA is stunned to see their old foe, Despero, in a new, more powerful form, as well as their teammates Batman and Vixen trussed up.

While most of the team don't know who this guy is, Martian Manhunter sure does, and he keeps repeating, solemnly, "Despero", as if he can't believe it.

Despero explains he is here for revenge, and uses his power to turn a nearby skyscraper into a giant stone dragon, based upon a beast from Despero's home planet.

Steel tries to subdue the creature, but it doesn't work. This is something they've never encountered before.

My favorite part of this whole story line is that, even through all this, Batman still manages to play mind games with Despero:

The combined powers of the JLA find a way to smash the dragon into bits, which seems to pain Despero greatly, causing him to lash out and cause the ground beneath the JLA's feet to shake and shatter.

Despero then moves Batman and Vixen inside his stone temple, where Batman--of course--starts to form a plan.

Despero then joins them, and tells them how all this came to be, and how he came to battle the Justice League:

Even during this whole soliloquy, Batman stays focused, and gets Despero to tell him about the Flame of Py'Tar, which Bats believes is the source of Despero's newfound power.

Despero says, in the Flame of Py'Tar, his entire being was atomized and he was reborn in this new body, one capable of amazing, god-like power.

As Despero renews himself in the Flame, Batman slips one hand out of his stone manacle, freeing himself, and then Vixen. He then tells her that the JLA needs to destroy the Flame, which should stop Despero.

Vixen tries to argue, but Batman is already off to distract Despero. Vixen heads outside, and runs into a problem:

To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: A lot of the letters in the JLA Mail Room ask for Aquaman to come back. And while I've said before that I wouldn't want to lose the Neal Pozner/Craig Hamilton 1986 mini-series for anything, you have to think DC made a mistake dropping him from the JLA so abruptly. Maybe it's because he's still pictured in the letters page header.

I love, love, love that, even amid all this unbelievable power, Batman is still not all that impressed by Despero, and how much that pisses Despero off. It must be really fun to write Batman sometimes.

Justice League of America #252 - July 1986

All hell breaks loose as Despero arrives on Earth, looking for the Justice League of America!

The Story: "Arrival" by Gerry Conway, Luke McDonnell, and Bill Wray. As we saw last issue, Despero makes his way to Earth, enveloped in a giant ball of fire.

Despero doesn't have much time for niceties, as we see him use his mental powers to extract from a human he stumbles upon where the Justice League is. Once he gets what he needs, he immolates the poor sap (and his dog, the bastard).

While he is disappointed to learn the Justice League he last fought and imprisoned him is no more, he is more than happy to go after the new one, since it is led by one of his old enemies, Batman:

Meanwhile, we see Zatanna try and escape from the hospital bed the megalomanic Adam has put her in, but some sort of electronic headband keeps her from going too far, but not before she sees Adam putting himself through some sort of bizarre experiment, starting with an electronic arm cutting him open with a scalpel!

Later that night, Bruce Wayne and Mari McCabe are having dinner. But of course, the dinner is interrupted by big trouble:

Bruce turns to Batman before Mari even has time to think, but she quickly changes too into her superhero togs and they see who's the cause of all this destruction.

Batman is a little unprepared for the sheer amount of power Despero is now showing, as the ground shakes and breaks open, with demons spewing forth.

Despero grabs Bats, who gets a punch in, which infuriates Despero for the sheer effrontery. Vixen then knocks Despero into a pit of fire, but that only makes him angrier, so angry that he shoots himself into the sky, causing a massive ball of fire to explode in the night sky!

Back at the Secret Sanctuary, the League has assembled, Batman having sent a JLA distress signal. They head to New York, and they don't like what they see:

To be contnued!

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

Notable Moments: This issue's cover is inked by Kyle Baker, of all people. I wonder how that came about.

Luke McDonnel gives this battle a real sense of scope--he doesn't skimp on shots of lots of lots of buildings surrounding this massive conflagration caused by Despero.

Elongated Man's new costume makes its first appearance in the book.