by Dwayne McDuffie, Ed Benes, Joe Benitez, Mike McKone and more
collects JLoA # 13-16 & JLoA Wedding Special # 1
the premise: Lex Luthor assembles a new Injustice League and strikes at the JLA on the eve of Green Arrow and Black Canary's wedding.
the lowdown: In a way it's a shame that a story like this almost seems ho-hum - the characters even comment on the fact that Luthor's done this exact same thing several times before. I say that's a shame because this is really cool. Lots of heroes. Lots of villains. Big melees. What kind of world do we live in where that's ho-hum?
McDuffie hits a lot of notes here that just resonate with me. The Joker in an oversized purple coat and tophat - WITH a squirting flower. The JLA dividing into groups of two or three, who then appear in a panel along with their logos. Strange mismatches of heroes vs villains, like Green Lantern fighting Poison Ivy. Firestorm.
At times it's a little too retro - the dialogue is mostly pretty snappy but occasionally over-expository. The short stories at the end are pretty much a waste of space. And the art is not so great - some talented folks who do less than their best work (McKone), some less talented folks who do better than their worst work (you know), and way too many scenes where female heroes react to the bad guys by twisting and sticking out their butts.
So not perfect - but pretty darn good. McDuffie "gets" the JLA, and shows us that without having them cry all the time or go on and on about how they're BFFFs.
the verdict: Good show - I'm digging it. I'm back on board with JLoA.
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