100 Days of Justice League Day 2: JL #2

Justice League #2
Story: Make War No More!
Plot & Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Script: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciller: Kevin Maguire
Inker: Al Gordon
Letterer: Bob Lappan
Colorist: Gene D’Angelo
Editor: Andrew Helfer



As was revealed last issue, Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi a.k.a. Dr. Light was given an official Justice League signal device and granted Justice League membership by an unknown benefactor. The League obviously wants to find out who was behind this, and Batman is being none too polite about it.

As Dr. Hoshi begins to reiterate the story for a third time, the Blue Beetle, ever on monitor duty it seems, announces that news commentator Jack Ryder is about to “rampage” against the Justice League. As he does, he zeroes in on Batman, the “sullen, uncommunicative vigilante with a penchant for circumventing the law and slugging cameramen;” the Martian Manhunter, an untrustworthy “creature from another world;” and Mister Miracle, “a publicity-hungry carnival performer.” He ends his rampage, as Beetle calls it, by saying, “Do we need this new JLA? Do we want to be ‘protected’ by a group that we may need protection from?”

So, the stage is set. This Justice League isn’t just facing menaces in the form of psychotic, power mad, greedy villains and aliens. It’s facing perhaps the greatest menaces of all: the media and public opinion.

Maxwell Lord is also watching Ryder’s commentary and requests that Ms. Wootenhoffer, his assistant, pull the Ryder file. “It’s under ‘C.’” he says, a joke that Ms. Wootenhoffer doesn’t get. It’s at this moment that a Mr. Gold arrives for his appointment with Max.

After seeing Ryder’s commentary, Guy Gardner is outraged and threatens him bodily harm. When considering Guy, Ryder’s commentary may not have been too far off. He is someone that America probably may need protection from. Between Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, and, of course, Batman, Guy’s indignation is shelved for the time being in the funniest page of the issue. "Well, gosh. Maybe someday I'll get to be a real man like you." Zing!

Meanwhile, Dr. Fate visits an angry man with, as Fate says, “a destiny,” one he feels the man is “tempted to throw off.” This is the Gray Man, a man with gray hair, gray clothes and a gray demeanor. Actually, Fate doesn’t visit the Gray Man as a social call. He says he’s drawn to him by his anger. Fate has come to warn him. The Gray Man doesn’t seem phased by this. As Fate departs, the Gray Man claims to be angered, but he appears quite placid – an intriguing and mysterious and gray juxtaposition.

Just as "gray" in their own way are the three super-beings known as the Silver Sorceress, Wandjina, and Blue Jay, who are determined to eliminate the nation of Bialya’s nuclear “defenses.” Actually, they’re not specifically interested in Bialya so much as Earth. They’re on a self-proclaimed mission to rid all worlds of nuclear armaments. As Wandjina hurls a missile through a dimensional portal created by the Silver Sorceress, the three are greeted by a charming Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, “leader of this small, beleaguered country.” One is reminded of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi or, even, Saddam Hussein. The three are suspicious. Harjavti tries to paint a picture of himself and Bialya as victims, but as the Silver Sorceress says, “He stinks of blood and deception.” They are rightfully suspicious as he invites them to relax, eat, and talk.

As Batman and the Martian Manhunter further inspect Dr. Light’s signal device and find it to be “a superior copy” containing design elements that they should incorporate into their own devices, Beetle picks up a news report on a trio of super-beings responsible for attacking several Israeli missile sites in the name of intergalactic peace. The implication is that Colonel Harjavti probably put them up to it. In addition, I’m getting the impression that monitor duty pretty much just means sitting around and watching the news. Since the news story involves super-heroes, Mister Miracle begins, “it involves us, “ finishes Batman. Captain Marvel and Guy Gardner fly together with the rest of the team following in the Blue Beetle’s “Bug.”

We cut back to the three strange visitors from another planet and learn the origins of their hatred for nukes. Giffen and DeMatteis use a storytelling technique that has bothered me for a long time. I understand why it’s used and have accepted it as a convention, but I almost always cringe when I read a story that uses it. It’s the technique in which one character tells another character something he already knows for the benefit of the reader who does not know it. It often shows up as a narrated flashback. In this case, the Silver Sorceress recaps for Wandjina how their world was destroyed in a nuclear holocaust with the three of them as the only survivors. I don’t think Wandjina would need to be reminded of something like that. I would have preferred that Giffen and DeMatteis set up a scenario in which the Silver Sorceress related this story to Colonel Harjavti. He wouldn’t have been aware of their history, and it would've served the same purpose as the Silver Sorceress telling Wandjina something he not only already knew but he personally experienced.

As the Justice League are en route, Guy Gardner suddenly veers off course. He has apparently used his power ring to locate the three new heroes and makes the mistake of attacking them. Wandjina summons a lightning bolt which strikes Guy directly. He plummets earthward and, as he’s just about to splat, Captain Marvel swoops in and catches him. “Captain Whitebread just saved your life,” says Captain Marvel referring to himself using the derogatory name that Guy used earlier. “I noticed! I noticed!” says Guy, equal parts flustered and annoyed.

Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter and Mister Miracle fly out to confront, well, presumably all three, but we only see Wandjina and the Silver Sorceress. Blue Jay is nowhere to be seen and, for that matter, has had almost no speaking lines nor been involved in much of the action during the whole issue. I might say that it’s an oversight, but it seems like a difficult thing to overlook. As they request their surrender, Bialyan air traffic control orders the Justice League to leave Bialyan airspace or be destroyed. The League, respecting Bialya’s sovereignty, leaves.

“What they did they had to do. I respect that, “ Wandjina says. “Once, we would have done the same.”

Colonel Harjavti reiterates that the three heroes are safe in Bialya and is more than willing to accommodate their search for more nuclear weapons to be destroyed. He knows just the place he says. “What country is that?” asks Wandjina.

“Russia.”

Next issue: Justice League #3 – “Back in the U.S.S.R.!!!”

Read More