Justice League International: The Later Years, Part II: Blue and Gold / Fire & Ice

(I find the use of different forms of "and" in this post title very aesthetically displeasing!)

My feeling is that comics kind of suffer from cyclical nostalgia. It works like this: You have some people who create a character or concept, let's say Potato-Salad Man. Later, Potato-Salad Man gets reinvented for a new era. Still later, the people nostalgic for the original incarnation of Potato-Salad Man become the employees of the comic book company and bring him back to his original version. But then even more later, the people who grew up on the reinvented Potato-Salad Man become adults and they bring that version back.

I think we're hitting that point with Justice League International. In the 2000s we saw the rise of the Geoff Johnses and Grant Morrisons and Mark Waids of comic bookdom, who brought back the classic seven-member JLA they grew up on, and the JLI characters of the 1980s and '90s were shunted off-stage for the most part. But now people like me, who read the JLI version when they were young and impressionable, have become the creators and purchasers of comic books. We haven't hit the point yet where there's a proper JLI title again (though apparently the main Justice League comic these days takes its cues from a different League incarnation people of my generation are nostalgic for, the Justice League Unlimited cartoon), but the last five years have seen three different miniseries bringing back classic duos from the JLI era: a Blue Beetle and Booster Gold reunion comic, and two Fire and Ice reunion comics. I'll be closing out my reading of JLI comics (for now, anyway!) with these series.

from Blue and Gold #1

"Application Denied" / "Pink Slip" / "Omnizon" / "Splittin' Image" / "Fist of the Empire" / "Timely Solution" / "Beetles Abound!"/ "UnMasked At Last", from Blue and Gold #1-8 (Sept. 2021–June 2022)
written by Dan Jurgens; art by Ryan Sook, Cully Hamner, Kevin Maguire, Dan Jurgens, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Paul Pelletier, Norm Rapmund, and Wade Von Grawbadger; colors by Chris Sotomayor, Ryan Sook, and Steve Buccellato; letters by Rob Leigh

This books reunites Blue Beetle and Booster Gold... in the hands of Booster Gold's original creator, Dan Jurgens! I was a bit trepidatious about this going in because it seemed to me that Jurgens treated Booster more seriously during his JLA run (see items #9-11 on the list below) than Giffen and DeMatteis did in their run that created the duo. Could he recreate their dynamic when he hadn't been particularly interested in the original version of it to begin with?

Well, I need not have worried. He very much leans into the goofier version of the characters—but in a good way. Here, they have decided to form a superhero team accessible to "regular" people, unlike the Justice League up in space (very much like in a previous JLI reunion book, see item #16 below). But with Ted no longer in command of the Kord Industries money (he loses it here; I didn't know he had ever got it back, though, because last time I heard he had lost them... though admittedly that was the late 1980s!), they need to find crowdfunding!

It's a fun way to reinvent the fame- and money-obsessed Booster Gold for the twenty-first century. The book is peppered with comments from people watching the livestream of the duo, and I enjoyed this a lot; there's a lot of good interaction and cute hijinks. Some hope they do well, some think it's all faked, some are women stanning for one character or the other, some hope they die... and one is Guy Gardner just there to say mean things about them! But the book is not as cynical as some takes on Booster and Beetle have been, even ones penned by Giffen and DeMatteis. The two bicker, but they fundamentally get along; they seek fame, but it doesn't make them craven or obsessed with money. At their root, they're people trying to do good, and the book leans into that.

Maybe a little too much; I didn't want the book to put them through the wringer per se but it seemed to me it didn't quite challenge them to the extent it might have. But that's clearly not what Jurgens is up to here. The book is obviously meant to just be a light and charming return of some classic characters, and it succeeds perfectly at that.

from Blue and Gold #4

Overall, I enjoyed the art by Ryan Sook and various others. Sook has a light, expressive style that communicates character very well, which is perfectly suited to Jurgens's writing. But why did Ted suddenly acquire black hair? This is redhead erasure! (Also on my collected edition, Kevin Maguire gets cover credit for drawing one-third of one issue. Nice work if you can get it, I guess.)

The first five issues weave in and out of one big story, about Ted and Michael fighting an alien warlord who has an ancient claim on the Earth. There's lots of room for side stuff, though, like a fun issue where Ted and Michael retell the story of how they first worked together, and they have very different memories of it. And it turns out that Guy Gardner of all people knows how things actually went down! (This is the story Maguire helps draw; he does the Beetle-narrated flashbacks while Jurgens himself does the Booster ones. Perfection. They've both still got it of course.)

After this, we get a shorter story about them going up against "Black Beetle." One thing that annoyed me was that throughout the series, there would be explanatory footnotes pointing you to issues you'd literally just read (e.g., "see Blue and Gold #2!" when reading issue #3) but when Black Beetle turns up, the characters talk about encountering him before... but I'd never encountered this guy before. I looked him up later, and he previously appeared in Booster's late 2000s ongoing... a comic from fifteen years prior. Why didn't that get a footnote?

(My other continuity question: How did Blue Beetle come back to life? Based on my research, it seems like the answer is he kind of didn't. Ted was of course killed in "Countdown to Infinite Crisis." Later, when Flashpoint simplified the history of the DC universe, Ted had never been killed because the events of Infinite Crisis just hadn't happened in the "New 52" history. Still later, I guess, much of the post-Crisis pre-Flashpoint history was reinstated... but things like the death of Blue Beetle just weren't, so somehow the post-Crisis history all happened, but Blue Beetle is alive! I think, anyway; I'm not very au fait with continuity changes since 2015's Convergence, when I largely stopped keeping up with DC comics. I did note that though in publication time, Booster and Beetle served in the Justice League from 1987 up to at least 1994, and though in my post-Crisis DC universe timeline that's from "Year Twelve" to "Year Fourteen," here we're told they were only in the League for "months." It must have been some very busy few months!)

Unfortunately there hasn't been a second mini about these characters, nor even (as far as I can tell) any further substantive appearances by them. C'mon, DC, give me that full-fledged JLI nostalgia book!

from Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1

"Hot Water" / Welcome to Smallville, from Power Girl Special #1 (July 2023) and Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1-6 (Nov. 2023–Apr. 2024), reprinted in Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville (2024)
written by Joanne Starer, art by Natacha Bustos, colors by Tamra Bonvillain, letters by Ariana Maher

This story brings back the JLI's other well-loved duo, Fire and Ice a.k.a. Bea and Tora, the boisterous Brazilian swimsuit model and the demure Scandinavian ice princess. Here, Bea's impetuousness causes problems, so Superman basically exiles them to Smallville to get their lives under control. This, to be honest, seemed a bit contrived to me.

It's basically fine, but the whole book is brought down by Bea feeling somewhat off. She continuously has zany schemes... but when did she ever have zany schemes before? Bea's thing was a temper and the fact that she saw herself as more of a model than a superhero... but she wasn't fame-obsessed to the extent of say, inviting supervillains to participate in a reality show set in a Smallville hair salon. That's the kind of thing, well, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold would have done. I like the extended cast of characters here well enough, particularly some of the D-list supervillains who sign up for their reality show, and the use of L-RON and Ma Kent. Natacha Bustos is a strong artist, but Joanne Starer's comedy writing isn't strong enough to pull this off. It's more "occasional mild chuckle" than "laugh out loud" even if it is clearly going for the latter.

(Continuity-wise, I guess there was a point where everyone on the Earth knew Superman's secret identity. Was this the Truth storyline? This was later erased, but according to this book, Fire and Ice retained their knowledge of it because of the telepathic link J'onn J'onnz created when the characters all served in the JLA together. But back in those days, Superman's secret identity was a closely guarded secret, not known to even his fellow League members! Also, when was Kooeykooeykooey destroyed? I don't remember this at all. (Ah, the DC wiki says it happened during a post–Zero Hour JLA story, after I stopped reading.)) 

from Fire & Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #2

When Hell Freezes Over, from Fire & Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #1-6 (June-Nov. 2025), reprinted in Fire & Ice: When Hell Freezes Over (2025)
written by Joanne Starer, art by Stephen Byrne, letters by Ariana Maher

I did not think the second one of these minis was as good as the first. The basic idea of Fire and Ice switching powers, and later bodies, is a decent one. The best part is of course how they each dress very differently in each other's bodies. And though I like the idea of a "monkey paw" wish backfiring is a fun one, I don't buy that Fire would be so dumb as to do it in the first place.

The story mostly splits Fire and Ice from their new supporting cast; Fire and Ice go on a quest into Hell to undo the bodyswitch, while their supporting cast deal with their own bodyswitches back in Smallville. But I just don't care enough about these supporting characters to keep track of who is in whose body! The quest in Hell is better, but moves quite slowly, and why use Etrigan if you don't want to write rhymes for him? That's his whole gimmick! Overall, this kind of fizzles out. Still, some decent jokes here and there; I particularly liked the gag about how when the former supervillain with mind-control powers gets bodyswapped from her original black female body into one of a white man, she doesn't need the powers anymore. Also the bit about how Ma Kent instantly recognizes a bodyswap because she spent so much time in weird situations because of her son is good too.

(Continuity notes again: Kord Industries is a sponsor of the new casino in the new Kooeykooeykooey, so has Ted gotten his fortune back since Blue and Gold? Also, it turns out that Bea's father was abusive and trained her as a deadly assassin; again, I would have appreciated a footnote! It doesn't fit at all with what I remember of her Secret Origins story by the Bierbaums. Some research informs me this idea comes from when she was in Checkmate in the mid-2000s; I will have to hunt it down for the full details, I guess.)

Anyway, all three of these stories were fun enough... but when will the JLI nostalgia give us what I really want? Bring them all back in a new ongoing! C'mon, DC, you cowards!

This is the penultimate in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers a reading order for the comics. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)
6. Justice League America #38-50 / Justice League Europe #22 (May 1990–May 1991)
7. Justice League America #51-52 / Justice League Europe #23-28 (Feb. 1991–July 1991) 
8. Justice League America #53-60 / Justice League Europe #29-36 (Aug. 1991–Mar. 1992) 
9. Justice League America #61-65 / Justice League Europe #37-42 (Apr. 1992–Sept. 1992)
10. Justice League America #66-69 / Justice League Europe #43-50 (Sept. 1992–May 1993) 
11. Justice League America #70-77 / Justice League Task Force #1-3 (Jan. 1993–Aug. 1993) 
12. Justice League America #78-83 / Justice League International #51-52 / Justice League Task Force #4-8 (June 1993–Jan. 1994)
13. Justice League America #84-85 / Justice League International #53-57 / Justice League Task Force #9 (Aug. 1993–Feb. 1994) 
14. Justice League America #86-88 / Justice League International #58-64 / Justice League Task Force #10-12 (Nov. 1993–May 1994) 
15. Justice League America #89-92 / Justice League International #65-68 / Justice League Task Force #13-16 (June 1994–Sept. 1994)
16. Formerly Known as the Justice League / I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League (Feb. 2000–Aug. 2005)

Justice League International Year Seven, Part I: Destiny's Hand (JLA #70-77 / JLTF #1-3)

This series of posts took a bit of a breather. Partially because I have to track down out-of-print trade paperbacks, but partially also because trying to read the stories in any kind of reasonable or accurate sequence gets much harder around this point! I had been using the Cosmic Teams timeline, but it has lots of placements that very obviously do not make sense if you read the actual stories, making me think it was done from someone's vague memories of the series. So I kept on reading, but put my writeups on pause while I tried to work out the best order.

Now, finally, I am back in action. It is interesting; this era gives you some signs that the Justice League family of titles was in trouble, in that approaches are constantly being jerked around and creative teams switching. But it also gives you indications things were going quite well, because a third ongoing monthly title was added to the lineup. Has there ever been any other era in the history of DC where there were four ongoing Justice League titles? (America, International, and Task Force all as monthlies, but also Quarterly keeps going, with three issues' worth of content every quarter, so essentially another monthly.)

This post covers the end of Dan Jurgens's run on Justice League America (collected in a book called Superman and Justice League America, Volume 2... even though Superman is dead for every single one of these issues!) and the first three issues of Justice League Task Force. Based on chronological considerations, it will be a bit before we get back to JLE, now retitled Justice League International. Plus, a single issue of JLQ!

from Justice League America #76

"Grieving" / "A New Look" / Destiny's Hand / Blood Secrets, from Justice League America #70-77 (Jan.-Late July 1993), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 2 (2016)
words/layouts by Dan Jurgens (guest pencils by Sal Velluto), finishes by Rick Burchett and Romeo Tanghal & Bob Smith, letters by Willie Schubert, colors by Gene D'Angelo

So, JLA #69 ended with Superman showing up to battle Doomsday. JLA #70 begins with him dead, having been killed off in Superman #75 as part of the Death of Superman story. The issue first focuses on the reactions of the various League members to the events of the battle with Doomsday: Ice, who had a crush on Superman, is devastated; Blue Beetle is in a coma; Booster is beside himself at both the injury of his best friend and the destruction of his suit. It then takes a broader approach, as other characters show up to grieve, like the Flash and Aquaman and Hawkman and Green Arrow. Even Guy Gardner is sad! It's fine, it does exactly what it should, I suppose. Dan Jurgens's art lifts his story; he's very good at classical heroic heroes emoting, which is exactly what this needs.

The next issue is one of those dull transitional issues, establishing the new status quo for the League: who quits, who joins, &c. Wonder Woman takes over as team leader. Ice quits. Booster and Fire are still around but neither has powers. A bunch of new members join, including the Ray (who lasts for quite a while) and two other characters who I honestly forget were even in the title until I went to write these issues up just now! These are Condor and Agent Liberty. Jurgens never really establishes their deals in an interesting way during his run, and they just vanish after it's over; I am pretty sure they are not written out, they just stop appearing after issue #75! I would say that's typical of the post-Giffen/DeMatteis JLA, which very much struggles to create a compelling mix of characters no matter who's writing.

At this point, Jurgens's run fizzles out. First we get a really boring four-part story about Doctor Dee dreaming a harsher Justice League into existence, which begins to bleed into the real world. It's just not a very interesting idea and it goes on far too long. The whole thing wraps up with a two-part story finally explaining what's been going on with Bloodwynd: he's the Martian Manhunter in the form of Bloodwynd. This is a great twist but not a great story because it turns out J'onn J'onnz thinks he's Bloodwynd so he's acting exactly how Bloodwynd would act. It tells us nothing about either Bloodwynd or J'onn as a character, so what's the point? I do like how Jurgens writes Blue Beetle, though, never forgetting that in addition to being a goofball he's also an obsessive genius.

from Justice League Quarterly #11

"Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect" / "Heat Wave" / "The Damnation Agenda, Part 1 of 5: The Hiding Kind", from Justice League Quarterly #11 (Summer 1993)
writes by William Messner-Loebs, Pat McGreal & Dave Rawson, and Michael Jan Friedman; pencils by Mike Wieringo & Lee Moder, Dave Cockrum, and Mike Mayhew; inks by Richard Space, Peter Gross, and Dan Davis; letters by Bob Pinaha and Tim Harkins; colors by Gene D'Angelo, Steve Mattsson, and Glenn Whitmore

The lead story in this issue is said to "take place before current issues of Justice League," but there's pretty much nowhere it could go, as it features both Wonder Woman and Ice in the JLA, and Ice quit the same issue Wonder Woman joined (JLA #71). Additionally, Beetle is unseen but mentioned as active, yet he was comatose from JLA #69 to 75. But it can't go later, once Ice rejoins (JLA #85), because by then, Crimson Fox has quit the League!

Anyway, the lead story here has potential but, like all of William Messner-Loebs's contributions to JLQ, is not very well done. The League is asked to protect the wife of a conservative Muslim prince, so only female members can be used. The main characters have to be pretty dumb and gullible for the whole thing to work. There are some decent character moments among the leads, but also I feel like Mike Wieringo and Lee Moder's art wasn't quite ready for prime time. (But then, I guess JLQ isn't exactly prime time.) There's also a flashback story about the Martian Manhunter in the 1960s, battling racism in the South. I wouldn't say it's great comics, but I thought it was solid, and surprisingly nuanced for the early 1990s. It's cowritten by Pat McGreal, who overall did some solid stuff for JLQ; I'd've liked to have seen more work from him. And the art is by the great Dave Cockrum; nice to see him get to cut loose with something other than standard superhero fare.

Lastly, this issue sees the debut of JLQ's first-ever ongoing feature. This stars Praxis... and if you're going, "Who?", I don't blame you. Praxis has a very flimsy JL connection; way back in JLQ #1 he was a member of Conglomerate. It would be quite easy to not remember him! (I see from DCUGuide that he actually debuted in a 1989 Spectre story arc, but I don't think that's ever mentioned in any of his JLQ appearances.) Why would he be picked up for a return appearance? Well, if you remember the 1990s, it's not too surprising: he wears a leather jacket and sunglasses and mostly goes around angsting. So totally of his time it almost reads as parody. Praxis was a cop who failed to save his niece from a serial killer and got superpowers; after Conglomerate fell apart, he returned to police work. The story here, told from the perspective of his female partner, focuses on them trying to stop a new serial killer with a grisly MO. It's by Michael Jan Friedman and Mike Mayhew, both solid comics creators, but I found there was a bit too much narration. Let the story breathe!

from Justice League Task Force #1

"The Tyranny Gun!" / "Split Hit" / "Twisted Glass!", from Justice League Task Force #1-3 (June-Aug. 1993), reprinted in Justice League Task Force, Volume 1: The Purification Plague (2018)
written by David Michelinie, pencils by Sal Velluto, inks by Jeff Albrecht, letters by Bob Pinaha, colors by Glenn Whitmore

Justice League Task Force is a new ongoing. It only has two consistent lead characters, Martian Manhunter and Gypsy; other than the two of them, each story arc sees a new team assembled every issue, from a broad mix of DC superheroes. Interestingly, this grabbag approach also extends to the series's writing: David Michelinie gets first author on the collection cover, but actually only writes three of the twelve issues it collects... but no one writes more than three. While ongoing comics with rotating creators aren't unusual, I can't remember another comic I've read where the writer is constantly changing, but the artist is not; Sal Velluto pencilled all but two of the series's first fifteen issues.

In the first story, the UN uses the newly formed Task Force to take down rebels in a Caribbean nation. In this one, in addition to Manhunter and Gypsy, there's the Flash, Aquaman, and Nightwing. I don't really care for it. Sal Velluto has done good work elsewhere but this isn't his best, leaning too much into the early 1990s grim-and-gritty style; the writing is like that, too, with the characters always barking and snarling at each other. I don't find attempts to insert mainstream superhero characters into "realistic" geopolitics very interesting. This must go shortly after JLA #77 for J'onn, but the trauma he went through there is never mentioned, and weirdly, the actual JLA series never mentions why J'onn suddenly never appears again after his return!

I feel like David Michelinie was probably meant to write more of this title than he did. He gets cover credit on the fourth issue even though it was written by someone else (more on that next time), and the ending of #3 seems to set up a recurring villain who never recurs.

This is the eleventh in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #78-83 of JLA, #51-52 of JLI, and #4-8 of JLTF. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)
6. Justice League America #38-50 / Justice League Europe #22 (May 1990–May 1991)
7. Justice League America #51-52 / Justice League Europe #23-28 (Feb. 1991–July 1991) 
8. Justice League America #53-60 / Justice League Europe #29-36 (Aug. 1991–Mar. 1992) 
9. Justice League America #61-65 / Justice League Europe #37-42 (Apr. 1992–Sept. 1992)
10. Justice League America #66-69 / Justice League Europe #43-50 (Sept. 1992–May 1993) 

Justice League International Year Six, Part II: Red Winter (JLA #66-69 / JLE #43-50)

One of the defining comics events of the 1990s was of course The Death of Superman. Here we have the run of JLA and JLE stories that lead up to and overlapped with it. There are also a lot of Justice League Quarterly issues set during this span, presumably because they wanted to avoiding overlapping with the more complicated events of Death and its immediate aftermath.

from Justice League Europe #43

"'Round and 'Round and 'Round It Goes..." / "With a Little Bit of Luck", from Justice League Europe #43-44 (Oct.-Nov. 1992)
written by Gerard Jones, drawn by Ron Randall, inked by Randy Elliott, lettered by Willie Schubert, colored by Matt Hollingsworth and Gene D'Angelo

These two issues of JLE have the JLE checking into a hotel, as the events of the Deconstructo storyline saw them kicked out of their previous HQ; in this story, Sue finds them a castle to use as a headquarters. While the castle is made ready, though, they investigate a series of improbable disaster near gambling site. As in many stories in both JLI titles recently, the villain turns out to be an old League foe, though one unfamiliar to me other than this story: Amos Fortune, who can manipulate probabilities. When he makes good luck for himself, bad luck results for everyone else.

This isn't a great story, but it is another strong installment of a good run for JLE. Gerard Jones, Ron Randall, and Randy Elliott have really made the title work at this point. Fun, offbeat concepts and good character interactions elevate what could easily be an also-ran title into an enjoyable one. If you include the upcoming Red Winter storyline, this fourteen-issue run of JLE is the most consistent the title has been since its birth. I enjoyed a lot of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Sears run of course, but it's really clicked with this team.

from Justice League America Annual #6

"Maximum Eclipse", from Justice League America Annual #6 (1992), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 2 (2016)
plot by Dan Jurgens, written by Dan Mishkin, penciled by Dave Cockrum, inked by José Marzan, Jr., lettered by Clem Robins, colored by Gene D'Angelo

Eclipso: The Darkness Within was a big crossover where the villain Eclipso began taking over superheroes from a fortress on the Moon. I actually collected and read all of its installments many years ago, so this was a reread for me. The JLA installment is collected in volume 2 of Superman and Justice League America, but the status of Guy Gardner means it clearly belongs with the stories in volume 1.

What I learned from collecting all those Darkness Within installments is that I actually don't enjoy Eclipso stories very much. Oh no, a hero has turned evil! It doesn't really generate much of interest. To the extent that this one works, it's the story's focus on Blue Beetle, who must outwit Eclipso with technical wizardry and sleight of hand; I have mixed thoughts on Dan Jurgens's JLA run, but he typically does well by Blue Beetle. 

"Eclipso over London" / "Brilliant Men", from Justice League Europe Annual #3 (1992) and Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2 (Oct. 1992)
plots by Gerard Jones and Keith Giffen & Robert Loren Fleming; breakdowns by Keith Giffen; dialogue by Will Jacobs and Robert Loren Fleming; pencils by Tim Hamilton and Bart Sears; inks by Romeo Tanghal and Mark Pennington, Randy Elliott & Raymond Kryssing; colors by Gene D'Angelo and Tom McCraw; letters by Ken Holewczynski and Gaspar

The Darkness Within continues with a JLE installment; it's fine but mostly forgettable. For completion's sake, I did actually reread the last part of the whole storyline, since it features a number of JLA and JLE characters, but I needn't have bothered, since they mostly just fill out crowd scenes. The whole thing is surprisingly jumpy at times considering Keith Giffen did breakdowns.

"Double Trouble!" / "It's...It's...a Ballroom Blitz! (or, The Rook's a Crook!)" / "Yesterday's News" / "The Real Return of... The Global Guardians!", from Justice League Quarterly #8 (Autumn 1992)
stories by Mark Waid, Mike Collins, Elliot S! Maggin, and Kevin Dooley; pencils by Rod Whigham, Mike Collins, Tim Hamilton, and Andy Smith; inks by Romeo Tanghal, Jose Marzan Jr., Trevor Scott, and Smitty; letters by Bob Pinaha, Albert DeGuzman, and Clem Robins; colors by Gene D'Angelo, Matt Hollingsworth, John Cebollero, and Tom McCraw

from Justice League Quarterly #8

This installment of JLQ's lead story is about Max and his ex-wife Claire setting up a rematch between the JLI and Conglomerate; Max uses his business connections to get all of Conglomerate's members to quit for better gigs, sabotaging her. In desperation, Claire ends up using heroes from another universe... not realizing they are members of the Crime Syndicate from the antimatter universe! The League must work together to overcome evil alternates of themselves. It's okay; the best part is probably all the lame heroes who audition for Conglomerate. There's also a story about Power Girl and Wally West stopping a robbery, which is obviously an excuse for them to meet Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, star of a then-forthcoming new series (Thunderbolt also cameoed in JLE #41, so DC was definitely trying to hype this guy)... but I do of course like getting to seem some Mike Collins artwork. Plus there's a good joke about what "Wally" means in the UK.

The best story in the issue surprised me by being the one by Elliot S. Maggin, who though I enjoy a lot, I feel is a bit of an old-fashioned writer. But his low-key story about the JLA discovering the identity of Max Lord's first ex-wife is surprisingly moving and charmingly contemplative and very character driven. The JLA (especially Fire) investigating in the present is paralleled against short scenes from Max and Sylvia's relationship. It's very well done, and one of my favorite stories about this incarnation of the League.

Once again, but thankfully for the last time, there's a Global Guardians story. 

from Justice League America #68

"Together Again" / "Transitions, Transmissions and Transactions" / "Actions, Admissions & Acquisitions", from Justice League America #66-68 (Sept.-Nov. 1992), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 1 (2016)
story and layouts by Dan Jurgens, finishes by Rick Burchett and Jose Marzan, Jr., letters by Willie Schubert, colors by Gene D'Angelo and John Cebollero

The last three pre-Death of Superman issues of JLA have a lot of Guy Gardner in them. In the first, Superman battles Guy—freshly tossed out of the Green Lantern Corps—for leadership, and wins through his refusal to fight; meanwhile, the Atom turns up just to shit on the new League. To be honest, I feel like Jurgens is always shitting on the League in this incarnation; the characters are constantly being show as inferior power-wise and bad at working together. If he's trying to hit some kind of "underdogs make good" vibe, it's not coming off; you more feel like the writer doesn't like the group of character's he's been stuck with... even when he is good at writing them!

The other two issues make a story about an alien coming to the Earth because he thinks he owns it; as normal for Jurgens, it's very action-heavy and thus not very interesting to me... except for the ending, which is a good trick and has a great joke. Fire getting a new new costume so quickly is surely an admission that Dan Jurgens screwed up.

from Justice League Quarterly #10

"Frenzy" / "Cherchez L'Homme" / "You Bet Your Life" / "Tomorrow Belongs to Geralyn" / "Time and Chance!" / "Half an Inch" / "Contested Friendship" / "When Titans Date", from Justice League Quarterly #9-10 (Winter 1992–Spring 1993)
stories by Mark Waid, Kevin Dooley, Paul Kupperberg, Elliot S! Maggin, and William Messner-Loebs; pencils by Rod Whigham, Andy Smith, Dusty Abel, Dave Cockrum, Patrick Zircher, Scott Benefiel, and Ty Templeton; inks by Mike DeCarlo, Bob Wiacek, Jose Marzan Jr., John Lowe, Mike Sellers, and Karl Kesel; letters by Bob Pinaha, Albert De Guzman, Todd Klein, Clem Robins, Tim Harkins, and Bob Lappan; colors by Gene D'Angelo, Dan Jerome, Tom McCraw, Matt Hollingsworth, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, and Steve Mattsson

I wouldn't have guessed it to be honest, but I actually think that of the three post-Breakdowns JLI ongoings... JLQ might be my favorite!? These are two really strong issues on the whole, with just one misstep, and lots of stories that focus on a group of characters I've come to be quite fond of.

Standouts include "Frenzy", where six member of the JLI are exposed to a virus with a one-sixth chance of turning you into a homicidal maniac. Tensions rise as they try to figure out who it will be and if they can protect themselves; again, Mark Waid does well by the personalities of this version of the League, and Blue Beetle gets to show off his skill. I also enjoyed "You Bet Your Life," where Wally bets Karen that she can't keep her calm for an entire day... the same day Battlecat--protector of the environment begins prowling the streets of London. Fun stuff.

Elliot Maggin pops up again with another really well done story, "Tomorrow Belongs to Geralyn," this one about Booster meeting a young girl he knows will go on to be famous and help make the world a better place... but who also has a tragedy in her life. I think it's easy to write Booster as a shallow gloryhound, so I like these stories that delve into his earnest side. Like I said, I wouldn't have guessed Maggin would be such a good fit for the JLI; I hope there's more from him in future JLQ issues.

We get more good Booster in "Time and Chance!", which delves into Booster's dark past with gambling when he gets a chance to take down the crime family that ruined his life centuries before it happened. There's a really great scene between Booster and Beetle about what a good hero Booster actually is.

My favorite in these two issues, though, is "When Titans Date," a slice-of-life story about Fire, Wally, and Booster spying on Ted while he goes on a really terrible blind date. It's fun, it's cozy, it's everything I love about this group of characters. It's such a shame most of these JLQ stories have never been reprinted, because they really maintain what worked about this team so well in the Giffen/DeMatteis run, but in a slightly different way.

The only real misfire in these two issues is the kind of stupid one about Fire and Ice. It has its moments, but you sort of have the feeling that William Messner-Loebs thought that because it was "funny" he could just do whatever, whether it made sense or not. I don't think Fire and Ice act very believably at key points. But the bit about world peace was great! 

from Justice League America #69

"Down for the Count", from Justice League America #69 (Dec. 1992), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 2 (2016)
story and art by Dan Jurgens, finished art by Rick Burchett, letters by Willie Schubert, colors by Gene D'Angelo

Oddly, Superman is only in one regular issue collected in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 2. This issue is part of The Death of Superman; while Superman gives an interview in Metropolis, Doomsday (named by Booster Gold, fact fans!) beats up on the rest of the JLA. It's an all-action issue again, but I think it works better than most thanks to the level of desperation here. Still, I think it would have worked even more if so many of the preceding issues of the title weren't also action-heavy ones about the JLA being outclassed by superior opponents.

(I just reread my review of when I originally read this issue some eighteen years ago: "These aren't exactly heavy hitters. Guy, as much as I love him, is in one of the periods where he's been kicked out of the Green Lantern Corps, so he's dressed even worse than usual, and I'm pretty sure I could take out Blue Beetle. And I've never even heard of Bloodwynd or Maxima. This comic doesn't exactly inspire me to want to know more about them, either. I'm pretty sure Maxima's power is being stupid. And having an invincible midriff." God, I sucked.)

from Justice League Europe #50

Red Winter, from Justice League Europe #45-50 (Dec. 1992–May 1993)
written by Gerard Jones, pencilled by Ron Randall & Mike Parobeck, inked by Randy Elliott, lettered by Willie Schubert, colored by Gene D'Angelo

The last story of this very long chuck of comics (twelve regular issues, three double-sized issues, three quadruple-sized issues!) is the six-issue Red Winter, where the Rocket Red Brigade takes over post-Soviet Russia... and Elongated Man foe Sonar has taken over the Rocket Reds... and soon, all of Europe!

I remembered this as being epic, and I was, thankfully, right. Jones is just a master of this kind of thing at this point; these six issues cover a lot of ground, with characters splitting off into a bunch of different configurations throughout, and with everyone getting a good moment: everyone contributes to the resolution of the problem at some point. Once again, there's great moments between Ralph and Sue, and some good stuff with the Crimson Fox, and an excellent ending. Is it great art? I guess not, but it is exactly what I want out of a superhero team book.

The only thing to not like, in my opinion, is that the appearances of the JSA and the JLI reserves seems kind of random, as do the huge crowd of villains Sonar dredges up. (Why are the Global Guardians and Injustice League working for him?) But we get a new character, Chandi the incarnation of Shiva, and also the stuff with the ghost in the JLE's castle is amazing. As I said above, Jones and Randall's JLE run from post-Breakdowns to here is exactly what I want from superhero team comics.

(If you're trying to read precisely chronologically, that's not easy with Red Winter, as its events overlap those in The Death of Superman, and the stories aren't very clear on how that might work; no matter what you choose, there are going to be some inconsistencies. In these posts, I've rendered it how I actually did it as I read, but in retrospect, I would have chosen a different sequence I'll describe later.)

This is the tenth in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #70-77 of JLA and #1-3 of JLTF. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)
6. Justice League America #38-50 / Justice League Europe #22 (May 1990–May 1991)
7. Justice League America #51-52 / Justice League Europe #23-28 (Feb. 1991–July 1991) 
8. Justice League America #53-60 / Justice League Europe #29-36 (Aug. 1991–Mar. 1992) 
9. Justice League America #61-65 / Justice League Europe #37-42 (Apr. 1992–Sept. 1992)

Justice League International Year Six, Part I: Born Once Again (JLA #61-65 / JLE #37-42)

from Justice League Europe #38

So here I move beyond (mostly) the stories collected in the Justice League International Omnibus hardcovers. But when I was in college, my Justice League Europe collection ended with #50, and I remembered enjoying that material even though the creative team had changed a lot. So I decided to continue reading JLA and JLE (later renamed JLI) up to the point where the latter came to an end, just before Zero Hour. 

The JLA material from this era is mostly collected in a series of four trade paperbacks: two Superman and Justice League America collections, and two Wonder Woman and Justice League America ones. But no post-Giffen/DeMatteis issues of Justice League Quarterly have been collected, and Gerard Jones's run on JLE/I probably never will be, following his conviction for possession of child pornography. It seems as though DC will collect his work when its ancillary to a collection of someone else's (such as in volume 3 of the JLI Omnibus, or a couple issues contained in the Superman/Wonder Woman and JLA trades), but they will not make any collections where his work is featured. I understand the reasoning, but I really did want to read these stories, so I had to track down the single issues. It's a shame, because I think his work is underrated, and largely better than the parallel JLA issues that have been collected.

from Justice League Quarterly #6

"Take My Wife-- Please!" / "Fighting Trim" / "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?" / "Never Less Alone...", from Justice League Quarterly #6 (Spring 1992)
written by Mark Waid, John Ostrander, Paul Kupperberg, and Kevin Dooley; pencilled by Eduardo Barreto, Barry Horne, John Calimee, and Andy Smith; inked by Eduardo Barreto, Scott Hanna, Pablo Marcos, and Andy Smith; lettered by Bob Pinaha, Willie Schubert, and John Costanza; colored by Gene D'Angelo, Matt Hollingsworth, Juliana Ferriter, and Tom McCraw

This contains four stories. The lead story, about Elongated Man, must take place shortly before Breakdowns, presumably in the gap between JLE #22 and 23 that I've placed so much other stuff in. Of the other three, the Blue Beetle and Global Guardians stories definitely follow Breakdowns; the Blue Beetle one presumably goes in the gap of months between when the team broke up in JLE #36 and came back together in JL Spectacular #1. The placement clues for the Power Girl one are a lot vaguer, but it could fit there as well.

The Elongated Man one is, of course, good fun. Ralph and Sue are on vacation when Sue is kidnapped, and Ralph must solve the mystery; he calls in some of his available buddies from the League to help. The mystery isn't a solvable one for the reader in any real sense, it's more of a series of weird encounters based on a Monopoly-like board game, and the foes seem a bit out of even this group of Leaguers' power levels. But there's a great double twist in the ending, and it shows off both Ralph and Sue to good effect. How could I not love it? Plus Eduardo Barreto debuts as the lead penciller on JLQ, and I really like his work.

Of the other ones, the Blue Beetle stories shows how he loses the weight gain that was pestering him during the previous year or so of JLA; I thought this one was funny, particularly 1) his conversation with Booster, 2) his interactions with General Glory, and 3) how he eventually loses the weight. The Power Girl one is fine, kind of a belabored joke; I feel like it was primarily written to explain how Karen could be living in Europe but also be a successful corporate exec in the states. I appreciated that she's shown as having a friendship with follow corporate exec the Crimson Fox. (Although this story, now that I think about, seems to contradict the claim in JLE: Red Winter that no one had ever seen Crimson Fox's face.)

Plus there's a Global Guardians story. I guess every issue has to have one. 

from Elongated Man #4

Europe '92, from Elongated Man #1-4 (Jan.-Apr. 1992)
written by Gerard Jones, pencilled by Mike Parobeck, inked by Ty Templeton, lettered by Bob Pinaha, colored by Rick Taylor

I mostly have not picked up solo stories featuring JLI members... but how could I skip over this? Like JLE itself, I picked this up when I was in college, and I have nostalgic memories of it. Plus, its events are decently well integrated into the main JLE series, as the following Red Winter is a direct sequel to it.

It's funny, Elongated Man is one of my favorite DC characters on the basis of JLE, but I was surprised to learn when rereading the series that he's not a big player during Keith Giffen's run. Oh, he's there a lot, but aside from the opening five-issue story arc (see item #3 in the list below), he rarely plays a big role in any stories. My memories of the character's greatness mostly come from Gerard Jones's solo work as writer, in JLE #37-50.

This isn't quite Ralph and Sue at their best, but it's very close. Sue's heard about a series of mysterious incidents at the European Unity conference, and so uses her father's connections to swing an invitation for her and Ralph so he can investigate... but soon Sue is being charmed much more by the mysterious Bito than her own husband. I think the temporary split of the two characters didn't quite work for me; I could buy some of the reasoning (Sue wonders if she married Ralph as a way to stick it to her family) but it seemed a bit ham-handed in execution. 

But other than that, this is great. Lots of good jokes, of course; I particularly liked Gerard Jones's endless parade of mediocre European-themed supervillains. Twenty years later, and I still get the giggles over the Wurstwaffe, a group of Germans who all dress up as sausages. Each has a personality following on from his name: Knockwurst likes to punch people, Bratwurst whines a lot, and so on. Comic genius! I can't believe these guys were never used in comics again. But in addition, Jones's story shows off how clever Ralph is, and how versatile his powers really is. The sequence where he flies in to save the day single-handedly is amazing. I also like Sonar as a villain for Ralph (though I could have done without the retcon that the down-on-his-luck Sonar from JLA's Guy Tortolini arc wasn't actually him). Mike Parobeck (of JSA fame) and Ty Templeton provide art, and their somewhat cartoony but still emotionally expressive work is perfectly suited to this story. It's a real shame this will never be reprinted... though to be honest, I bet that would be the case even if it wasn't for Gerard Jones!

from Justice League America #62

"Team Work" / "Born Once Again" / "Pawns", from Justice League Spectacular #1 (1992) and Justice League America #61-62 (Apr.-May 1992), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 1 (2016)
written by Dan Jurgens and Gerry Jones; art by Dan Jurgens and Ron Randall; finished/inked by Rick Burchett, Randy Elliot, and Jackson Guice; lettered by Bob Pinaha and Willie Schubert; colored by Gene D'Angelo

These issues finally bring the JLA and the JLE back into action. Maxwell Lord is pulling the strings, again sending a villain out to unite the League and public sentiment; I could have done without repeating that plot beat yet again. Hasn't Max learned yet? The Royal Flush gang attacks diplomats at Disney expy in Florida, which causes the former Leaguers to dive into action, along with Superman and Hal Jordan. It does what it needs to, I guess, which is by the end, the groups are reactivated with slightly adjusted lineups, but with Superman leading the JLA. In their first story arc, the JLA faces a villain called the Weapons Master, who is working for a Dominator; I thought this was fine, but what I liked a lot about it was that Blue Beetle saves the day through his cleverness. Maxima is a fun new member for the JLA as well. Dan Jurgens both writes and pencils, and though I don't love everything he does, he's one of comics' greats for a reason. Strong sense of composition and layout.

from Justice League Quarterly #7

"Klaarsh Reunion!" / "If This Be My Destiny...?" / "Homeward Bound" / "Time to Enjoy the Light", from Justice League Quarterly #7 (Summer 1992)
written by Michael Jan Friedman, Paul Kupperberg, Pat McGreal, and Kevin Dooley; pencilled by Eduardo Barreto, Don Heck, Mike Vosburg, and Andy Smith; inked by Carlos Garzon, Mike DeCarlo, Mike Vosburg, and Brad Vancata; lettered by Bob Pinaha, Tim Harkins, and Clem Robins; colored by Gene D'Angelo, Linda Kachelhofer, and Tom McCraw

As has become routine for JLQ, this issue features a lead story of over thirty pages and three shorter backups. The lead story can go at basically any time when Beetle, Booster, Fire, Ice, and Guy are all members of the League, and when the JLE is also active, so either sometime between JLA #30 and 37, or between #62 and 63. Of the backups, the Rocket Red one is set after Breakdowns, and the Doctor Light one is set after JL Spectacular, so on balance, the issue fits best here.

The lead is good fun; Booster, Fire, Ice, and Guy accompany Beetle to his high school reunion. (It was sobering to realize that I must be seven years older than Ted Kord.) Only it turns out that everyone in Ted's hometown except his family was an alien on the run from their home planet, and their former masters have come looking for them. Good jokes of course, particularly the one where none of Ted's former classmates have even heard of Blue Beetle, and also Ted gets to save the day with his cleverness. Once again, excellent art from Eduardo Barreto. It's not an A-plus story, but it is basically what I read JLI for.

Though I always find JLQ issues more enjoyable than not, this one might have one of the best hit rates, because all four backups are solid too. The General Glory one is a silly pastiche of Silver Age Captain America comics, complete with footnotes citing fake comic books; Don Heck is a great choice to illustrate it. The Rocket Red one was surprisingly great; I had never heard of writer Pat McGreal before, but he has an amazing command of the medium, with really interesting ways of layering in action and moving between panels. I see his mostly done Donald Duck comics, but he has at least one more JLQ story. The Doctor Light story was surprisingly good, too, giving her some needed depth.

from Justice League America #63

"Almerac or Bust!" / "The Revenge of Starbreaker" / "Of Ashes and Justice", from Justice League America #63-65 (June-Aug. 1992), reprinted in Superman and Justice League America, Volume 1 (2016)
written by Dan Jurgens, art by Dan Jurgens, finished/inked by Rick Burchett, lettered by Willie Schubert, colored by Gene D'Angelo

In these JLA stories, Maxima returns to her home planet, only to find out she was deposed in her absence... by a Silver Age JLA villain. Good art from Dan Jurgens, of course, but very action-heavy, and not very much to my taste. I want more character stuff in my team comics, but mostly here that's Ice pining over Superman.

(Note to comics creators: if you are going to put a character into a new costume because the old one supposedly looked terrible... make sure the new one actually is better. Fire's new costume sucks.)

"Changing" / "Dissolving" / "Returning" / "The Coming of... Chthon!" / "Welcome to the Dark" / "Mother of Monsters", from Justice League Europe #37-42 (Apr.-Sept. 1992)
written by Gerard Jones; pencilled by Ron Randall; inked by Randy Elliott, Carlos Garzon, and Romeo Tanghal; lettered by Willie Schubert; colored by Gene D'Angelo

Lastly, we get a continuous eight-issue run of JLE stories (I'll cover the last two next time). The first three focus on the slightly rearranged League battling a villain named Deconstructo, who is a deconstructionist using an alien weapon to transform London as he "deconstructs" it to prove all meaning is constructed, while they also bicker over who their new leader will be. (Mostly they want it to be Batman, but he doesn't want the job.) I thought it was great fun, weird and unusual. Gerard Jones has a great command over this team of characters, and I really enjoy reading their interactions. The way they bicker but ultimately come together is perfect. The interplay between Batman and Elongated Man is well done, and there's some arresting imagery from Jones and penciller Ron Randall. (Plus, I think there's a Marvelman/Miracleman cameo in one issue.)

At the end of JLE #39, Hal Jordan turns up to take over the JLE, and the next three issues cover his first mission as leader, along with appearances by Wonder Woman and former member Metamorpho the Element Man. The team must battle the feminine energies of chaos sublimated by masculine order! Again, you can tell Jones is trying to do some heady, interesting stuff, different from your usual superhero punchup. I didn't like this as much as the previous story, but I appreciate it a lot, particularly the interesting way it all resolves.

This is the ninth in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #66-69 of JLA and #43-50 of JLE. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)
6. Justice League America #38-50 / Justice League Europe #22 (May 1990–May 1991)
7. Justice League America #51-52 / Justice League Europe #23-28 (Feb. 1991–July 1991) 
8. Justice League America #53-60 / Justice League Europe #29-36 (Aug. 1991–Mar. 1992) 

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later Omnibus, Volume 1 by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, Al Gordon, et al.

Collection published: 2020
Contents originally published: 1989-93
Acquired: September 2020
Read: February 2021

Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later Omnibus, Volume 1

Plot/Pencils/Layouts: Keith Giffen

Story/Dialogue: Tom & Mary Bierbaum
Inker/Writer: Al Gordon
Pencils: Chris Sprouse, Paris Cullins, Craig Brasfield, Dougie Braithwaite, Brandon Peterson, Dan Jurgens, Jason Pearson, Dusty Abell, Rob Haynes, Ian Montgomery, Joe Phillips, Colleen Doran, Curt Swan, David A. Williams, June Brigman, Stuart Immonen

Inks: Bob Lewis, Doug Hazelwood, Larry Mahlstedt, Carlos Garzon, Brett Breeding, Michael Christian, Brad Vancata, Scott Hanna, Tony Harris, Karl Story, John Dell, Karl Kesel, Bob Smith, Steve Leialoha

Story/Story Assists: Dan Jurgens, Tom McCraw, Jason Pearson

Colors: Tom McCraw, Glenn Whitmore

Letters: Todd Klein, John Workman, Albert De Guzman, Janice Chiang, Coffin N. Coro, Bob Pinaha

I'm always ping-ponging around the Legion timeline, based on what DC has deigned to collect and what I can get hold of. This volume collects the first thirty-nine issues of the so-called "Five Year Later" era (plus assorted annuals and other tie-ins). In terms of publication, it began three months after the previous issue, Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3 #63, but in terms of story, there was a five-year gap during which the Legion of Super-Heroes had disbanded, Earth had withdrawn from the United Planets and become a Dominator puppet state, and many of the Legionnaires had suffered various dark fates. The series was the brainchild of Keith Giffen, who pencilled and plotted the majority of the early issues-- previously a collaborator of Paul Levitz for much of his run, but now the series's lead creative force. New-to-comics writers but longtime Legion fans Tom & Mary Bierbaum dialogued his issues, and wrote many of their own; most issues were inked by Al Gordon, who also contributed to the plotting and wrote several issues as well.

You could write a book on this book (it is over 1,300 pages), but I will try to limit myself by sticking to one paragraph for each of the major storylines. The first, covering issues #1-12, is simply dubbed Five Years Later, and slowly reveals the situation of this new world. On the one hand, it's very confusing: partially this is because a lot has happened in those five years, and partially this is because the latest-published issue of the Legion I've read is from 1984 (in The Curse), so this is ten story years after what I was familiar with, and partially this is because Giffen's layouts are dense and packed and confusing. He uses the nine-panel grid here, with lots of quick cuts and little exposition, leaving the reader to piece togther events themselves. On the other hand, though, it's incredible: more happens in a single issue of this comic than in entire sixty-issue runs of contemporary comics. Giffen has always been an artistic master, but I feel like this is him at his peak: a very distinctive style and a command of characterization mostly unmatched. I didn't entirely understand everything that happened here... but I wanted to, and this is a story that will richly reward rereading, I suspect. There's lot of great character stuff here: for the first time, I care about Cosmic Boy, the rock upon which the Legion stands even when "powerless"; Cham is put into a new role of authority; new character Kono is an utter delight, a "female chauvinist"; Laurel Gand quickly establishes herself as the kind of strong woman who I love. There are time travel shenanigans and attempted genocides... but best of all is Matter-Eater Lad! Oh my god, I don't think I've laughed so much at a comic book in a long time as I did at #11, where he defends Polar Boy in court. In the midst of all this darkness, we have humor: Giffen and the Bierbaums get it. The one thing I didn't like about this storyline is that it almost seemed too easy to actually reunite the Legion: if so many of them were up for it, why did it take so long since the dissolution for this to happen?

The second is even more simply dubbed The Legion of Super-Heroes, and spans #12-25. It covers a couple different crises the Legion handles: Matter-Eater Lad battling Evillo, a Khund invasion, a Dark Circle infiltration, the Moon exploding, and the return of Darkseid. I found these hit or miss. The Matter-Eater Lad issue was great, of course. The Khund story didn't have the weight it should have; the whole thing seemed to happen so suddenly. The aftermath of the Moon exploding was interesting, but the actual way it happened didn't work for me, a crossover with Superman where Superman and the Legion reminisce about the "pocket universe Superboy," a character earlier issues went through some pain to establish had been removed from history! The Quiet Darkness, the Darkseid story, saw inker Al Gordon take over writing duties, and I found it a strong thriller with a neat take on Darkseid.

The third is Terra Mosaic, #26-36, which focuses on Earth finally rebelling against the Dominators, as well as the emergence of "Batch SW6," clones of the Legion from their young, idealistic days. Giffen switches from pencilling to doing layouts, and it's to the book's detriment. It's just not as dense anymore, it's more straightforward comics. Though some good stories are told about the Batch SW6 Legionnaires (I have mixed thoughts about the trans representation in #31, but it's an emotional triumph), they are a huge number of extra characters in a book already straining to use its cast, and most of the "adult" Legion sits around doing nothing for most of this crisis. The at first straightforward retcons start to get more complicated, too, with the introduction of Kid Quantum. But the Sun Boy story is terrific, the fight between Laurel Gand and B.I.O.N. is one of the best fights in comics, and the climax comes together extraordinarily well.

The last doesn't have an overaching title (but you could probably call it The End), and is just #37-39. #37 is a cute side story about Star Boy being a baseball manager, but then in #38 the Earth is destroyed! I'm not sure what I think about this; it feels gratuitous. It's an ambitious issue, covering lots of ground... but that means you feel rather distanced from its momentous events. #39 reads more like the start of something new; I suspect it's here because Giffen pencils some of it and DC wanted to get all of his "Five Years Later" work in this volume, but it reads more like the beginning of the next storyline.

There's also three annuals included. #1 is great, pulling together a history for Ultra Boy and deploying some clever retcons. Weaving Glorith into the events of the two Superboy and the Legion volumes almost makes what Brainiac did there palatable. I never cared much for Ultra Boy before, but this story made me appreciate him a whole lot. #2 does a lot to clarify Valor's history, though it's one of those stories that sounds better in summary than in actuality; I found its events too compressed to have much impact. #3 is half set-up for the Timber Wolf miniseries, but half a "story" where the Legion just chills out. I really enjoyed it: great character writing, lots of good moments. Plus some great Kono jokes!

And then there's Al Gordon's Timber Wolf miniseries. I appreciate that it is here, but it is quite frankly not very good. Timber Wolf is sent to the 1990s, and it's the most mediocre and generic 1990s superhero comic you've ever read. Full of bland, awful characters doing who knows what, and I didn't think it really felt much like Timber Wolf.

Lastly, the volume collects a sequence of Who's Who entries published during its run. These were helpful in orienting me, though it was hard to know when to read them: some contain spoilers for later issues, so beware! I eventually decided I'd just risk it, and usually I alternated between issues and Who's Who issue (so I wouldn't read them all in one go). There's even a series of postcards Giffen illustrated!

Given how much is in here, it feels churlish to complain about what's not, but by a total coincidence, I read Secret Origins #42 right around the same time I started this volume, and it really should have been included: it's by the Bierbaums, giving an origin for Phantom Girl that introduces some threads picked up on in Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1. When reading that story, I found myself glad I had read the Secret Origins issue. I see from Wikipedia that issues #46, 47, and 49 also featured Legion-related tales, but as I haven't read those, I don't know if they would have made good inclusions here. (Only one is by the Bierbaums.)

This volume cuts off at a pretty logical point, when Keith Giffen left the book, and when the Earth was destroyed. Another big omnibus could collect Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4 #40-61, the two remaining annuals, the eighteen issues of spin-off Legionnaires, and its one annual, enclosing the entire "Five Years Later" era in two large volumes. DC often starts Legion collections and cuts them off before getting anywhere, but I really really hope they can follow through on this book's "volume 1" and tie up this unique, worthwhile era of comics. I think I only scratched the surface in my reading, and I barely even did that in my write-up. I look forward to revisiting this someday and doing it justice.

I read a Legion of Super-Heroes collection every six months. Next up in sequence: Legion: Secret Origin