Written by John Ostrander
Lead Story Art by Val Semeiks; Prentis Rollins; John Kalisz; Heroic Age; & Ken Lopez
Cover Art by Val Semeiks; Prentis Rollins; John Kalisz; & Heroic Age
Role Call: Batman (Bruce Wayne); Captain Atom; Fire; Ice; Oberon; Guy Gardner; Maxwell Lord; Booster Gold; Blue Beetle II (Ted Kord); Maxima; Amazing Man II; Wonder Woman; Superman (Clark Kent) ; & Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz).
SUMMARY:
Published by DC Comics for December 2001, the lead story for the 40-page penultimate installment of this seven-part mini-series is entitled “Buddies.” Proving ‘crime really does pay,’ the tropical island of Bialya (in the Caribbean? Central America? South America?) is being illicitly marketed as a super-villain’s paradise. Among its dubious services is a ‘Laundro-Bank’ where costumes and dirty money are freshly laundered. Unable to extradite the fugitive bad guys or even legally enter Bialya, Maxwell Lord vetoes Batman’s order to send Justice League International in. Going rogue, Booster Gold & Blue Beetle take it upon themselves to infiltrate Bialya for some Ocean’s 11-style action. In this 22-page caper, it’s up to Batman and the JLI to make the inevitable save and somehow turn the tables on Bialya’s reeking corruption.
“Authority” (12 pages). Writer: John Ostrander. Art: Eric Battle; Keith Champagne; Ken Lopez; John Kalisz; & Heroic Age.
Partially narrated by Captain Atom, his origin leads into the rise and apparent fall of the League’s spin-off group, Extreme Justice. A second intrusion into Bialya’s new brand of evil has dire ramifications on the entire League. In this tale, team leader Wonder Woman finally makes an appearance in JLA: Incarnations.
Note: This series’ continuity builds off 1998’s Justice League: Year One twelve-part mini-series.
REVIEW:
Capably blending action, humor, and, later on, some appropriate shades of darkness, writer John Ostrander devises an excellent transition of tone between two generations – in spite of some membership overlap. Ingeniously, he even sets up a prologue for the present-day, or perhaps more accurately, Grant Morrison’s Y2K-era League. As with the previous five issues, Ostrander’s classy storytelling is nothing short of magic.
This same compliment applies to the art squad, as their visuals are consistently high-caliber (case in point: the tongue-in-cheek cover image). As of this writing, this mini-series inexplicably hasn’t been collected by DC Comics as a trade paperback. It’s a shame, as undeniably entertaining reads like JLA: Incarnations # 6 deserve re-discovery.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
None. It’s the only issue in this series without a “JLA Mail Room” column.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8½ Stars
