Captain Atom #24 (January 1989)

Tags

Amanda Waller, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Carrie Spiegle, Cary Bates, Dan Raspler, Dennis O'Neill, General Eiling, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Greg Weisman, Max Lord, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Pat Broderick, Romeo Tanghal, Shelley Eiber, Steve Trevor, The Flash

“War-Day”

Written by Cary Bates & Greg Weisman
Pencils by Pat Broderick
Inks by Romeo Tanghal
Colors by Shelley Eiber
Letters by Carrie Spiegle
Edited by Dan Raspler & Denny O’Neil

This story is an Invasion: First Strike! crossover. Invasion! was a three issue limited series published in late 1988-early 1989 by DC Comics. It was plotted by Keith Giffen, and ties up a great many plot lines from various Giffen-created DC series, including Omega Men, Justice League International, and Legion of Super-Heroes.  In this crossover event, the Dominators have put together an alliance to invade Earth and eliminate the threat posed by their unpredictable “metahumans” (secretly, the Dominators wish to harness this and breed their own army of metahumans, but this goal is kept from the rest of the Alliance, and from some of their own race). After assassinating many former members of the disbanded Green Lantern Corps, and attacking the Omega Men, the Alliance launches a massive attack on Earth, overrunning Australia and establishing there a base from which to conquer the rest of the planet.

This tale begins with Maxwell Lord being piggy-backed by Captain Atom to the super-hero HQ. Nate isn’t sure he’s the man for the job, but he’s been unanimously chosen as the Commander in Chief of all Earth’s super-heroes. The aliens are spying on him and will be able to hear and see everything that goes on in the command center. Nate learns from Max that Amanda Waller (of the Suicide Squad) will be in charge of Earth’s super-villains and is dismayed to find out the military will be overseen by General Wade Eiling.

Nate and Wade immediately lock horns when they are in the room together. Eiling does not like Captain Atom’s choice for a pilot on a covert mission they are cooking up. Apparently he had planned to be the pilot himself. He is overruled by Waller and Eiling and has to choose a suitable replacement. They want to present him with a list of candidates but Nate says if it can’t be him, it has to be Steve Trevor, who has re-enlisted in this time of war.

Colonel Trevor arrives at the HQ. Atom takes him straight to the briefing room. He learns that there is a New Genesis satellite in orbit around Earth with immense firepower and destructive capability that the Alien Alliance has overlooked. Steve is to pilot a special shuttle to the satellite and realign it so it is facing the enemy fleet in space rather than Earth itself. Steve’s only question is, “Where’s the shuttle?”

At a briefing the next morning, it is revealed that the alien forces are spread out on the surface of the planet and unprepared for a space-bound attack on their fleet. Max is surprised by how well Nate and Wade are actually getting along. The next day, the two men meet in the coffee room and Eiling tells Nate they need to do something to prevent Peggy and Goz from getting married. Wade wants to transfer Gunner and get him away from her, but Nate reminds him how stubborn his daughter is. That has to be put on a back burner, though, as there is trouble with Colonel Trevor.

steve was found that morning, unconscious and surrounded by a mysterious energy. They don’t know what the energy field is and cannot punch through it without endangering the Colonel’s life. Eiling wants to scrub the op, but Captain Atom insists he be the pilot. Odds are whatever the aliens did to Trevor won’t work on him. Of course, Eiling objects, but is overruled by Waller. The mission must go on.

Eiling has to get a last word in with Nate, giving him no-brainer instructions on how to do his job. After Captain Atom takes off in the shuttle (why he needs a shuttle is a mystery), Eiling is talking to an ensign in the control room who reveals that Trevor and Atom took the shuttle out the night before. Wade was unaware of this.

As Captain Atom progresses out of Earth’s upper atmosphere, he and his team on the surface are still totally unaware that their every move is being monitored by the aliens. They don’t know exactly what the humans are up to, but they know it is something. Apparently, the Durlans have a man on the inside down on the surface. Their secret objective is to capture Captain Atom.

Back on Earth, the energy aura around Trevor vanishes and he wakes up. However, back in the shuttle, Nate’s helmet fills with knockout gas. I made this observation in my coverage of the second Captain Atom annual, but I will point it out again. Captain Atom has super-breath-holding. He doesn’t even need a space-suit. Every time he is taken out by “knockout gas,” it is utterly ridiculous. And I will never not point it out.

Back at HQ, Eiling approaches Trevor with his gun drawn. However, it isn’t Steve on the table but his doctor. Colonel Trevor, it turns out, is a shape-shifting Durlan. It was his unauthorized visit to the hangar the night before that gave the spy away. Trevor didn’t have the necessary key-card to get in, but a Durlan could mimic one. The enemy alien flips off the lights and Wade opens fire in the dark.

Back in the shuttle, Nate blasts his helmet visor with his angry eyes and ignites the knockout gas. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Captain Atom floating in space.

Back on the surface, Eiling gets the lights back on but the Durlan has shifted into a research skeleton. It gets Eiling from behind and begins to choke him but Captain Atom bursts in and blows the skeleton apart. He chases the skull down the hallway, but it makes it to the hangar where they lose track of it.

Noticing an extra fuel tank on a chopper that is lifting off, Atom grabs the tank and flings it into the helicopter blades, slicing the Durlan into several pieces. Ew.

General Eiling is a little chagrined as this is the second time Captain Atom has saved his life. Waller and Max enter the hangar just n time to see the two shaking hands, much to their shock.

Later, as Earth’s super-heroes begin to converge on the command center, Eiling is dismayed to learn their commander isn’t even there. He’s on his way to Metropolis to personally recruit Superman. So that cover image, cool as it is, never happened.

Story-wise, I give this issue a B. I’m never super crazy about the crossover issues. They rarely advance the ongoing plot of the hero we’ve been following. I like that Captain Atom is in charge of Earth’s heroes, but I honestly feel there were better choices. Just because he has a military background he was chosen? Wasn’t Hal Jordan once in the Air Force, too? And a space-cop? For that matter, isn’t this version of Hawkman a space-cop?

The artwork is good but nothing jumps out at me. That panel with the Durlan getting sliced is memorable, though. I give it a B for art as well. Overall, not too shabby.

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Justice League International #13 & Suicide Squad #13 (May 1988)

Tags

Al Gordon, Amanda Waller, Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Bob Lewis, Booster Gold, Boris Dmitravich Razumihin, Bronze Tiger, Captain Atom, Captain Boomerang, Carl Gafford, Deadshot, Duchess, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Hammer, Javelin, John Economos, John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Martian Manhunter, Max Lord, Modern Age Captain Atom, Molotov, Mr. Miracle, Nemesis, Nightshade, Oberon, People's Heroes, Red Star, Rick Flag, Rocket Red #4, Rocket Red Brigade, Ronald Reagan, Sickle, Steve Leialoha, Suicide Squad, The People's Heroes, Todd Klein, Vixen

“Collision Course”

• Writers:  Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
• Pencils:  Keith Giffen
• Inks:  Al Gordon
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  Bob Lappan
• Cover Art:  Steve Leialoha & Al Gordon

It is the crossover we’ve all been waiting for.  Justice League International comes face to face with the Suicide Squad.  Part one hit the stands on January 12, 1988.  This had been building in the DC Universe, with Batman uncovering clues to the Suicide Squads existence for months.  Once he discovered what they truly were (supervillains used by the government for covert ops in exchange for reduced sentences), he vowed to Amanda Waller to bring them down.

Tom Tresser, a.k.a. Nemesis, has been captured in the Soviet Union and has been held prisoner there.  He’s been accused of attempting to kidnap a Russian dissident named Zoya Trigorin.  The news has gone public, and Batman follows the story while on monitor duty at the New York JLI embassy.  Batman knows Nemesis, and thinks he’s a “good man.”  While on monitor duty, the dark knight was talking to himself, explaining to Oberon that it helps his thinking process.  Oberon warns Black Canary to stay clear of Batman, as he’s acting a lot more weird than usual.

In a Washington, DC hotel room, Amanda Waller is shouting at Rick Flag via telephone.  Amanda is the creator of the Suicide Squad and Rick Flag is the mission leader.  Rick wants to take the Squad to the USSR to rescue Nemesis, but Waller warns him that the only reason the capture was publicized was to lure them to Russia.  She orders him to stay at Belle Reve and not to go after his teammate.  After Rick hangs up with Waller, Nightshade asks him what the plan is.  Despite the fact that they are fully aware that this is a trap, Rick and Nightshade agree to go ahead with a rescue effort.

Back in New York, Batman is pumping Rocket Red #4 for information (his armor is mislabeled with a “13”).  Dmitri says that just because he’s a Soviet citizen, that doesn’t mean he knows anything about Nemesis.  He says if Batman’s friend is in prison there then he must have done something wrong.

At Belle Reve, Flag has assembled his team (Vixen, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Javelin, Nightshade, and Duchess).  There is a gratuitous and unnecessary shot of Nightshade’s buttcheek.

Flag takes the Squad to an airfield and briefs them on a plane bound for Russia.  When Amanda Waller finds out what Rick has done, she goes immediately to meet with President Reagan in the White House.  She suggests he sends the JLI to Russia to retrieve Nemesis.  He agrees and Waller goes off to meet with Maxwell Lord.

At the JLI New York embassy, Batman is trying to convince Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, Oberon, Captain Atom, Black Canary, Mr. Miracle, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Rocket Red #4 to go after Nemesis (invade Russia – again).  Oberon is upset that J’onn (Martian Manhunter, leader of the JLI) would even entertain the notion.  His argument is interrupted by a call from Max, however, sending the JLI to Russia.

On the JLI shuttle en route to Russia, it is revealed that a team of super villains has banded together to attack the very prison that is holding Nemesis.  The JLI all agree it is an unusual coincidence.

J’onn is on the video-phone with Boris Razumihin, the Russian bureau chief for the JLI.  Martian Manhunter assures him the situation – and Guy Gardner – are under control.  Guy has had problems in the Soviet Union in the past.  When he hangs up with Martian Manhunter, Razumihin calls Gorbachev, reminded that Russia has super-heroes of their own.

In New York, at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Amanda Waller pays a visit to Max Lord.  Lord is recovering from the events of the previous issue.  She warns him that the JLI had better maintain the secrecy of the Suicide Squad and she hints that if Max doesn’t play along he might end up dead.

On the other side of the world, the Rocket Red Brigade is training when they receive orders and move out.  Meanwhile, in Moscow, Red Star of the People’s Heroes meets with a Russian government official who warns him of the approaching heroes and villains.  Red Star steals his car and drives off.

When the JLI reaches the prison, they enter the warden’s office and Batman gets right to bullying the warden, demanding to see Nemesis.

The warden says he’s under orders that no one is to see Nemesis.  He also says he thought the Justice League was there to protect them from the villains.  The warden receives a call and then agrees to take the JLI to Nemesis.  Rocket Red #4 reveals that he radioed his government connections and convinced them to allow the JLI access.  As they head to Nemesis’ cell (with Batman griping about J’onn’s leadership abilities), the Suicide is slipping into the prison via the loading docks.  Upon reaching the cell, the JLI finds Nemesis unconscious on the floor.  Batman suggests he was beaten and demands that the cell be opened.  Rocket Red #4 says there’s no way he was beaten and he will not open the cell.  J’onn warns Batman if he doesn’t cease his arrogant, juvenile behavior, he’ll be booted out of Russia and the League.  Batman agrees (after a dramatic pause) and asks Martian Manhunter what their next step should be.  This is when the Suicide Squad appears, facing the JLI.

In New York, Max warns Amanda that even though the situation is bad for the Suicide Squad, it can always get worse.  The Rocket Red Brigade is 60 minutes away from the prison and Red Star is ten miles away.  To be continued (erroneously, it says the story is to be picked up in the pages of Suicide Squad #10 but it was actually continued in #13)…

At the time, I was reading both Justice League International and Suicide Squad, so I was super excited about this crossover.  Not a lot happened in this issue, as it was merely setting up the conflict that would happen in the next issue of Suicide Squad.  I give this an A- for story and a B for art (after all these years, I still go back and forth on what I think about Keith Giffen’s talent).

“Battle Lines”

• Writer:  John Ostrander
• Pencils:  Luke McDonnell
• Inks:  Bob Lewis
• Colors:  Carl Gafford
• Letters:  Todd Klein
• Cover Art:  Steve Leialoha & Al Gordon

Part two of this crossover, cover dated the same month as Justice League International #13, was released to the public on February 2, 1988.  It picks up where Justice League International #13 left off, with the Justice League face-to-face with the Suicide Squad in the corridors of a Russian prison.  Ostrander really seemed to have a thing for Russia.  He introduced Mikhail Arkadin (Pozhar) when he was writing The Fury of Firestorm, and Soviet-era hero-team Rocket Red Brigade were featured in the Ostrander-written Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1.  With the Suicide Squad blundering beyond the iron curtain (not for the first time, either), it looks like John Ostrander was DC’s go-to guy for Russian super-hero stories.  At the time these were published, I didn’t really care for the Russian stories so much.  Looking back now, I really like them.  They serve as a reminder of how it was growing up during the Cold War and being afraid of the Communists, building them up in my mind as something far more efficient and sinister than they really were.  As much as I disliked the Russian angle, I was a huge John Ostrander fan in the mid-80s.  I just about exploded with joy when he started writing Captain Atom, but that joy was short-lived (the series was cancelled just a few issues into Ostrander’s run).  Although I still don’t like some of the stuff he’s written, I think it is safe to say I’m still a John Ostrander fan.

Rick Flag warns his people that they will push through the Justice League if they have to.  Rocket Red #4 (Dmitri Pushkin) warns everyone that he’s gotten word that the People’s Heroes, Red Star, and the Rocket Red Brigade are on their way.  Duchess recognizes Mr. Miracle but doesn’t know from where she knows him (Duchess is actually Lashina – one of the Female Furies – with amnesia).  When she approaches Miracle, Blue Beetle intercepts and flips her.  She begins tearing the prison apart (tearing down the door to Nemesis’ cell) and using the pieces as weapons.

Batman shames Deadshot, who turns his back on the dark knight.  Martian Manhunter confronts Vixen – a former member of the Justice League.  He is surprised to find her hanging out with super-villains.  After some heated words, he hugs her.  Captain Boomerang attempts to burst Guy Gardner’s protective energy bubble.  Captain Atom and Nightshade exchange some unfortunate dialogue.

“We’re supposed to be boyfriend/girlfriend,” Cap says.  What is he, a junior high student?  “Stick close to me in this rhubarb.”  Rhubarb?  Why did he…? Who calls super hero fights “rhubarbs?”  Is it supposed to make him sound hokey and old-fashioned?  That makes sense, actually.  He’s displaced from his own time.  Like DC Comic’s own Captain America.  Still, I’ve never heard “rhubarb” used this way.

Flag confronts Batman, asking him if his team can just get Nemesis and get out, before things get out of hand.  Batman refuses.  He tells Flag that he warned Amanda Waller against using villains.   Bats also says that if Nemesis truly is a member of the Suicide Squad, he’s not the Nemesis Bats once knew.  When Batman begins to walk away, Flag grabs him to stop him.  Bats punches him and they begin to brawl.  Meanwhile, Blue Beetle and Duchess are still facing off, but Beetle refuses to hit her.  Mr. Miracle dodges Deadshot’s attack while Black Canary wonders why these villains and heroes have teamed up again (she faced the Suicide Squad once before).  She pauses trading jabs with Bronze Tiger long enough to learn he won’t explain his team to her.

Dmitri enters Nemesis’ cell to question him (he is incorrectly drawn with a number 7 on his armor again).  Nemesis explains that he was attempting to help the author Zoya Trigorin escape Russia (defect, I guess).  Javelin and Booster Gold face off against each other.  This is particularly interesting because of the similarity in their costumes.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, Amanda Waller is still visiting Max Lord’s hospital room.  Waller is upset because the JLI is supposed to be in Russia only as backup for the Suicide Squad, the existence of which they are unaware of (most of them at least; clearly Captain Atom and Batman know of the Suicide Squad).  But the JLI is butting heads with her team.  She tries to convince Max to pull them out, but Max Lord reveals he knows a lot of Amanda Waller’s dirty secrets.  She threatens to break his foot and Max calls for his nurse.

Back in the USSR, the People’s Heroes, the Rocket Red Brigade, and Red Star are closing in on the JLI/Suicide Squad fast.  Back at the prison, Blue Beetle is doing his level best to bring down Duchess while Captain Atom and Nightshade take part in a little foreplay.  Seriously, get a room you two.

In another secluded corner (does this prison have no guards?), J’onn and Vixen are still making peace with each other.  Dmitri approaches them with Nemesis and says the JLI and Suicide Squad must work together to save Nemesis.  While Dmitri feels Nemesis’ jailing was warranted, he knows the Russian government will treat the prisoner unfairly and have him killed.

The two teams stop fighting each other.  Deadshot was apparently about to blow Mr. Miracle’s head off.  He actually pulls the triggers when Bronze Tiger tells him to stand down.  Luckily, Mr. Miracle seems to have the ability to dodge bullets.  Now, that’s miraculous.

Batman and Rick Flag are still working out their differences with their fists when the truce is called.  Justice Leaguers and Suicide Squaders alike tell the men to stand down, but no one steps between Flag and Bats.  Would you?  Finally, after Batman loses a bat-ear, Bronze Tiger and Blue Beetle pull them apart.  Flag is well beaten, and can barely walk.  Nightshade opens one of her portal thingies and the Suicide Squad leaves.  Before they leave, Nightshade plants a kiss on Nemesis, which bugs Cap.

*

When the People’s Heroes, Red Star, and the Rocket Red Brigade show up at the prison, the Justice League informs them they’ll be taking Nemesis into custody.  Martian Manhunter explains that the JLI’s charter and agreement with the Russian government gives them the right to take Nemesis with them.  Back in the U.S., Max is threatening to sue Amanda (for her assault on him a few pages back).  They are interrupted by a special news report explaining what has happened in Russia.  Max’s only concern is that J’onn granted a (brief) interview with the press.  Later, at the “JLI vehicle hangar,”  Batman expresses his displeasure with the current incarnation of the Justice League and quits.  No surprise there; Batman really doesn’t fit in with them anyway.

At Belle Reve, Flag is taken off to the infirmary.  Captain Boomerang is happy that for once two people he hates beat the hell out of each other instead of himself.

*

This two-parter did a thing that happens in comics that I really dislike.  After all that set-up, while we’re getting ready for an all-out throw-down between all these super powers, something happens at the last second and the fight is avoided.  Aside from that, it was fairly well-written (even if Cap was mostly just in the background) and well-drawn.  I am a fan of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and John Ostrander as writers, and Luke McDonnell did a fine job as well.  I give these two issues a combined A-.

Justice League International #11 (March 1988) and #12 (April 1988)

Tags

Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Dr. Mist, Green Flame, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Icemaiden, Martian Manhunter, Max Lord, Metron, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Ms. Wootenhoffer, Oberon, Rocket Red #4, Rumaan Harjavti, The Construct, Tuatara

“Constructions!”

• Writers:  Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
• Pencils:  Kevin Maguire
• Inks:  Al Gordon
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  John Workman

Max Lord summons Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom to his office.  He was somehow under the impression that Superman, Hawkman, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan had joined the ranks of the Justice League.  J’onn explains to Max that those heroes had only lent a hand during the Manhunter crisis and have since moved on.  This angers Max, who says he needs “prime heroes – not a bunch of weak-kneed second-stringers.”

Max regains his composure and says he needs help from the most powerful heroes. He says a super-villain is after him.  Somewhere else, someone is secretly watching the meeting in Max’s office on a wall of monitors.  Ominous.

In the New York Embassy, Black Canary is showing the new Rocket Red (#4) around.  He is replacing the last Rocket Red JLI member (#7), who turned out to be a Manhunter.  He cracks wise with Canary, and reveals to her that he lost a tooth when she kicked him in the face (in Justice League #3).  Oberon notifies them of an alert from Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter, so Black Canary and Rocket Red (who asks to be called “Dmitri”) head there.

The Justice League heads for Max’s building in their shuttle.  Blue Beetle warns Mr. Miracle against any further roof-landings while Rocket Red and Green Lantern Guy Gardner get to know each other.  Booster Gold complains of an upset stomach from the League teleporters, and proceeds to vomit in the shuttle.  What a team.

As they approach the building, the JLI shuttle is fired upon by heat-seeking missiles.  Mr. Miracle and Blue Beetle evade the missiles by crashing the shuttle into Max’s building (What, was Guy too busy chatting with Dmitri to do a little creative ring work?).  The team manages to survive the crash without taking out any civilians.  While working out their next step, they are surprised to see Captain Atom fighting some sort of artificial intelligence.

Batman takes charge (mere seconds after he pointed out that Black Canary was in command on this mission), ordering Guy Gardner to neutralize the robot tentacles with his ring.  When the tentacles go for Batman, Black Canary knocks them back with her sonic scream.  Batman is chagrined by her rescue.  As Rocket Red blasts the robot tentacles, Mr. Miracle discovers they are being controlled from within the building.  Black Canary orders Guy to use his ring to create a power surge in the building’s electrics.  As a result, the tentacles – and the entire building – lose power.

Meeting up with Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter, the JLI learns that the building attacked them without provocation.  Max Lord explains that the building’s computer system was taken over by an outside force that is out to get him.  The team thinks Max is being paranoid, but don’t deny that something is going on with the Lord Building.  Batman suspects the enemy may be the Construct, a “nearly invincible computer mind capable of controlling every electronic device on the planet” that the old Justice League defeated once before.

Searching a nearby mountainside for the source of the power emanations controlling the Lord Building, the JLI is attacked by a giant robot – the Construct.  The Construct swings at the shuttle, spouting standard-revenge-against-the-Justice-League crap.  The shuttle dodges the giant robot, and Captain Atom deploys with Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter.

Captain Atom – boob that he is in this series – tries a battle cry or two.  He keeps getting shut down by Martian Manhunter.  It is funny and goofy but actually makes a lot of sense.  At this point in Nate’s personal continuity, he has only just become a legit superhero and not just a government agent posing as a superhero.  He’s trying to fit in, right?

Somewhere else, the battle is being watched on a bank of monitors (which reveal even what is happening inside the shuttle) and commented upon by someone off-panel.  The order is issued for the Construct to return to base.  Someone else (also off-panel) discovers the bank of monitors and exclaims, “What is going on here?”

Realizing the Construct went down to easily, the JLI follows it.  Meanwhile, the monitors are revealed to be in a huge underground complex.  Someone sitting on a floating chair with his back to the reader appears to be having a conversation with the giant computer.  The computer says it is being used, forced to aid someone in their plans of world domination (which includes making android duplicates of world leaders).  The computer called floaty-chair in to help it because it has been turned into a slave.

The Construct crashes in through the well, saying, “Master, help me.”  Floaty-chair seems surprised, as does the Justice League (the Construct was always a sentient entity and had no “master”).  They follow it into the mountainside secret base only to be confronted by the New God Metron (floaty chair guy).

To be continued next issue…

No backup story in this issue.  Cap was given some good goofy lines.  The whole thing is just set-up for the next issue.  It isn’t as fun as JLI usually was, but by no means a stinker.  It was a popular book at the time and it prominently featured Captain Atom, so I loved it.  Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire were certainly churning out some great, fun books in the 80s.  A sold “A.”

“Who is Maxwell Lord?”

• Writers:  Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
• Pencils:  Kevin Maguire
• Inks:  Al Gordon
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  Bob Lappan

The issue opens with Metron explaining to the Justice League that his knowledge is his power.  Time and Space are his kingdoms to rule.  And he is very angry.  He says the Justice League has violated the sanctity of his “Earthly chambers” and damaged his “information retrieval unit.”  Blue Beetle is indignant, but Mr. Miracle cuts him off and tells Beetle to let him do the talking.  Captain Atom thinks Metron is powering up to attack and blasts him.  Mr. Miracle tackles Cap, saying he doesn’t know what he’s dealing with, that Mr. Miracle himself is the only one who knows what they’re dealing with.

Metron, completely nonplussed by Cap’s attack, asks Mr. Miracle who these fools he’s surrounded himself with are.  Captain Atom, insulted, wants to attack Metron again.  Metron wants to “explain” some “universal truths” to Cap.  The other Leaguers stand between Metron and Captain Atom to protect their comrade.  Metron begins to attack while Miracle desperately tries to cool the god off.  He reveals to all those present that he is the son of Highfather – one of Jack Kirby’s “New Gods,” and ruler of New Genesis.  Whatever computer entity is monitoring this did not know that Miracle was from New Genesis (technically he was from Apokolips and was raised by Darkseid).  Metron says he was summoned to this place (I guess it is like his Earth “outpost”) by the machinery itself crying out in pain and terror.  He says that prior to the JLI’s arrival, he felt the machine’s sentience.

There is a quick cut-scene involving the Global Guardians.  Green Flame and Icemaiden are collecting their paychecks.  They learn the Guardians have lost their United Nations funding and this is their final paycheck.  Tuatara and Dr. Mist are also present.  Later, Green Flame and Icemaiden show up at the nearest JLI embassy and apply for membership.  Back in the States, Metron has destroyed the machinery after learning the consciousness has fled.  He follows the Justice League shuttle in his Mobius Chair.  Mr. Miracle manages to make a pretty decent Star Trek joke as they fly after the fleeing intelligence.

Back at the Lord Building, Max is beating himself up for sending his team into a trap.  He’s wondering what’s he’s become (nothing compared to what he will become in a few years) when a dead body falls out of his closet.  It is Ms. Wootenhoffer, Max’s personal assistant and Manhunter agent that was killed in Justice League International #9.  Max’s computer reveals it killed her, and that Metron has destroyed it’s “home unit.”  It recommends that it uploads itself into NORAD’s mainframe.  The computer knows Metron is on his way and must work quickly if it is to succeed in taking over the world.  Max, finally growing a conscience, begins to rip the machine apart.  The computer reminds Max of the spelunking accident which took the life of his old CEO the day they stumbled into Metron’s lab.  It reminds him of how they took over the business world together and amassed a great wealth.  It reminds him of how they worked together to make a new Justice League, to “save the world from itself.”  It reminds him of how it manipulated the Royal Flush Gang into fighting the Justice League and how it used satellites to attack Rumaan Harjavti’s Bialya (in Justice League #4 and Justice League #7, respectively).  Max says he remembers, and that (even though the machine had been keeping him alive since Ms. Wootenhoffer shot him) he has had enough.  Max destroys the machine.

At the moment the machine “dies,” Metron senses it.  He bids Mr. Miracle farewell and flies away.  Back in his office, Max begins to bleed from his gunshot wounds.  He collapses.  The following day, Mr. Miracle and Oberon visit with Max’s doctor at the hospital he was admitted to.  He says Max was lucky the JLI found him when they did, otherwise Max may have died.  Oberon says he believes Max “has the right stuff,” and Mr. Miracle says Max isn’t being kicked out.  Martian Manhunter scanned Max’s mind and decided not to punish him (this is problematic for events that happen later on with Max Lord).  The issue ends with Max asleep in his hospital bed, clutching a Justice League pager.

This was a good issue, certainly “A” material.  Just a little light on Captain Atom.  He seemed to get shoved off to the side a lot, at least until the Justice League Europe series.  It was a good issue for Mr. Miracle fans, though.  I’m still a huge fan of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire.

JLA Secret Files & Origins #3 (December 2000)

Tags

Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel (Shazam), Drew Geraci, Kevin Maguire, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Rocket Red #4, Tom McCraw

This page from JLA Secret Files & Origins #3 was penciled by Kevin Maguire and inked by Drew Geraci with colors by Tom McCraw.

The picture depicts Shazam! (aka Captain Marvel), Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Rocket Red #4, Mr. Miracle, and Oberon.  Not pictured above but part of the original two-page spread are Fire, Ice, Big Barda, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Black Canary, Dr. Light, Batman, Max Lord, Martian Manhunter, and Dr. Fate.

Justice League International #9 (January 1988)

Tags

Al Gordon, Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Bob Lappan, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Gene D'Angelo, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), J. M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire, Martian Manhunter, Max Lord, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Ms. Wootenhoffer, Rocket Red #7, Rumaan Harjavti

“Seeing Red”

• Writers:  Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
• Pencils:  Kevin Maguire
• Inks:  Al Gordon
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  Bob Lappan

The Millennium crossover event began on September 15, 1987 with the publication of Millennium #1.  The first week it crossed over into Firestorm #67, Flash #8, Outsiders #27, Wonder Woman #12, and Justice League International #9.  It began with  the Guardian of the Universe known as Herupa Hando Hu and his consort, the Zamaron, Nadia Safir arriving on Earth and announcing that they want the super-heroes of Earth to protect a group of Chosen humans – a group that will help to usher in a new era of humanity.  Each hero then realizes that someone close to them is a sleeper agent of the Manhunters (a race of robots that were created by and oppose the Guardians of the Universe).  In Captain Atom #10, we learned that Harry Hadley, a high-ranking member of Project Captain Atom, was a Manhunter agent.

This issue of JLI begins with the Justice League flying to their Paris embassy after having met with Herupa Hando Hu and Nadia Safir at the Green Lantern Citadel in California.  Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter are flying alongside the JLI shuttle, which is carrying Blue Beetle, Mr. Miracle, Rocket Red #7, Black Canary, and Batman.

Just as Rocket Red addresses everyone on board the shuttle, Beetle and Miracle notice that the controls aren’t responding and they are on autopilot.  Rocket Red wastes no time in telling his team-mates that he is a Manhunter.  He has been studying them all and would like them to join his group.  Batman seems quite taken aback by this proposal.

Back at the New York embassy, Oberon informs Captain Atom that he’s lost contact with the shuttle.  They were heading for Paris but their trajectory seems to be aiming them towards the Middle East now.  Cap takes off to check it out while Oberon says he’s calling back-up.

On the shuttle, Rocket Red is trying to convince the JLI that the Guardians are liars and manipulators who are tampering with the fate of the universe.  Batman still isn’t buying this b.s.  Mr. Miracle, meanwhile, has sneaked around behind Rocket Red and is tampering with his battle suit with a screwdriver.  Blue Beetle fogs a window of the shuttle with his breath and writes “help” in it with his finger, hoping the league members outside will see it.

Clearly, the JLI isn’t going to join the Manhunters.  Rocket Red removes his visor to reveal his true face beneath.


Mr. Miracle is knocked back by a shock from Rocket Red’s armor.  Black Canary again asserts their refusal to join the Manhunters.  Rocket Red pounces on Blue Beetle.  Outside the shuttle, Guy Gardner sees the ruckus through a window and assumes Beetle and the others are just joking around.  The melee causes Red to slightly lose his control over the shuttle, and those outside are finally clued in to what is going on because of the shuttle’s erratic movements.

Rocket Red flies out of the shuttle, sealing the hatch behind him.  From atop the shuttle, Red begins blasting at J’onn, Guy, and Booster.  He tells them if they don’t leave, he will detonate his armor, killing everyone on the shuttle.  To make matters worse, Booster notices they are flying into Bialian airspace.  That must be one hell of a craft, to get them from California to the Middle East in such quick time, and never flying over the ocean (unless the story began while they were over Spain or something… I guess that is conceivable…).

Red’s plan is evidently to kill the JLI anyway, as he is aiming for an oil refinery.  He says that the Justice League will be disgraced when it is discovered they caused an incident like this in Bialya.  The shuttle plummets closer and closer to the refinery until it suddenly stops short and Rocket Red flies from the roof and into the refinery himself.  The shuttle was caught and held back at the last second by the rest of the Rocket Red Brigade (real Russians and not Manhunters).

Captain Atom shows up, too late to help.  Guy is containing the fire with his ring.  Rumaan Harjavti (despotic ruler of Bialya) shows up, threatening to notify the Soviets of the JLI breaching his country’s borders for a second time.  A Rocket Red points out to Harjavti that his Soviet allies are already aware, which shuts him up.

The skeletal, robotic remains of Rocket Red #7 emerge from the wreckage.  He has one missile left and intends to use it.  When he fires, it does no damage because Booster Gold surrounded the Manhunter with a force field.  Harjavti orders them off his soil, and Batman remarks they are going to have trouble from the dictator some day.  J’onn suggests that the League members with families and loved ones should return home to find out if they, too, have been infiltrated by the Manhunters.

In New York, at the Lord Building, Maxwell Lord is watching Manhunters reveal themselves to super-heroes around the country via his monitors.  He and his supercomputer are working on the problem when his assistant, Ms. Wootenhoffer, enters his office.  She shoots Lord, saying, “No man escapes the Manhunters,” as she does so.  Then Max Lord’s supercomputer retaliates off-panel.  It seems gruesome.

There is another backup story in this issue that again features Jack O’Lantern and a meeting he has with Rumaan Harjavti just moments before Rocket Red #7 crashed in his refinery.

Well.  This really should have been in the Cameo Appearances section of this blog.  Captain Atom was only in four panels.  I guess I thought it should get the whole review treatment because Cap’s officially a Justice League team member now.  Again, this is beautifully drawn and written.  There were a few funny quips.  I wish they’d utilized Cap more.  He has yet to live up to his full potential with the League.  Still, I give this an A.

Justice League International #8 (December 1987)

Tags

Al Gordon, Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Bob Lappan, Booster Gold, Boris Razumihin, Captain Atom, Catherine Cobert, Gene D'Angelo, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), J. M. DeMatteis, Jack Ryder, Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire, Martian Manhunter, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Oberon, Rocket Red #7

“Moving Day”

• Writers:  Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
• Pencils:  Kevin Maguire
• Inks:  Al Gordon
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  Bob Lappan

Before I get too deep into this, let me just put a little disclaimer here.  Despite what the words below might indicate, I really liked Giffen & DeMatteis’ take on the Justice League.  It was funny.  It was fresh.  It was really really good.  And it was my introduction to the Justice League (unless you include the Super Friends).  What I don’t like – and it is really such a minor quibble – is what a dork Captain Atom was in these early issues.  When he went on to lead Justice League Europe (by the same creative team), he was a lot less of a doofus.  But I have to admit, dork doofus Captain Atom or not, this was a great issue.  It is, in fact, the first Justice League book I ever purchased.  It hit the stands on September 8, 1987 with a cover price of 75 cents.

It begins with an episode of Jack Ryder’s Hot Seat.  I have a hard time taking Mr. Ryder seriously, because he’s also the Creeper.  It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think the Creeper is one of DC’s goofiest characters (right up there with Lobo, Gnort, ‘Mazing Man [whom I adore], and Ambush Bug).  He’s not happy about the Justice League’s new “international” status and believes the “costumed buffoons” are probably blackmailing the United Nations.  Well, isn’t he a ray of sunshine?

A crowd has gathered outside the new JLI New York embassy.  Locals hope to catch a glimpse of a super-hero.  One guy claims he saw Captain Marvel (better known as Shazam these days [don’t get me started]).  A team of movers is unloading a truck full of furniture and crap (it would have been cheaper and easier if the heroes had done this themselves, but Max Lord never shied away from spending money frivolously).

Inside, one of the movers (wearing a S.T.A.R. Labs cap), is getting directions from Martian Manhunter on where things go.  The mover asks about a crate of Oreo cookies.  Martian Manhunter says they are his; Captain Marvel introduced them to him and he quite enjoyed them.  He says Martians do eat just like humans; in fact, Mars had a McDonalds and Burger King long before Earth did.  Even though he was usually the most “serious” character in the JLI, the Manhunter from Mars did crack a joke once in a while.  He carries a crate up the stairs, clearly showing off for the movers.  But he misjudges his weight combined with the crate and crashes through the floor.

When he crashes back down to the first floor through the hole he created, Martian Manhunter plays it cool to the only witnesses, Captain Atom and Mister Miracle.  I don’t like the hairstyle they’ve given Cap, but it is more in line with his military background.

Captain Atom, feeling pretty useless around Mr. Miracle, searches for a way to help set up the security system.  Finding two dangling power cords – one male and one female – Cap connects them.  This results in an instant explosion.  Captain Atom then “reflexively” blasts the offending security system.  He tries to smooth things over, saying that setbacks like this bring people closer together.  But there’s no covering up the fact that he was and idiot who did an idiotic idiot thing.  Mr. Miracle storms out in a huff, leaving Cap to explain to Martian Manhunter what happened.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Batman and Green Lantern Guy Gardner show up at their new JLI embassy.  The guards that greet them say Gardner is an enemy of the state and is not welcome.  Batman says he can control Guy, who has no idea why he’s unwanted in the Soviet Union (this is the brain damaged amnesia Guy Gardner).  Rocket Red #7 touches down and vouches for Guy and Batman.  Batman enters the embassy to check on the progress of the security system’s installation.  When Guy joins him, Batman asks the Green Lantern to sweep the embassy for bugs.  Batman has already found a handful of them.  The JLI’s Moscow embassy chief and government liaison Boris Dmitravich Razumihin arrives and Batman demands an explanation for the bugs.  Boris says it was a mistake that he will correct, but clearly it was not.

Back in the U.S., Mr. Miracle arrives at a S.T.A.R. Labs facility where a resident scientist leads him into a storage room.  Whatever it is Mr. Miracle sees there awes and pleases him.

In Paris, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are out of costume and sitting at an outdoor café.  They’ve ducked out on Black Canary for a bit to hang out and pick up women.  Booster locks eyes on a beautiful, tall, black-haired woman in the café.  Booster approaches her, full of confidence.  45 seconds later, he and Beetle are walking away, Gold having completely struck out.  Beetle laughs himself all the way back to the embassy.

When they arrive (back in costume), Black Canary chews them out for ditching her.  Blue Beetle is still laughing.  Booster leaves the room, and bumps into Catherine Cobert, the league’s Paris bureau chief.  She is the same woman Booster Gold hit on at the café.  She doesn’t seem to recognize him.  However, when Black Canary introduces Catherine to Blue Beetle, her responds with a hearty “bwah-ha-ha.”

Back in New York, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Oberon are admiring the fact that their embassy is up and running.  Mr. Miracle arrives in a brand new S.T.A.R. Labs shuttle.  One of the movers points out that if he tries to land on the roof, he will cause it to collapse.  And that is exactly what Mr. Miracle does.

Later, when the heroes have all returned to the New York embassy and are enjoying some milk and Oreos, courtesy of J’onn J’onzz (Martian Manhunter), Blue Beetle is regaling them with the tale of Booster’s failure.  Guy says Beetle is being cruel.  Mr. Miracle is assuring J’onn that the shuttle wasn’t damaged (the roof, on the other hand…).  Oberon rushes in and tells them their first assignment is ready.  A “bunch of super powered lunatics” are running around Bonn, Germany.  They hurry off and the story closes with the text, “To be continued — in the pages of DC’s greatest crossover series ever: Millennium #1.”

Greatest crossover series?  I guess a case could be made.  I don’t agree though.  It wasn’t horrible.

This issue also contains a back-up story featuring Jack O’Lantern of the Global Guardians by the same crew but with Keith Giffen doing the pencils.  I’m not a great fan of Giffen’s artwork but it isn’t the lousiest I’ve ever seen.

Justice League International #8 was a very fun book.  Once I read it, I was hooked on the series and stayed with it until issue #24.  Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon were a great team and Giffen & DeMatteis are equally awesome.  I’m not crazy about the way Captain Atom was drawn or portrayed in this issue, but I still give it an A+.

Booster Gold #22 (November 1987)

Tags

Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Dan Jurgens, Dr. Fate, Gene D'Angelo, Goldstar, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Martian Manhunter, Modern Age Captain Atom, Mr. Miracle, Rangor, Rocket Red #7, Skeets, Steve Haynie, Terry Austin, Ty Templeton

“Tortured Options”

• Writer:  Dan Jurgens
• Pencils:  Dan Jurgens
• Inks:  Ty Templeton
• Colors:  Gene D’Angelo
• Letters:  Steve Haynie
• Cover:  Dan Jurgens and Terry Austin

I always wonder if I should write it as “Boo$ter Gold.”  Spellchecker doesn’t like it that way.  Guess I’ll just conform and drop the dollar sign.  But I wonder if he was a British super-hero, would his name be something like “£eonard Gold?”

*

This is, obviously, not a Captain Atom book.  He is simply a guest star, as the newest member of the Justice League (he was added to the roster of Justice League International the same month this came out, in Justice League International (vol 1) #7).  As he really only appeared at the end of that book, posing with the other League members for a photo, this issue of Booster Gold is the first time we’ve seen Cap as a working member of the Justice League.  Prior to this, he was leader of the Sentinels of Justice, but that continuity was erased by Crisis on Infinite Earths.

*

The story opens with Booster Gold stranded in another dimension and facing a choice.  Save the life of his sister Michelle (aka Goldstar) or the lives of 30,000 people on Earth.  The alien, Rangor, is holding Michelle captive as a grey horned giant is set loose in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.  As Booster throttles Rangor, his robot companion Skeets reminds him that they came to Dimension X to prevent an invasion and that the invasion has begun.  Booster hesitates, then knocks Rangor out and heads into the gateway to Earth.  He sends Skeets to find his sister.

*

Booster is deposited underneath the Metrodome, and blasts straight upward into the stadium itself.  The creature rips open the roof and emerges out into Minneapolis.  Booster throws himself at the creature but finds it has the consistency of putty and he does no damage.  Meanwhile, Skeets has found Goldstar.  She is very weak and would be dead if not for her costume’s magnetic powers.  Skeets frees her from her bonds.

*

As the monster crashes through downtown Minneapolis, Booster realizes his futuristic weapons seem to have no effect on it.  This is when Justice League International shows up, to whom Booster says, “About time you guys got here.”

Responding to Booster’s call for Justice League help are Mr. Miracle, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Black Canary, and Rocket Red.  Four of them that are capable of flight (Cap, Martian Manhunter, Rocket Red, and Mr. Miracle) dive into the fight with Booster.

*

The creature blasts energy beams out of its eyes, which don’t hurt Cap, Booster, and Martian Manhunter but blow Mr. Miracle and Rocket Red back (along with Blue Beetle’s bug, which carries Beetle, Canary, and Gardner).  Ugh, too many characters.  Guy Gardner seems like he should be on the front lines.  His ring is, after all, the most powerful weapon in the universe.  But this is during that brief time period after Batman hit him on the head and he became a gentle pacifist.

Down at street level, the other heroes begin rescuing innocents while still trying to bring the creature down.  Martian Manhunter remarks, “…It’s able to absorb even my mightiest blows.”  Mightiest blows?  Who talks like this?  Martians, I guess.  Just when the League is trading quips on how to best dispose of Guy Gardner, the creature rabs Cap and throws him against a building, knocking him out.  (Captain Atom has been knocked out cold so many times since 1960, it’s a wonder he doesn’t have permanent brain damage.)

*

After being almost smooshed by the creature, Rocket Red, Martian Manhunter, and Booster Gold concentrate their fire at it’s face (MM fires psionic blasts from his eyes).  The creature fires back, appearing to vaporize the trio.  But no, they were pulled out at the last second by Mr. Miracle and Captain Atom (who was unconscious for a remarkably short amount of time).

*

Back in Dimension X, Rangor is watching the battle in Minneapolis unfold on a monitor.  Skeets and Goldstar lurk in the shadows.  Meanwhile, at Booster’s mansion, a shadowy figure on a computer transfers money from a Swiss bank account.  This is an ongoing subplot that ties into Millenium.

*

In Minneapolis, Captain Atom uses his quantum blast powers to bore a hole into the monster.  Booster Gold flies into the hole and begins expanding his force field.  The creature expands until it bursts, leaving it’s gray putty gore all over the streets of downtown Minneapolis.

*

Meanwhile, Goldstar has been discovered.  The aliens beat her down and get ready to kill her when Booster appears and blocks their blasts.  Rangor tells them all their efforts are in vain.  He has an army poised to pass through a much larger gate, ready to invade and conquer Earth.  Goldstar and Booster book it to the chamber where the invasion force waits.  Booster has a moment of self-doubt, thinking he should have sent his sister home; she needs medical attention.  Skeets advises Booster to overload the sphere above the army from which they draw their power.  Booster does this, and it weakens the entire structure.  He scoops up his sister and flies back toward the gateway.

*

The gateway is set to receive rather than send.  Goldstar hurries to the controls to reset it and is hit with an electrical cable.  Booster sees her struck as he is propelled through the gateway.  It spits him out under the Metrodome again and then it explodes.  Out of the wreckage, Booster finds a scrap of his sister’s costume, knowing instantly that this means she is dead.

Twenty-four hours later, off the coast of Maine, a memorial service is held for Goldstar.  The Justice League is in full attendance now, including Dr. Fate.

Fate sends the hovering grave marker of Michelle Carter into “a different realm,” where it will be “forever safe from the ravages of time.”  Booster says his goodbye to his sister via internal monologue.

*

So, Captain Atom’s appearance here is really just a cameo, but it was a really important cameo because it was the first time we saw him in action as a member of the Justice League.  He remained a member – sometimes leading different branches of the League, sometimes lurking in the background – until at least 2011 (a decent 24-year run).  This issue of Booster Gold was well-written and drawn.  An important issue for Booster Gold fans, I’m sure.  If I remember correctly, Michelle “Goldstar” Carter came back to life eventually (as most dead super-heroes do).  When this came out, I didn’t give it a second glance.  Since then I’ve begun a fan of Dan Jurgens’ style.  And he’s a package deal, writing and drawing.  This is A material.