On A-List team books

I'm a big fan of team books. I really like the aspect of having an ensemble cast of characters coming together to fight for the good cause. If done well, you can have a group of heroes that normally wouldn't shine on their own (ever wonder why Rogue and Gambit series keep getting cancelled?) become a big thing as a group.

Of course, the more popular thing to do is to take your already established characters and shoehorn them together. That's cool - people love seeing their favorite heroes working together. But if you throw too many in, you run into a problem of telling consistent stories without having to stretch the limits of your threat. There's only so much that can challenge a group made up of several near-invulnerable heroes, after all.

In the Justice League, you have the big three - Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - two Green Lanterns and the Flash. Never mind the rest of the team (Black Canary, Black Lightning, Vixen, Red Arrow, Hawkgirl and Red Tornado) - with just those six characters, you have the entire power core of the DC heroes. Who is going to stop them?

Once this realization came to me, I quit complaining about the constant villain team-ups. What else can you do against them?

Avengers has had this problem several times. The original line-up featured three of Marvel's biggest solo stars (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor) and added Captain America three issues later. Once the series got going, however, the three originals were gone - replaced by side-characters Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. From this point on, Avengers dug its own character niche in the Marvel Universe - certain characters were Avengers - and that was that.

JSA is like that now. JLA seems to be on the fence about it. On the one hand, the book heavily pushes the more unknown characters: Black Canary is the leader, Black Lightning has a substantial role, Vixen has a long-running subplot, Hawkgirl and Red Arrow are bumping uglies. On the other, the book still seems to long for the Grant Morrison days of jam all big characters into the book. Morrison made it work, though, and soon added lesser names like Plastic Man and Steel. JLA has seen two big villain team-ups thus far.

Perhaps it's because I fondly remember a League featuring two major characters - Batman and Martian Manhunter - and a load of second-stringers and nobodies. Even when the book was changed from comedy back to action by Dan Jurgens just before Doomsday, the League was made up of the same cast of lower talents. Over those 70+ issues, though, certain characters became core Leaguers - even if the DCU proper didn't think too highly of them. I think that's what the League could use now. Dip into the vast pool of DC heroes (if any survive the usual Crisis cullings) and get yourself a base of heroes that can come in and out of the scene. Rotate your leader and have them put out a call, with who knows showing up. I would like to see something like that, with the lesser heroes actually having a challenge, rather than seeing what's going on now.

The Weekly Pile

The Top of the Pile

Justice League of America #14 -4 out of 5- by Dwyane McDuffie & Ed Benes

Dwayne McDuffie's "Unlimited" story continues. This issue seemed more like an issue of Superman or Action Comics, than JLA. Which isn't really a bad thing. I just make the comparison because the issue is driven by the drama between Superman and Luthor. Something I haven't seen enough of in the Superman titles. But the Superman books are a rant for another day. Back to the League. I like the teaming of Black Lightning and Superman in this issue. I think it's a good thing for a team book like this to pair the minor characters with the major ones. But more importantly, to make them have just as much of a positive role in the action as the major players. This is important to building up the lesser known characters, so that one day, the Big 3 (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) may be able to leave the book.

There's nothing complex about McDuffie's writing. It's just enjoyable. It was also nice having Ed Benes back to draw the issue. However, I don't think he's going to be around much longer. Thought I saw someone else solicited for the next story arc.


Rest of the Pile

Countdown #28 -3 out of 5- by Tony Bedard & Al Barrionuevo
See future article.

The Weekly Pile

Top of the Pile: Mighty Avengers #5

It's a shame this book has been so delayed. With the extended periods between issues it's hard to keep up any kind of storytelling pace. The most you can hope for, aside from the creators getting their asses in gear and putting the book out on time, is that the issue is good when it does come out. Mighty Avengers comes through in that department.

Bendis' decent drama and snappy dialog always make his books an entertaining read. His use of random thought bubbles is a great way to give an extra dimension to the characters without having to delve into a lot of expository writing. Frank Cho's art continues to look fantastic and it's sad to know he's the reason the book's so delayed.

The Rest of the Pile

Captain America #31 - This book was very close to being the Top this week. Ed Brubaker continues to craft a compelling story even though the title character's been dead for more than six months.

Captain America: The Chosen #3 - Continuing the story of an aging Cap searching for his replacement.

Countdown #28 - See this week's Countdown Countdown

JLA #14 - The Injustice League, a large gathering of villains who seem to have gotten together just to get together. This may sound weird, but it reads more like a cartoon than a comic book.

Marvel Zombies 2 #1 - Nothing special here, just the same gory fun as the first series. Robert Kirkman continues to be one of my favorite writers.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #47 - I'm torn about this book. It hasn't been bad, it just hasn't been interesting.

Wolverine: Origins #18 - Wolverine fights Nazis with Captain America, Bucky, and a young Nick Fury.

Did I Miss Something?

After much waiting, Teen Titans #50 came out a couple weeks ago. I was greatly anticipating this issue, as it surely would spell the end of the Countdown-related filler that the book had been sitting on for the past three months. Nothing against the "tragic end" of Duela Dent or the tie-in with Amazons Attack, but the Titans had been a bit aimless for that period, and I was looking forward to them turning a new corner with new writer Sean McKeever on board.

When I read issue 50, though, I felt like that corner had already been turned down and they were taking a break to reflect on another event. Titans finally got around to mourning the fallen Bart Allen, but it was not this that caught me wrong in the book - it was that Supergirl was a member of the Titans. I didn't miss an issue, did I? When did this happen? Then there was Cyborg leaving for his Titans East team. What? When did this come about? Suddenly, the Titans are a drastically changed team (changed from the drastically changed team of the One Year Later jump), with no cohesive story to explain it. These things just happened - deal with it.

The same had taken place earlier in the year when the Lightning Saga started over in Justice League of America. After reading the first issue, I called my friend (and Comicdom Wrecks! conspirator) Casey and asked when Geo-Force had joined the JLA and Black Canary been elected leader. Neither had been pointed out in the story (in fact, it was signaled against in Geo-Force's case), and were simply mentioned in the context of the new story.

I'm not a fan of throwing changes on without having something take place to explain them. Sure the Titans had just fought a Titans East team led by Deathstroke, but there was no setup to create a new team under that name. It seemed like someone had forgotten to set it up, so they just had to say "And this is happening too. Read it!" To further future stories, consistent setup is necessary, or anything can happen for no reason. Continuity must be established and maintained. A sense of stability is needed to maintain a reader's suspension of non-belief that comics so require.

So please, stop with the jumping. It's giving me a headache.

JLA: Walls (11)

It's not often that you see a standalone issue these days, especially in a high profile book such as JLA. With the success of the trade paperback, stories are usually set to fit nicely by storyline within an easily-collectible volume. While it's not as bad as it had been over the past three years, it's still a rarity to get the issue that bridges between two story arcs.

And of course, when you do get one, it's usually featuring at least one guest talent to let the regular team rest up for the upcoming story. The result is often a forgettable mesh looking to kill time.

But that's not at all what's found in this book.

With Gene Ha providing artwork, Brad Meltzer takes two of his lesser known cast members, Red Arrow and Vixen, and gives them an issue of dialog with one another. Really, that's it. You have some random crowd noise in the beginning and end, but overall, it's just dialog between the two, along with the inner monologue that has become commonplace in the title. The result is pure gold.

The basic story is that during a battle with Dr. Polaris, a building toppled over into the Potomac River with Red Arrow and Vixen buried inside. With tight panels with lots of space in between, Ha gives the reader the claustrophobic feel of the characters as they calm each other and make their escape out. It gives a feeling of tension usually saved for a movie thriller or particularly involved novel, as you really worry about both characters.

Meltzer takes the opportunity to make the reveal of Vixen's abilities hinted throughout the last few issues, but in a way that suggests that more will come of this. The whole issue humanizes both characters and allows the readers to truly bond with them. They feel the fight for life and cheer when the ending comes. The twist (literally) at the end was quite unexpected as well.

This was a fantastic issue that really pushed both characters forward. A lesser team probably would have produced a lackluster thriller-wannabe, but Meltzer and Ha came through and made this book an exciting read. Definitely the best issue I've seen in months.

Top and Bottom of the Pile: 7-18-2007

TOP: Justice League of America #11
The concept of an issue of nothing but dialog between Red Arrow and Vixen may not be appealing at first, but with the level of drama created by Brad Meltzer and guest artist Gene Ha, this issue is without a doubt the best comic I've read in months. It adds appreciation to two overlooked characters (the only one more so would probably be Black Lightning) and makes a fantastic read of a bridging issue between two story arcs. For more, check out my comments on the issue coming this weekend.


BOTTOM: New X-Men #40
New X-Men continues through the grisly motions that have become disturbingly common for this book. Only this time, they're in Limbo, so the kids and be killed multiple times, hopefully satisfying Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's bloodlust enough for them to possibly make it through the next arc without killing anybody! It's nice to see the other students getting the spotlight, but the ridiculously dark tone needs to lighten up and quick. Also, how many newer readers are going to remember Amanda Sefton, a character who really hasn't been in mainstream focus since she was a side-character in Uncanny X-Men back in the 80s? Yeah, she was in late Excalibur stories, but it wasn't canceled because a ton of people were reading it.


The Rest of the Pile: Ultimate Spider-Man #111, All Flash #1, World War Hulk #2, World War Hulk: X-Men #2

JLA, JSA: The Lightning Saga (8-10, 5-6)

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