raul grau
Apr 13, 2005, 04:18 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/logos/cfdlogo.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Comics For Dummies logo">By Raul Grau, RJacknite@aol.com
Countdown to Breakdowns
Before they were Formerly Known as... the Justice League, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and the other BWAH-HA-HA-HA'ers were known as... well, they were the Justice League. Eighteen years ago, a legendary mega-crossover (the best kind of crossover) reduced League membership to one lone Martian, but also sowed the character-rich seeds for the next generation of World's Greatest Heroes. This new, internationaly-minded team endured for five years, before slowly being retired to wherever it is that less popular comic book characters go between cameo appearances. So why is it that the past year has been filled with mega-events featuring these forgotten heroes? And, more importantly, why do they seem to be on the losing side of these mega-events?
Their story begins with Legends, the aforementioned mega-crossover which cemented the unquestionable and enduring heroic stature of folks like Cosmic Boy and Warlord (you know, he was like Conan, minus the charm). In a set of events completely unrelated to the main story, the members of the Justice League of America were hunted down by handsome androids, and were each either killed outright or convinced to seek a robust retirement plan. Had this been a more popular incarnation of the League, things might have turned out a bit differently, but the androids were decimating the 'Detroit' League (so named for their geography and shoddy workmanship), so the world was happy to be without Vibe (like Rictor, just with added breakdancing). Martian Manhunter was the last Leaguer standing, and rejoined the storyline of Legends, already in progress.
Doctor Fate, usually not the friendliest Lord of Order, was busy snatching up heroes he barely knew for an ultimate confrontation with Glorious Godfrey, who might actually be the most effeminately named fellow on Apokolips. The seemingly random grouping actually succeeding in their struggle, with help from an uninvited Martian, and Fate suggested that they remain together (the same formula had worked before, of course, as 'Fate snatching up random heroes' has retroactively become the origin of the Justice Society of America, so it was not a bad suggestion). Superman, Flash, Beast Boy, and Wonder Woman all declined (so, basically, just about everyone already featured in a popular series), but the remaining seven would go on to form the nucleus of the (location-free) Justice League... and I bet you thought that joke only worked for the (adjectiveless) X-Men.
Whereas other incarnations of the League (before and since) have consisted of the most popular heroes available, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (as plotter and scripter, respectively) featured a JL that was more diverse and truly representational of the DC Universe (or I'm reading too much into the lineup, and their names were pulled from a hat... it could go either way). From the former Earth-1, there was Martian Manhunter (lone League hold-out), Batman (oh, you know who he is), Guy Gardner (not the Greatest of the Green Lanterns), Mister Miracle (the most human of the Fourth World bunch), and his diminutive sidekick Oberon (like Puck, but with less hockey). From Earth-2, Fate and Black Canary (though, sadly, now fishnet-free). Throw in Captain Marvel (formerly of Earth-S) and Blue Beetle (of the recently purchased Charlton line), and you thank Crisis for allowing these nine to cohabitate on the same planet.
Speaking of Crisis, the first two recruits were Doctor Light (not the rape-happy one, the female one, who made her first appearance during that Infinite Earths brouhaha) and Booster Gold (the financially astute time-traveler, hailed as DC's first post-Crisis hero). Of course, neither of those recruits were actually recruited by the League themselves, but a certain billionaire who was operating without the express written consent of the Justice League.
While Maxwell Lord cannot take credit for assembling this League (well, he could... and probably would, if you asked him), he did try his best to manipulate them to greatness. Lord was first introduced as just another billionaire industrialist with a power trip (like Bruce Wayne, but without the night job), but his story proved to be much more convoluted... I mean, interesting. Max, it turned out, was himself being manipulated by a sentient Information Retrieval Unit from New Genesis, whose original purpose (I assume) was to retrieve information, but who had evolved with a 'save humanity from itself' mindset. To accomplish this noble goal, the computer choose the Justice League to serve as the guardians of the planet... oh, and it began creating robotic duplicates of world leaders. It should also be noted that Max first encountered said computer while spelunking with his close friend and mentor, whom he planned to murder... that Max, what a cut-up.
With the ends sure to justify the means, Max covertly recruited Doctor Light for a team he was not at all involved in, and then sponsored a terrorist attack on the United Nations, which the League (luckily) foiled. Since it worked so well the first time, Max next recruited Booster, and staged an attack from the Royal Flush Gang to give Gold the opportunity he needed to prove himself to his new comrades. Then Max successfully secured United Nations approval for the League, after public opinion was swayed by their defeat of a space-based death ray, which the computer just so happened to be in control of... noticing a pattern, yet? By the way, upon receiving international status, Captain Atom (the walking nuclear meltdown) and Rocket Red #7 (the pinko commie) were shoe-horned onto the team, but Red was soon revealed to be a Manhunter (remember them?), a race of sentient computers totally unrelated to that other sentient computer.
During that bit of android anarchy, Max was shot repeatedly by a Manhunter agent (you should never trust sentient computers), but his computer pal kept him alive (awww... what a nice sentient computer). At the risk of losing his own life (since repair work done by a sentient computer is apparently dependant on the computer remaining sentient), Max finally rebelled, smashing his accomplice into microchip-sized pieces, and inadvertently reopening six bullet holes within his chest. That selfless act was, of course, completely unrelated to the minor matter of the Justice League (International flavor) finally figuring out that they had been manipulated by said sentient computer (and, technically, by Max) for the better part of a year. Sacrificing himself for the greater good struck a chord with the other Leaguers, and Max was allowed to remain on as their administrative big bossman, but now completely free of sentient computer inflences. You know, that all worked out better than even Max could have planned... hmmm...
Anyway, the loss of their inorganic manipulator was not the only membership change to strike the League. Doctor Light had long since quit (seems she did not care much for being manipulated... so she sure picked the wrong team), and Rocket Red #4 replaced Rocket Red #7 (and he was much more popular than his predecessor, simply by virtue of not being a killer android). The staunchly conservative Hawkman and his amazingly understanding wife Hawkwoman rejoined the League... or they didn't, who knows with their continuity (you know, someone should write a column about them... hmmm...). Green Flame (the fiery Latina) and Ice Maiden (her more temperate ally) sought prestige and a paycheck with the League (boy, were they surprised), filling the feminine vacuum left by the departure of Black Canary (who was off dealing with the small issue of being raped and tortured over in Longbow Hunters). After an aborted alien Invasion!, Fire (as the Flame took to calling herself) received a full-body burn, and even Max had his metagene activated, receiving the perfect power for a manipulative businessman... the ability to push people mentally into doing his bidding (because money does not always do the job).
With newfound power and newfound recruits, Max finally took the International League International, with the founding of the Justice League Europe. Among the heroes shipped across the pond were Captain Atom (coming down from the high of being Supreme Commander of the Earth forces during Invasion!), Rocket Red (Paris is closer to Russia, after all), Animal Man (former Forgotten Hero, turned Grant Morrison plaything), Flash (Wally West, during his lecherous days), Power Girl (unsure about her own origin, but still pretty powerful), Metamorpho (the Elemental Outsider), Elongated Man (the rubbery detective, and his ultra-forgiving wife, Sue Dibny. Oh, I almost forgot, Wonder Woman was also a member... for about the length of time it took you to read this sentence... after that, she was lone gone.
You would assume that with two active branches of the Justice League protecting the planet, the planet, as a whole, would be a safer place, but (strangely enough) a new ongoing title seemed to bring on new ongoing problems. In a very climatic and monochromatic battle with the Gray Man, Power Girl received a power downgrade (leaving her as less of a Superman clone, but still at around Rogue level). With Grant Morrison actively trying to drive him insane in his solo book, Animal Man resigned, but Crimson Fox (two seductive French women in one busty costume) amply filled the animal-themed role. After an invasion of Marvel-esque characters almost resulted in planetary destruction (something Marvel-esque characters are quite good at), Blue Jay (shrinking plus wings equals Wasp) and the Silver Sorceress (unlike the Scarlet Witch, she shied away from actually wearing silver) joined the European contingent. And then there was the little matter of Power Girl's unnamed pet cat being a unintentional spy for an information broker, but that almost goes without saying... you know how cats are.
Back in the states, Blue Beetle stabbed Max (and Oberon too, but Max mattered more), after being activated as a sleeper agent for the Queen Bee (who wisely avoided going for a bee theme in her costuming... stingers tend to look silly). One too many people then went poking around in his mind, and Beetle ended up comatose for an issue or two. The second Doctor Fate (the less powerful, girly one), Orion (the least jovial New God ever), and Lightray (the least heterosexual New God ever) all joined for a short while, as did the Huntress, though she might have been slightly coerced by the mental manipulations of Max... she was also slightly miffed (in a crossbow-waving sort of way) when she found out. Booster Gold resigned (to be next seen with the higher-paying, though lower-profile Conglomerate), and Mister Miracle was killed, mourned, then later revealed to have been a robotic duplicate of himself, but the real Scott Free resigned soon after anyway. L-Ron (the sarcastic robo-assistant) and General Glory (think Captain America, with extra anachronistic patriotism) also enlisted in the League, but they picked a terrible time, because the parade float of Justice was about to breakdown.
Breakdowns is, quite probably, the longest crossover to ever take place between only two titles, and, quite likely, the only crossover to run for 16 (out of 15) parts. Everything that could possibly go wrong with the League was happening, twice a month. Max was shot (again) and replaced by the exceptionally evil Rolf Heimlich (and it takes a lot of work to be more evil than Max). The Queen Bee (still buzzing about), Despero (no longer the three-eyed purple chess player, now the three-eyed purple killing machine), and Lobo (like Wolverine, but with an even better healing factor) all attacked. Dreamslayer (like Dormmamu, but in tight pants) took control of Max, creating his own army of Marvel-esque androids and brain-washed Leaguers, before Silver Sorceress made that ultimate heroic sacrifice to stop him (like Jean Grey, but more permanently). New members came, old members quit, the whole organization hung on the brink of destruction, but then, in the final panel of the final Giffen/DeMatteis issue, Max returned to put everything right again. It was an amazing moment... too bad there had to be a next issue.
For 95 total issues (not counting assorted annuals and specials), the Giffen League had been a different kind of superhero team. Sure, they fought bloodthirsty aliens and interdimensional mages, they just had a better sense of humor about the whole spandexed lifestyle. They sometimes had fun, were usually quite funny, but they were never fools, and somewhere, in the month between that last Giffen issue and the next installment, that was completely forgotten. Suddenly, they were a pack of ineffectual buffoons who could not even stand up against a killer wind-up toy, and had no further interest in heroism. Then came the less-than-spectacular Justice League Spectacular, in which Max bungled one of his clandestine attacks (Max never bungles clandestine attacks), and the League of Idiots needed Superman, Hal Jordan, and Aquaman (of all people) to rescue them. The bigger names spearheaded the new Leagues, and slowly began pushing out the few remaining Giffen hold-outs... with a little help from Doomsday.
The Justice League had handled Despero (twice, in fact), and he was a more intelligent and, therefore, more dangerous unstoppable killing machine than Doomsday, but the walking plot device had a date with Superman, and cannon fodder were needed to prove just how strong he really was. Doomie left Fire powerless, Booster powerless, and Beetle comatose (again), before making his way to an historic rendezvous with the Man of Steel. Ice (the slightly abbreviated Ice Maiden) had become a naive, love-struck child, unable to function in society (this was the woman who once decked Guy Gardner?... though, to be fair, who didn't deck Guy Gardner?), and the death of Superman hit her even harder than it did Lois Lane. Ice went on to become ultra-powered, ultra-crazy, and then ultra-dead, in the same battle that cost Booster an arm and a working cardiovascular system. Max got cancer, died, became an evil cyborg, and then began playing around with some world-conquering conspiracy types, who chose to model themselves after playing cards. Both Crimson Foxes died (one of them died twice), both Fates died, Guy died, Metamorpho went inert, Power Girl went immaculately pregnant, and so on it went for over a decade... the smartest thing Huntress ever did was to forget that she was ever a part of that team.
That brings us to the past year... and what a odd year it has been for fans of the Giffen League. On the one hand, the former Leaguers had not been this heavily featured in almost fifteen years... though, on the other hand, they do seem to be dying even more rapidly now than they did when they were virtually forgotten. The critically-acclaimed Superman/Batman series (which filled the long-standing need for more Superman and Batman titles, but did it with only one book) featured the noble sacrifice of Breach... err... I mean, Captain Atom. The critically-acclaimed Identity Crisis opened with Sue Dibny (the sane member of the JLE) being accidentally murdered by one of her closest friends. The not-yet-critically-acclaimed (but certainly inexpensive) Countdown to Infinite Crisis kept that trend alive with Blue Beetle being... well, not accidentally, more maliciously... being maliciously murdered by one of his closest friends, an 'even more evil than he used to be' Maxwell Lord.
I have no objection to Max being the leader of a clandestine, international terrorist network... after all, Max often did that sort of thing. I can understand Max developing a bitter hatred of all metahumans... despite the little matter of him being a metahuman himself. I can accept Max sending a lighting bolt down from the sky, leaving Booster Gold in critical condition... if I could shoot lighting bolts from the sky, I would show my friends too. I can even wrap my brain around Max spilling the brains of his old buddy Ted Kord on his nice new, clandestine floor... you never let the hero go after explaining your plans in grand detail. However, what really bothered me about Countdown was the retroactive implication that Max had been purposely keeping the League ineffective... Maxwell Lord, in case you don't recall, was the man who lied, cheated, and stole to make the League as powerful and prestigious as it possibly could be.
So, in the end, why has the last year featured a culling of the ranks of the Giffen League? In an odd way, I blame Formerly Known as... the Justice League. Before Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire reunited to deliver six issues of nostalgic fun, most comic book readers had forgotten that heroes could be interesting without being dour. Suddenly, Sue, Max, Beetle, and the others were popular again, with a new cult following to join the one that had lain dormant for so long... which gave DC the perfect opportunity to start killing them off. Here you have characters with long histories (to draw upon), loyal fans (to buy the books), and the stigma of occasionally being funny (to utterly crush), so that makes them the perfect victims.
If you read Countdown and Identity Crisis (Superman/Batman to a lesser extent), you will see the most heroic, most noble, most character-true, most interesting representations of these characters to appear in nearly fifteen years (not counting Formerly and its sequel)... the real shame is that these characters have to be mere moments away from death for another writer to take them seriously.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Raul Grau is convinced that he has already solved the mystery of the upcoming Infinite Crisis epic crossover. He chooses not to ruin the surprise twist for everyone, but he did mention that it will involve Booster Gold and a wood chipper.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
Countdown to Breakdowns
Before they were Formerly Known as... the Justice League, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and the other BWAH-HA-HA-HA'ers were known as... well, they were the Justice League. Eighteen years ago, a legendary mega-crossover (the best kind of crossover) reduced League membership to one lone Martian, but also sowed the character-rich seeds for the next generation of World's Greatest Heroes. This new, internationaly-minded team endured for five years, before slowly being retired to wherever it is that less popular comic book characters go between cameo appearances. So why is it that the past year has been filled with mega-events featuring these forgotten heroes? And, more importantly, why do they seem to be on the losing side of these mega-events?
Their story begins with Legends, the aforementioned mega-crossover which cemented the unquestionable and enduring heroic stature of folks like Cosmic Boy and Warlord (you know, he was like Conan, minus the charm). In a set of events completely unrelated to the main story, the members of the Justice League of America were hunted down by handsome androids, and were each either killed outright or convinced to seek a robust retirement plan. Had this been a more popular incarnation of the League, things might have turned out a bit differently, but the androids were decimating the 'Detroit' League (so named for their geography and shoddy workmanship), so the world was happy to be without Vibe (like Rictor, just with added breakdancing). Martian Manhunter was the last Leaguer standing, and rejoined the storyline of Legends, already in progress.
Doctor Fate, usually not the friendliest Lord of Order, was busy snatching up heroes he barely knew for an ultimate confrontation with Glorious Godfrey, who might actually be the most effeminately named fellow on Apokolips. The seemingly random grouping actually succeeding in their struggle, with help from an uninvited Martian, and Fate suggested that they remain together (the same formula had worked before, of course, as 'Fate snatching up random heroes' has retroactively become the origin of the Justice Society of America, so it was not a bad suggestion). Superman, Flash, Beast Boy, and Wonder Woman all declined (so, basically, just about everyone already featured in a popular series), but the remaining seven would go on to form the nucleus of the (location-free) Justice League... and I bet you thought that joke only worked for the (adjectiveless) X-Men.
Whereas other incarnations of the League (before and since) have consisted of the most popular heroes available, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (as plotter and scripter, respectively) featured a JL that was more diverse and truly representational of the DC Universe (or I'm reading too much into the lineup, and their names were pulled from a hat... it could go either way). From the former Earth-1, there was Martian Manhunter (lone League hold-out), Batman (oh, you know who he is), Guy Gardner (not the Greatest of the Green Lanterns), Mister Miracle (the most human of the Fourth World bunch), and his diminutive sidekick Oberon (like Puck, but with less hockey). From Earth-2, Fate and Black Canary (though, sadly, now fishnet-free). Throw in Captain Marvel (formerly of Earth-S) and Blue Beetle (of the recently purchased Charlton line), and you thank Crisis for allowing these nine to cohabitate on the same planet.
Speaking of Crisis, the first two recruits were Doctor Light (not the rape-happy one, the female one, who made her first appearance during that Infinite Earths brouhaha) and Booster Gold (the financially astute time-traveler, hailed as DC's first post-Crisis hero). Of course, neither of those recruits were actually recruited by the League themselves, but a certain billionaire who was operating without the express written consent of the Justice League.
While Maxwell Lord cannot take credit for assembling this League (well, he could... and probably would, if you asked him), he did try his best to manipulate them to greatness. Lord was first introduced as just another billionaire industrialist with a power trip (like Bruce Wayne, but without the night job), but his story proved to be much more convoluted... I mean, interesting. Max, it turned out, was himself being manipulated by a sentient Information Retrieval Unit from New Genesis, whose original purpose (I assume) was to retrieve information, but who had evolved with a 'save humanity from itself' mindset. To accomplish this noble goal, the computer choose the Justice League to serve as the guardians of the planet... oh, and it began creating robotic duplicates of world leaders. It should also be noted that Max first encountered said computer while spelunking with his close friend and mentor, whom he planned to murder... that Max, what a cut-up.
With the ends sure to justify the means, Max covertly recruited Doctor Light for a team he was not at all involved in, and then sponsored a terrorist attack on the United Nations, which the League (luckily) foiled. Since it worked so well the first time, Max next recruited Booster, and staged an attack from the Royal Flush Gang to give Gold the opportunity he needed to prove himself to his new comrades. Then Max successfully secured United Nations approval for the League, after public opinion was swayed by their defeat of a space-based death ray, which the computer just so happened to be in control of... noticing a pattern, yet? By the way, upon receiving international status, Captain Atom (the walking nuclear meltdown) and Rocket Red #7 (the pinko commie) were shoe-horned onto the team, but Red was soon revealed to be a Manhunter (remember them?), a race of sentient computers totally unrelated to that other sentient computer.
During that bit of android anarchy, Max was shot repeatedly by a Manhunter agent (you should never trust sentient computers), but his computer pal kept him alive (awww... what a nice sentient computer). At the risk of losing his own life (since repair work done by a sentient computer is apparently dependant on the computer remaining sentient), Max finally rebelled, smashing his accomplice into microchip-sized pieces, and inadvertently reopening six bullet holes within his chest. That selfless act was, of course, completely unrelated to the minor matter of the Justice League (International flavor) finally figuring out that they had been manipulated by said sentient computer (and, technically, by Max) for the better part of a year. Sacrificing himself for the greater good struck a chord with the other Leaguers, and Max was allowed to remain on as their administrative big bossman, but now completely free of sentient computer inflences. You know, that all worked out better than even Max could have planned... hmmm...
Anyway, the loss of their inorganic manipulator was not the only membership change to strike the League. Doctor Light had long since quit (seems she did not care much for being manipulated... so she sure picked the wrong team), and Rocket Red #4 replaced Rocket Red #7 (and he was much more popular than his predecessor, simply by virtue of not being a killer android). The staunchly conservative Hawkman and his amazingly understanding wife Hawkwoman rejoined the League... or they didn't, who knows with their continuity (you know, someone should write a column about them... hmmm...). Green Flame (the fiery Latina) and Ice Maiden (her more temperate ally) sought prestige and a paycheck with the League (boy, were they surprised), filling the feminine vacuum left by the departure of Black Canary (who was off dealing with the small issue of being raped and tortured over in Longbow Hunters). After an aborted alien Invasion!, Fire (as the Flame took to calling herself) received a full-body burn, and even Max had his metagene activated, receiving the perfect power for a manipulative businessman... the ability to push people mentally into doing his bidding (because money does not always do the job).
With newfound power and newfound recruits, Max finally took the International League International, with the founding of the Justice League Europe. Among the heroes shipped across the pond were Captain Atom (coming down from the high of being Supreme Commander of the Earth forces during Invasion!), Rocket Red (Paris is closer to Russia, after all), Animal Man (former Forgotten Hero, turned Grant Morrison plaything), Flash (Wally West, during his lecherous days), Power Girl (unsure about her own origin, but still pretty powerful), Metamorpho (the Elemental Outsider), Elongated Man (the rubbery detective, and his ultra-forgiving wife, Sue Dibny. Oh, I almost forgot, Wonder Woman was also a member... for about the length of time it took you to read this sentence... after that, she was lone gone.
You would assume that with two active branches of the Justice League protecting the planet, the planet, as a whole, would be a safer place, but (strangely enough) a new ongoing title seemed to bring on new ongoing problems. In a very climatic and monochromatic battle with the Gray Man, Power Girl received a power downgrade (leaving her as less of a Superman clone, but still at around Rogue level). With Grant Morrison actively trying to drive him insane in his solo book, Animal Man resigned, but Crimson Fox (two seductive French women in one busty costume) amply filled the animal-themed role. After an invasion of Marvel-esque characters almost resulted in planetary destruction (something Marvel-esque characters are quite good at), Blue Jay (shrinking plus wings equals Wasp) and the Silver Sorceress (unlike the Scarlet Witch, she shied away from actually wearing silver) joined the European contingent. And then there was the little matter of Power Girl's unnamed pet cat being a unintentional spy for an information broker, but that almost goes without saying... you know how cats are.
Back in the states, Blue Beetle stabbed Max (and Oberon too, but Max mattered more), after being activated as a sleeper agent for the Queen Bee (who wisely avoided going for a bee theme in her costuming... stingers tend to look silly). One too many people then went poking around in his mind, and Beetle ended up comatose for an issue or two. The second Doctor Fate (the less powerful, girly one), Orion (the least jovial New God ever), and Lightray (the least heterosexual New God ever) all joined for a short while, as did the Huntress, though she might have been slightly coerced by the mental manipulations of Max... she was also slightly miffed (in a crossbow-waving sort of way) when she found out. Booster Gold resigned (to be next seen with the higher-paying, though lower-profile Conglomerate), and Mister Miracle was killed, mourned, then later revealed to have been a robotic duplicate of himself, but the real Scott Free resigned soon after anyway. L-Ron (the sarcastic robo-assistant) and General Glory (think Captain America, with extra anachronistic patriotism) also enlisted in the League, but they picked a terrible time, because the parade float of Justice was about to breakdown.
Breakdowns is, quite probably, the longest crossover to ever take place between only two titles, and, quite likely, the only crossover to run for 16 (out of 15) parts. Everything that could possibly go wrong with the League was happening, twice a month. Max was shot (again) and replaced by the exceptionally evil Rolf Heimlich (and it takes a lot of work to be more evil than Max). The Queen Bee (still buzzing about), Despero (no longer the three-eyed purple chess player, now the three-eyed purple killing machine), and Lobo (like Wolverine, but with an even better healing factor) all attacked. Dreamslayer (like Dormmamu, but in tight pants) took control of Max, creating his own army of Marvel-esque androids and brain-washed Leaguers, before Silver Sorceress made that ultimate heroic sacrifice to stop him (like Jean Grey, but more permanently). New members came, old members quit, the whole organization hung on the brink of destruction, but then, in the final panel of the final Giffen/DeMatteis issue, Max returned to put everything right again. It was an amazing moment... too bad there had to be a next issue.
For 95 total issues (not counting assorted annuals and specials), the Giffen League had been a different kind of superhero team. Sure, they fought bloodthirsty aliens and interdimensional mages, they just had a better sense of humor about the whole spandexed lifestyle. They sometimes had fun, were usually quite funny, but they were never fools, and somewhere, in the month between that last Giffen issue and the next installment, that was completely forgotten. Suddenly, they were a pack of ineffectual buffoons who could not even stand up against a killer wind-up toy, and had no further interest in heroism. Then came the less-than-spectacular Justice League Spectacular, in which Max bungled one of his clandestine attacks (Max never bungles clandestine attacks), and the League of Idiots needed Superman, Hal Jordan, and Aquaman (of all people) to rescue them. The bigger names spearheaded the new Leagues, and slowly began pushing out the few remaining Giffen hold-outs... with a little help from Doomsday.
The Justice League had handled Despero (twice, in fact), and he was a more intelligent and, therefore, more dangerous unstoppable killing machine than Doomsday, but the walking plot device had a date with Superman, and cannon fodder were needed to prove just how strong he really was. Doomie left Fire powerless, Booster powerless, and Beetle comatose (again), before making his way to an historic rendezvous with the Man of Steel. Ice (the slightly abbreviated Ice Maiden) had become a naive, love-struck child, unable to function in society (this was the woman who once decked Guy Gardner?... though, to be fair, who didn't deck Guy Gardner?), and the death of Superman hit her even harder than it did Lois Lane. Ice went on to become ultra-powered, ultra-crazy, and then ultra-dead, in the same battle that cost Booster an arm and a working cardiovascular system. Max got cancer, died, became an evil cyborg, and then began playing around with some world-conquering conspiracy types, who chose to model themselves after playing cards. Both Crimson Foxes died (one of them died twice), both Fates died, Guy died, Metamorpho went inert, Power Girl went immaculately pregnant, and so on it went for over a decade... the smartest thing Huntress ever did was to forget that she was ever a part of that team.
That brings us to the past year... and what a odd year it has been for fans of the Giffen League. On the one hand, the former Leaguers had not been this heavily featured in almost fifteen years... though, on the other hand, they do seem to be dying even more rapidly now than they did when they were virtually forgotten. The critically-acclaimed Superman/Batman series (which filled the long-standing need for more Superman and Batman titles, but did it with only one book) featured the noble sacrifice of Breach... err... I mean, Captain Atom. The critically-acclaimed Identity Crisis opened with Sue Dibny (the sane member of the JLE) being accidentally murdered by one of her closest friends. The not-yet-critically-acclaimed (but certainly inexpensive) Countdown to Infinite Crisis kept that trend alive with Blue Beetle being... well, not accidentally, more maliciously... being maliciously murdered by one of his closest friends, an 'even more evil than he used to be' Maxwell Lord.
I have no objection to Max being the leader of a clandestine, international terrorist network... after all, Max often did that sort of thing. I can understand Max developing a bitter hatred of all metahumans... despite the little matter of him being a metahuman himself. I can accept Max sending a lighting bolt down from the sky, leaving Booster Gold in critical condition... if I could shoot lighting bolts from the sky, I would show my friends too. I can even wrap my brain around Max spilling the brains of his old buddy Ted Kord on his nice new, clandestine floor... you never let the hero go after explaining your plans in grand detail. However, what really bothered me about Countdown was the retroactive implication that Max had been purposely keeping the League ineffective... Maxwell Lord, in case you don't recall, was the man who lied, cheated, and stole to make the League as powerful and prestigious as it possibly could be.
So, in the end, why has the last year featured a culling of the ranks of the Giffen League? In an odd way, I blame Formerly Known as... the Justice League. Before Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire reunited to deliver six issues of nostalgic fun, most comic book readers had forgotten that heroes could be interesting without being dour. Suddenly, Sue, Max, Beetle, and the others were popular again, with a new cult following to join the one that had lain dormant for so long... which gave DC the perfect opportunity to start killing them off. Here you have characters with long histories (to draw upon), loyal fans (to buy the books), and the stigma of occasionally being funny (to utterly crush), so that makes them the perfect victims.
If you read Countdown and Identity Crisis (Superman/Batman to a lesser extent), you will see the most heroic, most noble, most character-true, most interesting representations of these characters to appear in nearly fifteen years (not counting Formerly and its sequel)... the real shame is that these characters have to be mere moments away from death for another writer to take them seriously.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Raul Grau is convinced that he has already solved the mystery of the upcoming Infinite Crisis epic crossover. He chooses not to ruin the surprise twist for everyone, but he did mention that it will involve Booster Gold and a wood chipper.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.