Comics Reviews: Justice League International 25, Justice League Europe 1, Legion of Super-Heroes 59

Justice League International 25 coverJustice League International #25 – “Repossessions” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Ty Templeton, Mike McKone/Joe Rubinstein

This one starts with the League surveying the mess from the fight with the Khunds last issue. J’onn wants everyone to pitch in and help clean up, but Blue Beetle and Booster Gold get a message that they have a client for their new repossession business. They use that as an excuse to get out of clean-up duty and head out to Jacobs Research Labs, where they’re given their assignment … Find aCaitif attacks vampire (or a pseudo-vampire) named Caitiff and bring him back. I’m sure this is the same Caitiff from Action 577, which took place in Metropolis (and I assume that’s where this takes place too). The money being offered is pretty good, so Beetle and Booster head into the sewers and soon find Caitiff’s charnel pit holding the bones of his slaughtered people. Caitiff attacks them, saying he’s tired of being hounded by humans, who have already wiped out the rest of his kind. Booster and Beetle get the upper hand on Caitiff, but when they hear how his family was killed and how afraid he is of being dissected, they Caitiff's fatewonder if they’re doing the right thing. Booster says they’ll take him to STAR Labs instead of back to Jacobs Research, but Caitiff can’t see much difference and takes off. He ends up impaled on a stalagmite, preferring death over capture and dissection. Beetle and Booster feel guilty and decide not to turn in the body for the money. They head back to headquarters feeling like crap, but looking on the bright side of not having to do clean-up duty. Unfortunately, Guy Gardner isn’t quite so forgiving about them ducking out.

Justice League Europe 1 coverJustice League Europe #1 – “How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen Paree” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Bart Sears/Pablo Marcos

This one starts with the opening of the Justice League Embassy in Paris. Captain Atom is nervous because he’s been appointed chairman of this branch of the League, but he isn’t sure he can handle it. Catherine Cobert (the League liaison in Paris) assures him he’ll be fine, but confesses she’s a bit nervous too. We get vignettes of other members arriving: Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibny—who’s still an irrepressible goofball—and his wife Sue; Power Girl and Flash (whofirst meeting seems to be interested in money and women, not necessarily in that order; I guess this characterization comes from the Flash series because Wally was never written this obnoxious in New Teen Titans); Rocket Red and Animal Man (who bond over being family men); and Metamorpho (who had trouble with the metal detectors at the airport). The team has their first meeting, where Captain Atom informs them that Wonder Woman will be a little late and the teleport tubes aren’t working properly. Max Lord sends a message welcoming the new members and wishing them well. That night, things get dead body at the embassyweird when a dead body turns up in the lobby. Apparently he was trying to reach them but was shot just outside and staggered in, gasping out the word “braces” before dying. Wonder Woman shows up just in time to see the corpse, but Captain Atom prefers to let the local authorities investigate the crime (which doesn’t sit well with Ralph or Power Girl). Outside, we see a shadowy figure vowing that this branch of the Justice League will never get off the ground, while manipulating some kind of electronic device. Inside, Captain Atom informs Animal Man that his luggage was incinerated by the teleporter, butfighting rioters they’re interrupted by a brick sailing through the window. An angry mob has gathered outside and soon pushes their way through the front doors. It’s obvious the mob is being controlled somehow, so the Leaguers still can’t use their full powers for fear of hurting innocent people. (We see that Wonder Woman doesn’t have her magic lasso here, which means this must take place before Wonder Woman 28.) The crowd’s killing frenzy wears off as quickly as it began, leaving the people with no memory of how they got there or what they were doing. But the riot reflects badly on the league and the local Inspector (Camus) isn’t impressed, mentioning that the dead guy is a Nazi, even though he had a British passport. Captain Atom calls Oberon to get info on the dead man and tells his teammates that someone’s playing games with them and he’s going to find out who.

Legion of Super-Heroes 59 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #59 – “Ghosts in the Clubhouse” – Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen, Mark Bright/Al Gordon, Carlos Garzon

Most of this story is told in flashback, set at a time when the original Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg) was still alive and Chemical King was just joining the Legion. The framing device has Norg’s successor as Invisible Kid (Jacques Foccart) contemplating all the weird shit that’s happened lately, debating who he should vote for in the upcoming leadership election, and wondering if he should stay with the Legion or go home. The flashback story starts with Lyle Norg (who was leader at the time) checking out theInvisible Kid knocked out then-new headquarters because strange things have been happening while the Legionnaires move in: objects moved around, small things missing, files disturbed. But no alarms or other signs of an intruder, almost like the culprit is a ghost. Lyle does hear an alarm in the arsenal, but finds no one there. He does hear a noise and turns invisible, but gets a bunch of crates dropped on him. He wakes up in the medical lab, but doesn’t tell Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad about the intruder. He goes to meet Chemical King, whose powers are mutating his own body. Lyle has been helping him master his powers, as well as giving confronting intruderhim an antidote to stave off more damage. Lyle suggests that Chemical King could join the Legion once he masters his powers, and mentions the intruder who’s been haunting the headquarters. That night, Lyle lays in wait for the intruder, but catches Chemical King, who came to help. The alarm goes off again and Lyle finds the real intruder (who looks a bit like Iron Man) and jumps him. Chemical King’s interference almost lets the thief get away, but Lyle figures out what he’s after (the Miracle Machine) and lays a trap with Chemical King’s help. The intruder almost gets free, but a noise from the next room distracts him and he’s retaken. The thief doesn’t seem too bothered about being caught and is soon freed by a beam of light that teleports him away. Whencatching the thief Lyle checks to see what made the noise, he finds the statue of dead Legionnaire Ferro Lad has fallen over in the Memorial Room and wonders if Ferro Lad’s ghost saved him and Chemical King. In the present, Jacques decides he needs to carry on Lyle’s legacy as a Legionnaire. We get an epilogue with Sarvisa still wondering who to deliver her message to from Sorcerer’s World. She lets her bird fly free and follows it toward Legion headquarters (where we learn that Sensor Girl has been elected leader and Timber Wolf (!) deputy leader.