2021 “Justice League Extreme #1” fanfic commission art by Brad Green

About a year ago, our friend Siskoid started a new podcast called Who's Editing, a thought experiment "in which Siskoid and his guest... open an issue of Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe and imagine a line of books based solely (and obligatorily) on the heroes found within." I've been said guest on one occasion (with more to come;) coloring within the lines there and early on. However, after a few editions, I found the novelty of participating in the premise on a regular basis wearing off, as I wanted to play more with the continuity of the given characters, rather than focusing on the elevator pitch aspect. So my own personal comments-only side game, essential scrawling unwanted graffiti on the bathroom walls of Siskoid's forum, became less Who's Who and more DC Challenge. Basically, I slowly developed an overarching narrative for a theoretical ongoing line of books under my editorial stewardship, communicated through fake solicitation copy from a Previews-style order catalog, incorporating typically several variations on the concepts offered in each sequential issue of Who's Who. Unlike Who's Editing, it involves all the entry concepts, not just the heroes, and I put an emphasis on New 52/Rebirth continuity from the past decade, because that's my biggest DC Comics blind spot. It's way more interesting to research stuff that's unfamiliar, and to find ways of incorporating counterintuitive/unpopular elements.

The Justice League edition, "Volume XII," was of particular interest to me. Part of the core premise for "my" universe was that the JLA had been killed in a Boom Tube incident during a major conflict between Apokolips and New Genesis. Since the demise of the League was the tipping point for all the circumstances in my meta-narrative, the arrival of a new League twelve volumes in would presumably be a big deal. In one of the few moments of planning well in advance, I knew that I wanted to deny a typical changing of the guard member rotation. The roster has been reshuffled so many times for real that doing it on something with no rules lacked ambition. I felt like you had to do something dynamic with the premise, as well. I didn't even want to have a book with the title of "Justice League." While I semi-backslid on both of those plans, with The Satellite League being a revival of the Bronze Age interpretation of the JLA, and feeling the need to expand on the '90s Extreme Justice title to include the word "League," but I'm still happy with the twists I have in mind.

In the case of "Justice League Extreme," I hit on the notion that if I was going to replace the JLA, why not literally staff the team with infamous replacements of the classic League from "The Dark Age of Comics?" To my knowledge, it had never been done before, despite most of these temporary stand-ins being active around the same time in the early-to-mid nineties. That was actually the foreseeable problem, because many of these characters were tied to specific storylines and periods, often bearing temporary looks, rarely drawn by the same artists or together. I could copy and paste preexisting images into a Chromium Colorforms group shot, but in the hyperstylized EXTREME '90s they would obviously be visually at odds, unnaturally posed, and require tons of reference/paint work. Thanks to the pandemic, I haven't gotten many art commissions over the past two years, and thanks to my paranoia, I'd rather not have any shipped to my home by mail. I'd considered fully digital art in the past, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore that avenue on a project where the lack of physical art would be beneficial. No way could I get a quality seven-figure drawing from one artist over a convention weekend for a reasonable price. In digital, with a reasonable time frame, at an agreeable per-negotiated rate, would be vastly preferable.

Unfortunately, being a jackass, I lollygagged for at least half a year between realizing what I wanted to do and actively pursuing it. Via an online service, I browsed through dozens of available artists, but the clear favorite for this project was Brad Green. Not to be cutting, but the only people still drawing in a "90's style" were either period superstars with outrageous quotes or, y'know, objectively bad at art. I wanted a modern (also good) artist who could evoke the excitement of the nineties and render all those (literally) edgy looks, but without turning it into a pastiche. I also wanted someone with the aesthetic of American super-hero work, who could juggle seven figures in kinetic poses that could look like a legitimate offering from a major publisher in 2021. Brad Green was my only choice that checked every single box, and the only artist I contacted, so I'm really glad that he was game.

Among the four Supermen that arrived after "Doomsday," Steel had been a part of the Morrison/Porter JLA alongside the electric blue Superman, while The Eradicator was in the Outsiders. Cyborg Superman was revealed almost immediately to be evil, so the only team he ever joined was the Sinestro Corps. "The Metropolis Kid" grew into the Post-Crisis Superboy for over 100 solo issues and serving on numerous teen teams. Eradicator felt the most appropriate for the theme here, but I'd forgotten about the plan when I abused and disposed of him earlier on. It worked out though, because no one character could encompass "Reign of the Superman," so I now had an excuse to do a mash-up of most of them, with a New 52 spin to boot. "Do Eradicator but make him Cyborg" is a pretty lousy bit of art direction, but Green killed it with the mingled elements and the cool exagerated arm (then topped himself with the glowing energy effect.)

Green Lantern was the easiest choice for this piece. I could have reached from some obscurity out of the quarterly anthology, or brought back Warrior, but in truth Kyle Rayner was the most successful '90s replacement. He revitalized the franchise and was its champion for over a decade, until DC seemingly sabotaged him in pursuit of restoring Hal Jordan after thoroughly assassinating his character. While the subject of some fan debate, I personally love Rayner's original Darryl Banks design, but I understand that many hate it and find it hard to draw. Brad Green had no such issues, at least from my view of his results. Sadly, I'd forgotten about having written a first draft of the "Extreme Justice" copy with Kyle as the Omega Lantern, to acknowledge the modern White Lantern trajectory of the character. The design still sings, but more so with the green, and I was a jerk for asking Green to change the colors after he'd already done the flats. He still made it work though, and even added a neat energy effect.

Dark Flash was the toughest choice for this piece. Wally West was the earliest replacement out of the gate, in the '80s, and was a conservative standard-bearer. Nothing much "extreme" about that. Wally had been replaced by Bart Allen, but that was a blip, and then again by Barry Allen, the guy he had himself replaced. All wore the same essential costume. I toyed with using minor future Flash John Fox, but his suit is hideous, and he was as much of an uninspiring reach as my other candidates. I finally landed on the short-lived grimdark alternate future Walter West, who at least looked good, though his stint had negligible impact in comparison to these near-contemporaries. Smartly, Brad Green focused a lot of attention on the Scarlet Speedster, from his foreground positioning in a "flashy" running pose to his determined expression and probably the heaviest concentration of rad crosshatching of any hero. Would could have been a (forgive me) also-ran is instead a highlight of the piece.

Brad Green could have stopped work at several points in this process and I would have been perfectly content with the result. There was a finished "pencils" stage with a lot of rough energy squiggles and loose cape outlines that already exceeded my best hopes going in. The figures were already extremely well balanced, detailed and numerous without feeling crowded or static. Green wasn't satisfied though, redrawning Artemis from scratch, one draft leaving her hair and costume details in blue-line sketch form. That one was then "inked" into a final draft with a digital background, and I was done. No further work needed. I'm happy. Another time, all the colors were flats and Kyle Rayner was still a Green Lantern. I still feel bad asking him to change that so late in the game, but he made it work regardless. We ran out of time and I tweeted and linked to a version that still had some flats as the version married to the "blurb" posting. Again, I was done, and said so, but the artist wasn't. He added more tones, muted the debris to emphasize the figures, added energy effects... he just kept at it until he had a piece that DC should be so lucky as to publish themselves. I hope he runs off some prints to sell at shows. I'd buy one even if I hadn't had a hand in its creation. These results are absolutely glorious, I'm bowled over by how excellently this turned out, and it was an absolute steal to boot. I'm so giddy with this piece that I want to do more in digital for this project. For variety, I'll probably try out some different artists and approaches, but I'll actively seek out more opportunities to work with Green again. I doubt I'll ever come up with anything else this demanding, but I don't need to in order to appreciate the pleasures of his style and careful craftsmanship. I can't recommend him highly enough for your own prospective commissions!

“Justice League Extreme #1” by Brad Green

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DC Special Podcast: Warner Bros.’ Zack Snyder's Justice League's DC's Murderverse (2021)

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Meanwhile... Illegal Machine, Mr. Fixit, & Diabolu Frank talk about the four hours of appeasement to a toxic fandom and/or AT&T's opportunistic grift trading false hopes of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse to bump soft HBO Max subscriber numbers in a pandemic. Cards on the table, we all liked both versions of Justice League, but that won't stop the shade or temper the sizzling hot takes. Equal opportunity offense is our stock-in-trade, and business is good. Both sides can eat a big fat di--rector's (un)cut. #Justice4SilasStone

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DC Special Podcast: Warner Bros.’ Justice League (2017)

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The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Eclipso-- Hero and Villain in One Man!

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The show returns as part of a multi-blog/podcast crossover covering the 1992 DC Annual event Eclipso: The Darkness Within by offering a detailed account of the first three decades of the villain's career derived from numerous print and online sources. Created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias in 1963, Eclipso appeared in House of Secrets for 19 issues before moving on to guest roles in Justice League of America, Metal Men, Green Lantern, Adventure Comics, Outsiders, The Phantom Stranger and more! See the misadventures of Bruce Gordon, Mona & Simon Bennett as they combat the super-villain!

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1. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1
   
   ♦ Chris Is On Infinite Earths

♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



2. Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #1
   
   ♦ Resurrections-An Adam Warlock Podcast Episode 61



3. Green Lantern Annual #1
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



4. Detective Comics Annual #5
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



5. Superman Annual #4
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



6. Justice League America Annual #6
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



7. The Demon Annual #1
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



8. The Flash Annual #5
   
   ♦ Coffee & Comics Podcast



9. Action Comics Annual #4
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



10. Wonder Woman Annual #3
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



11. Green Arrow Annual #5
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



12. Robin Annual #1
    
    ♦ Chris Is On Infinite Earths



13. Hawkworld Annual #3
    
    ♦ Pop Culture Palace Presents



14. Deathstroke: The Terminator Annual #1
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



15. The New Titans Annual #8
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



16. Justice League Europe Annual #3
    
    ♦ Resurrections-An Adam Warlock Podcast Episode 62



17. Batman Annual #16
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



18. L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 Annual #3
    
    ♦ I'm the Gun



19. The Adventures of Superman Annual #4
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



20. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2
    
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Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

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DC Special Podcast: Justice League Unite Trailer (2017)

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit, Illegal Machine, & Diabolu Frank talk about the first official trailer to the 2017 Warner Brothers Justice League film for about twenty times longer that the trailer actually runs, and the CGI is nowhere near as bad as our audio.

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The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Nightblade

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This episode looks at Nik Mayak, a New Blood with extraordinary body regeneration powers, supplemented by great agility and uncanny accuracy with blowing blades. Debuting in 1993's Green Lantern Annual #2, we give an overview of the rest of his career in Eclipso Annual #1 & Bloodbath #1-2, the Blood Pack mini-series, Guy Gardner: Warrior #29 & 39, Deathstroke the Terminator #49, Infinite Crisis #7, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D #1-2, and finally 2010's Adventure Comics #4-5. You can follow along with our reading of the annual at Scans Daily.

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The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Green Lantern

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The Guardians of the Universe chose Hal Jordan to be their Emerald Gladiator for Space Sector 2814, wielder of a Power Ring that could create jade energy constructs limited only by the bearer's willpower and a necessary impurity that rendered it ineffective against anything colored yellow. However, the day would come when Hal Jordan would falter, and on that day his successor would rise to command the energies derived from the Master Power Battery on Oa, and that man's name was John Stewart...

This episode, we look at the 1970s adventures of Neil Adams' & Denny O’Neil's Green Lantern John Stewart, DC Comics's first African-American super-hero (unless you count Vykin the Black or Black Racer, which virtually nobody does, despite Jack Kirby publishing them nearly a year earlier.) Also, an obligatory history of that jerk Jordan, mostly cribbed from Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones. You can follow along with our reading at Scans_Daily. Also, check out the Neal Adams interview at Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood.

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2016 G'nort Comicpalooza Jam Sketch by Eden Bautista

The most incompetent canine Green Lantern in Corps history (it's pronounced "Nort," like The Honeymooners' Ed Norton) is in an unusually foul mood here, unable to attend J'Onn J'Onzz upcoming 61st birthday party, but R.S.V.P.ing a ring construct in his stead. But constructs can't eat Oreo cake...

Eden Bautista

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2016 Green Lantern John Stewart Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Eddie Nuñez

Eddie Nuñez has worked on Fanboys vs. Zombies, Ben 10, Valen the Outcast, and Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance.

Eddie Nuñez

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2014 Green Lantern Guy Gardner Comicpalooza convention sketch by Oliver Banks

Here's another entry from the "I'm A Terrible Art Patron" series. When I first started doing jams at Comicpalooza two years ago, it was a total free for all where I was running multiple boards all over the floor without much forethought. I wanted to do something with Justice League International, so when the artist Oliver Banks said he only did full figure commissions, I figured he should just go ahead and start his own board. Since this would be a central figure and Banks had a cartoony style, it seemed a safe bet to get my favorite JLI member (though I hasten to add not my favorite hero who was a JLI member, an important distinction.) During my big plunge into DC Comics around the Zero Hour event, I got really into the Warrior series by Beau Smith & Mitch Byrd, making once and future GL corpsman Guy Gardner my favorite super-hero for, eh, four to six months there. The worm turned once Byrd left the book and a rotating selection of artists finally settled on Marc Campos (and a Jack Burton meets Indiana Jones vibe settled on "what if Ben Grimm got the Venom symbiote." Which sounds better than it played out.)

Anyway, I think Banks did a great job capturing the character and launching the jam, but promptly misplaced his business card and forgot his name. Heck, I'm not even 100% sure I got the piece at Comicpalooza, since Space City & Amazing Con followed in quick secession to form a blur in my zeal. I could probably triangulate by date, since a scan simply titled "guy" has sat in a folder on a thumb drive since Saturday ‎May ‎31st of ‎2014 ‏‎at 2:32:44 A.M. I kind of wish I'd done another scan to make the blacks richer, but instead of second guessing my self of 2014, I'm going to assume contrasting would have washed out the gray tones too much. When I finally unveil the completed jam on the projected schedule of 2027 A.D. based on my established pace, I'll work that out.

Moving along to the following year, I ran into the Bankses (his delightful wife accompanies him at shows) and got a new card, which I did nothing with for yet another year. As both sit in front of me now, I have to repect his progress from a simple Spider-Man silhouette and a single piece of contact information to a two-sided full color work featuring the iconic shot of (Banks as) Finn from The Force Awakens removing his stormtrooper helmet under the desert sun, plus seven separate contact resources. It's among the best of the stack of business cards I've now bundled together to try (sometimes still in vain) not to lose track of who did what on art pieces I haven't effectively promoted. Plus I've got a whole other jam piece by Banks that I still need to run. That's why I stuck with the Aliens 30th Anniversary single artist commissions this year, so I can stop sucking at giving these excellent artists a more proper (and timely) forum!

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DC Special Podcast: Rebirth Pain

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit & Diabolu Frank talk briefly about DC's latest not-a-reboot, Reberf, its shallow talent pool due to past brush-ups, as well as the shift at Vertigo from a creative doorway to a mail slot. If you're super-duper excited and positive about the direction of DC Comics, you're listening to the wrong podcast. There's nothing but bellyaching and backbiting here.

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DC Special Podcast: Berlanti Television (2016)

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit & Diabolu Frank welcome back the uncensored cuss words favored by Rolled Spine Podcast listeners as they discuss the "Berlantiverse" of DC television adaptations The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow. It's an ADHD ramble though, so the conversation jumps around to the announcement of #Rebirth, Alan Moore's legacy at the company, Jack Cole's Plastic Man, Snyder & Capullo Batman, the Dark Knight Returns sequels, Roy Harper Lee, Forever Evil, the DTV animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, and in a real tangent, Deadpool, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the showdown between the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the FoXCU and the DC Extended Universe.

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Justice #11 (June, 2007)

Hal Jordan waxed philosophical about his foe Sinestro while providing narration for this issue. "Thanks to Sinestro, I was given a taste of what it would be like to rule everything. Thanks to my enemy, I will now never become anything like him... I don't need to be the greatest anything anymore. I just want to help my friends. And my world." I'm not sure if that was meant as a rebuttal against "Emerald Twilight" or if it reinforced it. All in all, it would really only take another random blow to the head to send Hal off in any given direction anyway.

The big siege progressed. Metallo tore apart Platinum while the Man of Lead continued fighting Black Adam. Parasite decided that he needed to "end this," so he grabbed Adam's foot to steal his powers, then swiped the kryptonite heart out of Metallo. Bizarro was grappling with the Man of Lead, affording Parasite the opportunity to rip through "Superman's suit" to discover Lead had actually helped to conceal Captain Marvel. The power of Shazam slammed Bizarro into Parasite, then the Big Red Cheese gave Hal Jordan the order. Iron's armor over Jordan had concealed the fact that Hal was wielding Sinestro's lost spare yellow power ring (that had been lent to Grodd but stolen by Metamorpho) through a filter of blue kryptonite. The blue K immediately took out Bizarro, while Captain Marvel crushed the piece of green K Metallo thrived on.



Ross had fixed the incorrect Platinum symbol on Plastic Man's armor to shift it to Tin, but it was never explained how Gold could pretend to be Green Arrow and cover Superman at the same time. Anyway, the shiny gold mummy quasi-Shazam Superman was attacked by the Parasite. Black Adam thought Captain Marvel liked seeing him weakened, but Billy was too innocent to enjoy another's suffering, though he was willing to choke Adam until he said the magic word. The ensuing lightning bolt conveniently struck Parasite on its way to removing Adam's powers. Plastic Man contained the Riddler in his fleshy mass while Tin (absent his familiar stutter) separated to cage Parasite. It seemed from his demonstrated pomposity that Ross and company had confused Tin with Mercury, who the Flash was still wearing, at least until he was used to gag Teth-Adam.

Green Arrow had delivered Hal Jordan's power ring to John Stewart, who by the spoken narrative grace of Jordan had been allowed access to Hal's incredible power as Green Lantern to free the teenage super-heroes from the control of Brainiac's nanotechnological worms. The same tech briefly retook the Leaguers made vulnerable by their release from the Metal Men "armor," but John Stewart promptly liberated them. Hal Jordan is so awesome for allowing his Negro acquaintance to save the day (but not allowing him any lines of his own, heaven forbidding such impropriety.)



Yellow Lantern Hal Jordan continued to match Sinestro with the same type of power ring, openly acknowledging that should he falter, John Stewart and the Justice League would surely avenge him. In response, Sinestro offered the scintillating bon mot "Shut up. Shut Up. Shut-the-hell-up!" Does Korugar even have a concept of Hell? When in doubt while writing Green Lantern dialogue, always try to hear Nathan Fillion saying Hal lines and Vincent Price saying Sinestro ones. Jordan and Sinestro tapped out their power source and switched up to mano-a-mano. Jordan beat Sinestro bloody, claiming that it was not vengeance he sought, but justice. Then both men fell through the top of a black city-sphere, and John Stewart apparently laughed off-panel as he returned Jordan's power ring so he could save himself and Sinestro.

The villains present on the main scene were either shut down by force or through the disabling of Brainiac's influence. That left the previously hostage supporting casts to mingle with their heroes, or in John Stewart's case, to get stuck with Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, Carol Ferris, and Hal's brothers. The Flash and Iris West had a sweet if inhibited WASP pseudo-embrace, while Superman and Lois Lane had a big ol' sloppy wet P.D.A. Supergirl looked on from a distance as Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen milled about. Captain Marvel was oddly separated from Mary and Junior, preferring Zatanna's company (though who wouldn't?) Rita Farr held Robotman's brutally battered severed head.



The Super Friends followed Brainiac to Toyman's world, where Superman took the fight deep into the heart while everyone else tore apart duplicates of Brainiac in a somehow self-serious spread. Zatanna then teleported everyone but Superman to Scarecrow's creepy 19th century European faux city, though Green Lantern proved capable of taking it all on his own. The Indian girl from last issue was there, and her hands were already starting to hurt...

"Chapter Eleven" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite. After wasting all those early issues on individual attacks and a couple on the back end on big fights, these guys are having a heck of a time trying to tie the plot threads together. At least Elasti-Girl is consistently prominent in the crowd scenes, thanks to her stature.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Red Tornado @ PotA
• Wonder Woman & Wonder Girl @ Diana Prince
• Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Aquaman, Elongated Man, Zatanna & more @ Justice League Detroit

Justice #10 (April, 2007)

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Previously in Justice

An Indian woman wrote her parents about the wonderful city run by a super-villain that she had run away to live in, and mentioned the differences between each villain's haven.

The seemingly triumphant Legion took to formal dress and toasted themselves in a building whose architecture recalled the Hall of Doom. The Atom was detected as a spy in their midst, and turned out not to be the only one, as armored heroes rushed the hall. Violence ensued. The Flash/Mercury used Plastic Man/Platinum to super-speed bind some villains. A Captain Marvel bound up in golden bandages (thought it was Metamorpho at first) and a Lead-plated Man of Steel clashed with Black Adam and Bizarro. Green Lantern paired off with Sinstro, and actually, most of the matches were entirely predictable.

The mind-controlled sidekicks of the main heroes were called in by the Legion as reenforcements, but were met outside the hall by the Doom Patrol. Robotman was torn to pieces by Mary Marvel, and Beast Boy fared little better against Kid Flash. Negative Man challenged Captain Marvel Junior as Elasti-Girl stood tall against Batgirl and the Teen Titans while wearing a mini-skirt. However, once Larry Trainor was forced to return his negative form to his corporeal body, Rita was overwhelmed by the Marvel Family. The Joker had managed to insert himself into the city, stole Robotman's severed head, and detonated bombs he'd planted all over town.



Platinum (Again? Spread thin?) and Gold pretended to cover Green Arrow and Black Canary, but that duo was secretly teleported into a sewer tunnel by Zatanna. Once there, they were attacked by Clayface (again,) who was contained by Green Arrow's "shadow," Elongated Man. Once the deception was detected, Gold and Platinum tangled with Parasite and Metallo, 'Tina ending up worse for wear. Superman knocked Toyman about while keeping a choke hold on Bizarro, but then Lead taunted Solomon Grundy and Kal-El took the brunt of the resultant punishment.

Green Arrow insisted that Black Canary save her sonic powers for a planned moment of truth, but once the pair located the supporting cast hostages, Ollie was left to deal with the possessed Supergirl. Dinah argued against Ollie firing a kryptonite arrow at the Maid of Might, a discussion super-hearing easily allowed Kara to act upon. Supergirl dodged the arrow, which struck John Stewart in the chest. As it turned out, all went according to plan, since the arrow actually had a power ring on its tip. Green Lantern declared "You're not killing any super-heroes today, Supergirl. You're going to help us save the world. Just like always.

"Chapter Ten" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Atom, Hawkman and Hawkgirl @ PotA
• Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Wonder Woman & Wonder Girl @ Diana Prince
• Aquaman, Elongated Man & more @ Justice League Detroit

Justice Volume Two (2007)

Superman was being held down by Solomon Grundy, while Metallo killed the Man of Steel slowly with radiation from his kryptonite heart. Bizarro and Parasite looked on, until lightning crossed the skies, and an unseen force began to attack the villains.

In no time, the Power of Shazam was at Superman's disposal. Captain Marvel had answered Kal-El's distress signal, and now offered a helping hand. Superman was too sick to hold himself up, and Bizarro had recovered, so the Big Red Cheese flew them both to safety. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor teleported to the scene to save Parasite from the kryptonite (he'd absorbed Superman's weaknesses with his strengths) that he replaced in Metallo's chest cavity. Bizarro rejoined the motley crew.

Dinah Lance walked into her bedroom to find her lover Oliver Queen buried under a fleshy mass, and with green arrows seemingly buried in his head. Whether this was from the Scarecrow's nightmare gases or Clayface's shifting form, an ear-splitting Canary Cry shook the facade loose. Ollie Queen yet lived, and shoved the sparking end of a busted lamp into Clayface's electrocuted hide.The villains fled, and a tearful Black Canary held her shaken man. Dinah wondered why her cry hadn't hurt Ollie, until he removed his earplugs. You see, Clayface had turned himself into a blond Dinah to trick Queen before the attack, not realizing Lance was naturally a brunette. Ollie figured he might be needing more than one form of protection, if his Pretty Bird was indulging in amorous role-play...

Green Lantern Hal Jordan had been forced through a Boom Tube by Sinestro and left in a starless, uncharted area of space. His power ring couldn't get him back home, so he asked it "How much longer before your charge runs out and I die?"



Superman guided Captain Marvel to the Batcave. None of the active Leaguers were answering his calls, so some reservists like the Captain had been notified. The Dark Knight was angry that Superman had compromised him, but Marvel assured, "I would never tell anyone about this place. Which is really cool, by the way." Marvel thought it might help to transform back into his normal self of kid reporter Billy Batson, but Batman just complained about the noise and magic lightning bouncing around his headquarters, not to mention questioning the kid's experience with "crime and loss." Billy politely blew off the Caped Crusader's ignorance, while Superman cold decked his friend. The Man of Steel was too weak for it to be a killing blow, but he gave it all he had, since Batman had palmed some kryptonite. X-ray Vision revealed that Batman was full of mind-controlling mechanical worms, and Superman soon realized he was similarly compromised. Alfred Pennyworth was too, as he covered Billy's mouth with one hand and threatened to slice the boy's throat with the Batarang in the other.

Lex Luthor cast black marbles into a body of water, and from out of it emerged ebony spheres the size of cities. This was Braniac's doing, and though one super-villain would inevitably betray the other, for now everything was going according to mutual plans.

Billy's heel slammed hard into Alfred's foot as he broke loose of the butler's grip. Superman pegged the manservant in the brow with a flung coffee cup, while with one magic word, Captain Marvel was restored. Alfred and the Batman were tied up. Next, Superman asked Marvel to throw him into the sun, in order to burn out the worms...



The powers of the gods allowed Captain Marvel to try to talk Superman out of the prescribed course of action while traveling through the vacuum of space. Wordlessly, the Man of Steel made it clear he was more afraid of his infestation making him the man who killed Captain Marvel than vice versa, so the Big Red Cheese threw Superman into the sun.

Hal Jordan was mildly amused to finally encounter a portion of space(?) the Guardians of the Universe knew nothing about, but not too much under the circumstances. His power ring only had seven hours worth of charge remaining, and he was potentially lost forever. Green Lantern decided to convert himself into electronic impulses stored within his ring, perhaps indefinitely.

"This involvement of Captain Marvel was unforeseen," noted Brainiac to Lex Luthor and Grodd. The Super-Gorilla seemed the most irritated by the party crasher, and was given permission to send the pseudo-prophetic nightmare shared by the Legion of Doom to Black Adam in order to increase their numbers.

Ablaze with solar energy, the Man of Tomorrow was restored. On learning that Superman had rid himself of a worm-like bodily invader, Captain Marvel offered Mr. Mind as a suspect. Just as the pair were reaching the JLA Satellite, it exploded in front of them. Captain Marvel asked if Superman detected any trace of Red Tornado in the debris...



John Stewart told Zatanna when he arrived at Ferris Aircraft Company, and asked that she thank Elongated Man for calling him in. On the property, Stewart met with Hal Jordan's sometimes girlfriend Carol Ferris and sidekick Tom Kalmaku. Stewart was searching for Hal, but the best idea "Pieface" could offer was pointing to the sky. "Thanks. That narrows it down."

Hal Jordan knew that it was Sinestro who had "killed" him via Boom Tube, but tried to move on with his everlasting illusion of life. Simulations of Coast City and its residents were constructed, but they were hollow things, and Green Lantern wondered how long he would wait before allowing space to take him...

An emaciated Flash continued to run across the globe, surely doomed to die from exhaustion...

Brainiac was aware Aquaman's body had been found, but it served its purpose of distracting the League, since Lex Luthor had failed to assassinate the super friends. Of course, Brainiac himself hadn't found in the Sea King's brain what he was looking for, so it was up to Gorilla Grodd to initiate a new phase in the trio's plans. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Batson, Freddy Freeman, Jean Loring, Carol Ferris, Steve Trevor, John Stewart, Dick Grayson, Wally West... all targeted...



Once again, the Wisdom of Solomon trumped any thoughts in Superman's head. Captain Marvel flew as close to the wayward Flash as he could, and with one magic word, magical lightning shook the Scarlet Speedster out of his uncontrollable race toward death. Superman caught Billy Batson before any harm could come to him, then gave him space for the power of Shazam to restore Captain Marvel. Getting thrown into the sun had burnt up the Man of Steel's wallet, so Earth's Mightiest Mortal came to the rescue again, offering his only ten bucks to feed the Flash at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Hal Jordan was already feeling like death in a self-centered world of his own making. However, his power ring refused to restore his physical form for such an end. "Your essence has been converted into an electrical impulse that has been stored within the ring... You will now live forever. Alone."

In Shazam's lair within an abandoned subway tunnel, Black Adam covered Mary's mouth, and threatened to kill her if Freddy said a word...

Superman arrived at his Fortress of Solitude, greeted by fellow heroes awaiting him...

In an Arabian desert, the Flash broke up Captain Cold's mini-harem. "You tried to kill me. And that means you tried to kill everyone I hope to save until the day I die. That's a lot of people." Cold should have pointed out that if he had succeeded, the Scarlet Speedster still would have saved everybody he saved until the day he died, but since he didn't die, he might ought to consider swapping a chemistry class for some remedial English. Instead, Cold drew a replica pistol made of ice, which Flash totally fell for, so maybe he needed another police detective class, too. Captain Cold froze up a hall of mirrors, and when that didn't work, created sculptured duplicates of himself. Failing yet again, Captain Cold was run to the Fortress of Solitude.



Still trapped in his power ring, Hal Jordan argued with simulations of his brothers about the benefits of lacking fear, and where his adventuring ways landed him.

Batman, having interrogated Captain Cold, learned all about the prophetic nightmares that motivated the villains to action. Black Canary wondered if the Legion of Doom thought they were doing the right thing, but Batman explained that the villains wouldn't have tried to turn the situation to their advantage to lord over potential survivors if their hearts were truly in the right place.

Supergirl, Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon were all captured by Legion forces.

Hal Jordan had regressed to childhood, which is why he wished to heed the command of his parents not to talk to the Stranger who had paid him a visit. "So there you are, Hal. I've been looking everywhere for you." The Phantom Stranger then helped Hal with some self-realization psychobabble about not trying to remake the real world in his image/with great power comes great moderation/how the League helps Hal check his head/yadda yadda. The important thing was the the Stranger brought a power battery and a direction home, so Green Lantern could try to look cool saying his oath in a painted splash page.

All the heroes were together at the Fortress of Solitude, except John Stewart, who got himself kidnapped by the mind-controlled kid sidekicks of other heroes (mostly the Teen Titans and the Marvel Family.)

"Justice, Vol. 2," collecting issues #5-8 of the 2005 mini-series, was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Justice Volume One (2006)

The world was ending, and Superman could do little more than watch as Wonder Woman died. A tearful Flash failed his city, and Martian Manhunter was already gone. Green Lantern Hal Jordan was more effective, almost saving hundreds, before a lapse in attention saw them all to their ends. Hawkman and Hawkgirl passed. Aquaman saw the oceans boil away. Green Arrow fired an arrow line from a burning rooftop to another building in hopes of saving Black Canary and others. As the arrow struck, the whole building collapsed, stranding hard traveled heroes on a doomed plain. Batman was among the last remaining as the Earth exploded.

The Legion of Doom found "It's time to wake up. They are all having the same dream. Over and over again. Every one of them. All so humanity will survive these creatures of tomorrow." The Justice League of America would fail us in this predicted future, it seemed, so it was up to the super-villains to save the world. For starters, Captain Cold would bring ice to the desert, while Black Manta handed a fallen Aquaman to Lex Luthor...



Batman pursued the Riddler, who had successfully hacked the Batcomputer and downloaded sensitive information related to the JLA's identities and abilities.

Red Tornado sought the missing Aquaman by proxy, alerting Batman, Superman and Martian Manhunter to be on the lookout.

Plastic Man endorsed his own themed credit card in his off time.

Potions administered by Dr. Jonathan Crane (The Scarecrow) allowed the infirm to walk again.

Red Tornado followed the global news media love for the newly found charitability of super-villains.

The Flash took a jogging trip through the Middle East, and discovered his old foe Captain Cold had helped turn desert to forest with Poison Ivy.

The Riddler was captured and deposited at Arkham Asylum, where the Joker pleaded upon deaf ears to be included in Nigma's grander scheme.

Aquaman found himself strapped to an operating room table, about to have his mind dissected by Brainiac.



Aquaman remained Brainiac's captive, as he was teased with psychological trauma on an operating room table.

Martian Manhunter searched for his friend Aquaman in the ocean, and uncovered the Legion of Doom's black dome.

Gorilla Grodd telepathically surveyed all, but targeted the Manhunter.

The Toyman supplied artificial limbs to disabled children in war torn countries.

Conservative commentator Jack Ryder considered on television the benefits of the super-villains' change of heart. Ray Palmer was watching, as were Ollie Queen, Billy Batson, Clark Kent, the Metal Men, the Doom Patrol and more.

The Cheetah lurked outside a Wonder Woman convention.

Edward Nigma escaped Arkham Asylum with help from the visiting Lex Luthor. The Joker demanded inclusion in their Legion of Doom, but was ignored and left behind in his cell.

Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado were assaulted and seemingly left for isolated deaths. Gorilla Grodd released the alter egos of Earth's heroes to the Legion of Doom.



Lex Luthor, Poison Ivy, Black Manta and the Riddler, all in civilian garb, announced through holographic projectors in a host of languages that they were essentially taking over the planet for its own good. They also condemned the half-measures of Earth’s former heroes, who they claimed had abandoned their charges. Instead, the Legion of Doom had launched attacks of the super friends in their secret identities.

Bizarro burst through the ceiling of Clark Kent's apartment, and pulled Superman out to fight in the steets of Metropolis.

Hal Jordan was looking in his locker at Ferris Aircraft when Sinestro showed up to shove Green Lantern into another plane of existence.

The impossibly cut abs of the brunette Dinah Lance didn't save her stomach from doing cartwheels when the Scarecrow's gas caused her to see insects crawling about her apartment. A blond wig clued Ollie Queen that he was in for a serious night of sexing with Black Canary, until this version of a barely dressed Dinah began to melt and ooze all over him.

The Cheetah slashed at a Princess Diana turned Wonder Woman.

The Hawks and the Atom faced assassins at their respective workplaces.

Martian Manhunter continued to struggle.

Bizarro was bad enough, but then Solomon Grundy began contributing to the blows striking Superman. Brought to his knees, the Man of Steel was held fast, and began to be drained of life force and powers by the Parasite. Metallo's kryptonite heart further compromised Kal-El's health as he called out for help.

Barry Allen was on a date with Iris West at a nice restaurant when a JLA alert forced the Flash to his feet...

"Justice, Vol. 1," collecting the first four issues of the 2005 mini-series, was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

“Green Lantern” Review (2011)

After waving it off for some time, I was pleasantly surprised to find Green Lantern watchable, faint as that praise may be. The first half-to-three-quarter hour is pretty solid, with Ryan Reynolds accurately portraying comic book jerk Hal Jordan in his natural jet jockey environment. You get a good sense of who Jordan is and what he can bring to the intergalactic peacekeeping corp that recruits him when one of their best gets murdered. A decent supporting cast gets built, and you can see an arc forming for Jordan's character.



It all falls apart with the introduction of Hector Hammond, balding sweatpants loser scientist. Ever since Batman Returns, super-hero sequels have been plagued by too many lesser villains hogging the spotlight, but it's rare that filmmakers bungle the balance right out of the gate. Usually, the first movie is all about establishing the hero's origins and introducing an arch-rival. This movie has three, the least of whom is Hammond. After nearly a half century in comics, Hammond is still considered the poor man's MODOK, so unloved that he never even got a codename. Hammond could have been a great geek-baiting background character, like Dylan Baker's turn as Dr. Curt Connors in the second Spider-Man movie. Peter Sarsgaard has a lot of fun with the role, initially sympathetic, eventually slimy, but the character's questionable arc (stripped gears shifting from first to fourth) hijacks far more of the film than should have been allowable. It doesn't help that the character's dad is played by Tim Robbins, which brings back all the worst Howard the Duck memories.

When the Hector Hammond story isn't eating up space, the planet Oa is. Hal Jordan flies off to receive one whole scene of training as a Green Lantern before he up and quits the corp. That means that after going through the trouble of casting an entire Jordan family for one scene, replacement alien supporting players Tomar-Re and Kilowog (celebrity guest voices Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan) also up and vanish for the rest of the movie. I suppose it helps to demonstrate Jordan's detachment and irresponsibility, but it also means that the audience has few places to turn to in order to sustain interest. Seemingly, his only friend is Tom Kalmaku (Taika Waititi,) who serves as his cheering section during a test piloting sequence, gives him a ride when he's stranded after meeting his benefactor Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison,) and pressures Jordan into showing off his new costume. Then it's so long to Pieface.



Hector Hammond also has his own thin, perfunctory supporting cast. This mostly consists of his manipulative senator father (Robbins) and the woefully miscast Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller. In the comics, "The Wall" was basically Nell Carter as a morally compromised right wing military conspiracy on two legs, the same character introduced to broader audiences in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. In this movie, "Doctor" Waller is a scientist who doesn't even throw around a buck fifty in weight. Bassett's talents are wasted in such a thankless role as written, and the fantastic character of Amanda Waller is reduced to unconvincing cosplay. Martin Lawrence in a fat suit could have done more with it.

I've heard folks say that what they really wanted from this movie was Training Day in outer space, which could have been good. Second adversary Sinestro pops up throughout the movie, and like Sarsgaard, Mark Strong gets the most out of a flat character. Aside from pomposity, there isn't much of Sinestro on the page, and shortcuts taken in this feature (especially the ill advised closing credits teaser) undermine his character further in the event of a sequel. The biggest bad is Parallax, yellow entity of fear, who I've heard described as a diarrhea cloud with a face in it. Not since Galactus in the Fantastic Four sequel have filmmakers so thoroughly misunderstood the appeal of a villain through an abstract manifestation. Only the hard-dyingest of fans care if Parallax is a possessed human or a bug or whatever, but no one wants him to literally look like a glowing Hershey squirt amoeba. None of the villains have any emotional resonance, at least two of them look laughable, and they crowd the movie mercilessly.



Perhaps recognizing this, a love triangle is haphazardly grafted on between Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Hector Hammond, but it registers merely as a delusion in the increasingly unstable Hammond's mind. Given the company and circumstances, Blake Lively fares well enough as Ferris. Reynolds has better than a decade on the actress, so their "growing up together" romance is a little skeevy. At the same time, it's right in Hal Jordan's wheelhouse *cough*Arisia*cough*. In truth, the dynamic is more mother-child, given that Jordan is portrayed as such a wimp that he constantly needs reassurance in order to function as a Green Lantern. Despite the physical disparity between Jordan and Hammond, they really are both pathetic mama's boys basking in the glow of Ferris' tepid, inconsistent support. Unintentionally, the filmmakers have created an emotional dynamic in which there are no true heroes and few villains, but instead a universe full of emotional cripples unable to fully function even when granted power rings whose only limitations are imagination and will. As spectacles go, it's a sad one.

One final note: I can't believe that a movie with a reported 200 million budget has such rubbery CGI, and only spent about $35 on the soundtrack. Sum 41? I can't even name a Sum 41 song that isn't actually by Blink-182. This isn't exactly a big money cast either, so what secret windfall did The Producers reap from this flick's global earnings shortfall?

Green Lantern Corps #4 (February, 2012)

The planet Xabas. A team of Green Lanterns with depleted power rings led by John Stewart were surrounded by robot ninja dudes possessed of emerald energy weapons of their own. Said weapons were demonstrated as useless against the ninja dudes, thanks to DNA signatures. The head ninja dude saw the fire in Stewart's eyes, even in surrender. "We spit on all treaties, and surrender's abhorrent to you as it is to us... That's why I feel you still need... the proper motivation." Head ninja dude stabbed a bald Caucasian Green Lantern in the head, spilling conveniently purple blood.

On Oa, Guy Gardner was torturing a captured ninja dude for information. Without the standard issue black armor, he looked like Chemo on Slimfast with a skeleton floating inside. Six pages in, I learned the ninja dudes are called Keepers, but I still don't know the name of the executed GL. Gardner tried to play good cop/bad cop with Salaak, but the old alien was too much of a fuddy-duddy to go full Patriot Act on the Keeper. The Keepers were slaughtering whole planets full of people, but to Green Lanterns, that sounds like Tuesday.

Elsewhere, some big rocky Lantern named Kannu was beating up actual rocks and himself over leaving a fellow corpsman behind. Elsewhere elsewhere, the reptilian Isamot Kol was trying to work a power ring with his tongue in a training session, since his arms and legs were still regrowing. Sheriff Mardin recommended he switch to his tail, since the ring apparently tasted terrible. I think these guys had all escaped Xabas, unlike poor Unnamed Cannon Fodder, who shall long be mourned. After all, John Stewart needed something else to feel guilty about.

The GL POWs were teleported to a barren world pocked by power battery impressions. "Be prepared to lose your will and maybe your lives... as you cross the Emerald Plains."



Guy Gardner continued his brutal interrogation, but not drugs nor violence nor threats could break the Keeper. From out of nowhere came the Martian Manhunter, with whom the Green Lantern apparently has no prior history in the New 52. J'Onn J'Onzz informed Gardner of his identity and position with Stormwatch, fully intending to wipe the Lantern's memory after extracting all relevant information from the Keeper's mind. As it turned out, what they kept were GL power batteries, on the plain where Lanterns could send their power sources to keep them from being left otherwise unattended. That situation turned sour, and now the Keepers were headed for Oa to claim the Central Power Battery...

"Prisoners of War" was by Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna. Remember that old Stan Lee saying about how every comic is somebody's first? Tomasi doesn't. See, this was my first issue of GLC since the Mongul arc from volume one. I don't think many of the corpsmen here were in that story. I don't know these guys, and I don't feel like I got much of an introduction. Guy Gardner playing Jack Bauer was in character, but Martian Manhunter came right out of Tomasi's poop chute to get all mindrapey. You know what kind of comics I don't need to read? Vague ones with nothing new or interesting to say except to tell me that all my funny JLI issues don't count anymore. I've got a few longboxes of that good stuff, and they're the only reason I bought this book... once.

New 52's Day

• Aquaman #4 (February, 2012) @ Justice League Detroit
• The Huntress #3 (February, 2012) @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
• Stormwatch #4 (February, 2012) @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu

Wizard: The Comics Magazine #136: Ultimate DC (January, 2003)

Click To Enlarge


I felt bad about leaving out characters that didn't fit onto my other Ultimate DC blog posts, so aside from the John Stewart spotlight, I'd like to reference them here.

Ultimate Superman was designed by Ken Lashley. The Wizard Staff only offers "After Smallville" as their take on a newly active Man of Steel. He's even still dating Lana Lang long distance while setting up in Metropolis, which the TV show moved past a year or two after this.

Ultimate Flash was also drawn by Lashley. The Wizard Staff brought back Barry Allen as C.S.I. in Los Angeles, mentored by homicide Detective Jay Garrick and aided by District Attorney Iris West. Like Tower Comics' and Deluxe Comics' Lightning, this Flash is prematurely aging because of his powers, and he's on the hunt for a serial killer (Murmur.) The twist is that there's a Black Flash around... the Wally West of the future! Ouch. Whimper.

Finally, there's our Ultimate Green Lantern, dishonorably discharged Delta Force operative turned social activist John Stewart. Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington switch roles in "Training Day," with the black rookie uncovering the corruption of his superior officer in the GL Corps, Sinestro. As it turns out, Sinestro murdered all the Guardians, and has been secretly giving unworthy parties Green Lantern rings until he can kill them as well. Then, with his Manhunter robot army, he can conquer the galaxy! I swear Ken Lashley didn't draw all of these, but he covered each of the ones here.

Ultimate DC Day continues here...
Ultimate Atom @ Power of the Atom
Ultimate Batman and Aquaman
Ultimate Wonder Woman @ Diana Prince
Ultimate JLA @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu

Justice #7 (October, 2006)

Brainiac was aware Aquaman's body had been found, but it served its purpose of distracting the League, since Lex Luthor had failed to assassinate the super friends. Of course, Brainiac himself hadn't found in the Sea King's brain what he was looking for, so it was up to Gorilla Grodd to initiate a new phase in the trio's plans. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Batson, Freddy Freeman, Jean Loring, Carol Ferris, Steve Trevor, John Stewart, Dick Grayson, Wally West... all targeted...

Once again, the Wisdom of Solomon trumped any thoughts in Superman's head. Captain Marvel flew as close to the wayward Flash as he could, and with one magic word, magical lightning shook the Scarlet Speedster out of his uncontrollable race toward death. Superman caught Billy Batson before any harm could come to him, then gave him space for the power of Shazam to restore Captain Marvel. Getting thrown into the sun had burnt up the Man of Steel's wallet, so Earth's Mightiest Mortal came to the rescue again, offering his only ten bucks to feed the Flash at an all-you-can-eat buffet.



Hal Jordan was already feeling like death in a self-centered world of his own making. However, his power ring refused to restore his physical form for such an end. "Your essence has been converted into an electrical impulse that has been stored within the ring... You will now live forever. Alone."

In Shazam's lair within an abandoned subway tunnel, Black Adam covered Mary's mouth, and threatened to kill her if Freddy said a word...

Superman arrived at his Fortress of Solitude, greeted by fellow heroes awaiting him...

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Motor City League & Doom Patrol at Justice League Detroit
• Martian Manhunter & Zatanna at The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Red Tornado, Hawkman & Hawkgirl at Power of the Atom
• Wonder Woman at Diana Prince

"Chapter Seven" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.