DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #16

A Brief Tangent

February 2008

Written by Dwayne McDuffie

Pencils by Joe Benitez

Inks by Victor Llamas

Covers by Joe Benitez and Victor Llamas

Synopsis

In Guy Gardner’s storage shed, two thieves are looting the boxes, when they find a glowing green lantern.  When the lantern starts to glow, one of the thieves disappears and in his place appears The Atom from the Tangent universe.  In the Hall of Justice, Red Tornado and John Stewart are playing chess when they receive the signal from the police.  John Stewart, along with Red Arrow and Black Canary, investigate.  They encounter the Atom and are able to subdue him.  They then contact Gardner, who tells them it is a transdimensional “thingy.”  Before the JLA can do anything with it, however, the Atom disappears and the thief returns.  Later, the thieves are taken into custody while The Flash from the Tangent universe watches....

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

You’re kidding me, right.  I just read a commercial.  A fricking advertisement for a future comic book?  I was annoyed when Nightwing did it just a few months ago, when a storyline failed to deliver the resolution and instead told us to search out a new comic book if we want to see the rest.  Now, to see it again, I am really, really annoyed.  Granted, DC is making good use of their biggest selling title, meaning more people will read this story than probably the actual mini-series when it comes out, but in the process they may piss off a number who could care less for the Tangent characters and care less for a story that doesn’t continue in this book.  And that will mean less people will read this title. 

Compounding the problem with this issue is that we don’t get to see Red Arrow’s beat down of the Tangent Atom.  One panel we see them about to square off and then the next panel we see that Red Arrow.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the way McDuffie presented Red Arrow in that sequence, but it would’ve bee nice to, you know, actually see the fight.  Or are we going to see the fight in an upcoming issue of Countdown.  And if you understand that question, I give you credit for sticking around to read this title for so long. 

I also should mention that of the 4 league members and the 5 tangent characters that grace the cover of this issue, only 1 of each (John Stewart and The Flash) actually appear in the story.  Would it have been too much to ask to put Black Canary instead of Wonder Woman or the Atom instead of, well, whoever on those other people might be? 

Comic Connection

Kyle Rayner encountered the Tangent green lantern in Ion. 

SOUP KITCHEN

Written by Alan Burnett

Art by Alan Jefferson

Synopsis

While doing community work at a local soup kitchen when a former villain, who is afraid Red Arrow had come to collect him like all the other villains have been “collected” recently, tosses soup on him and then runs away.

Review

I don’t know.  It is a nice story, I suppose, but seems too short, which I guess is a compliment because I would like to see more.  It is interesting that Burnett manages to include an oblique reference to Salvation Run (as we see at the end of the previous of this book); can’t anything in this book just stand on its own?

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