DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #35

Royal Pain, Chapter One:  Luck Of The Draw!

September 2009

Written by Len Wein

Pencils by Tom Derenick, Pow Rodrix

Inks by Marlo Alquiza, Rob Hunter, Walden Wong, Dan Green

Cover by Eddy Barrows

Synopsis

In Las Vegas, the Royal Flush Gang attack the Startopia Hotel and Casino, taking hostages as they then generate a force field to lock everyone inside.  On the Watchtower, Firestorm and Vixen receive the alert. In Vegas, they are joined by Red Tornado, Dr. Light, and Plastic Man.  The team is able to get inside and save the hostages, but the Royal Flush Gang gets away.  The hostages were just a ruse.  They were really after the casino’s nanotechnology.  The King of Spades then informs “Wild Card” they got what they came after.  Wild Card is revealed to be Amos Fortune, however is pleased.  Roulette is not pleased, as she did not like the cards she was dealt when she agreed to the Justice League as her players.  Amos tells her she needs to play the cards as they have been dealt, so let the games begin. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

You know there is a problem when the villains are more interesting than the heroes and the villains happen to be the Royal Flush Gang.  Really, the gang has pretty much been a punch line for years, so I have to give Wein credit for giving the team some added life.  They don’t necessarily come across as a serious threat, but certainly more dangerous (and devious) then they have been shown in the past).  This is mostly due to the ending in which we see the hostage situation was a ruse to get something more important.  We also get some more information on the inner-workings of the gang itself, with the notion that there are more than just five and that there are ways to move up (or down) the structure of the team.  The promoted six of spades is an interesting character, a mid-level employee (if you will) with ambitions to move up the company ladder.  The reveal afterward is also curious, mostly to see what kind of bet Roulette and Amos have made and what the ground rules are supposed to be.  I like the set-up.  Unfortunately, Roulette’s complaints at the end just underscore what is wrong with this book. 

The problem, and it is a pretty big one when you consider the book, is that the league is not all that interesting, even in the “they suck” type of attitude.  None of the team members are particularly engaging or interesting, either alone or combined with the others.  With the exception of Firestorm, none have carried an ongoing book and I don’t think Vixen’s recent mini-series sold that well (I didn’t get it and I usually get everything DC puts out).  Wein does what he can with the team.  I liked Vixen’s pep talk to Firestorm and Plastic Man’s litany of things on why he is important to the team, but these things just serve to remind me that this is not the A-team (or the B-team for that matter).  Perhaps Wein would be better just telling the story rather than worrying about the fact the heroes are not the Justice League.  Either that, or perhaps delve more into the Royal Flush Gang as they are more interesting than the heroes. 

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