DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE LEAGUE:  GENERATION LOST #2

Max'd Out

late July 2010

Written by Judd Winick

Breakdown by Keith Giffen

Art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson

Covers by Tony Harris and Kevin Maguire

Synopsis

At the Justice League International Embassy, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire and Ice (former members of the JLI) try to present evidence to Superman of the existence of Max Lord.  Although they see an image of Max Lord, Superman does not.  Later, all four try to talk to others but realize that not only does no one remember Max Lord, but he has also managed to discredit all of them so that no one will even listen to what they are saying.  In New York City, Booster thinks they need to work together to stop Max Lord.  Fire disagrees and goes on her own.  Meanwhile, Skeets uncovers a bug in the embassy.  They trace it to El Paso, Texas.  Skeets then realizes that it belongs to Ted Kord, just as Jaime Reyes (aka the new Blue Beetle) emerges followed by OMACs. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“You think I’ve gone all cheese and crackers?”

This feels rushed.  I think I understand why Winick rushed it a little bit because ultimately the downfall of the four is not that important to the overall story of finding and stopping Max Lord.  It is only a plot device, created to force the foursome on their own, relying on each other to get to the bottom of the mystery.  In a way, the story really hasn’t started as Winick is still setting the stage.  Unfortunately, however, knowing what Winick is doing doesn’t help the issue.  It is rushed, to the point where we don’t even know what the exact details of what or why led to the downfall of the three.  We are told Atom is under arrest, but the reason why is not given.  Or why Ice is considered to be a loose cannon or why she would attack Guy.  Or why Fire was dismissed from Checkmate.  As I said, the reasons are not important to the story so much as the fact that have been discredited.  The end is what is important: the small group is (as Atom states) isolated from the groups they had previously been associated with.  But the issue feels incomplete and rushed because we are not getting the full story, just bits and pieces of information that Winick thinks is important.  I think I would’ve liked to have had more of the downfall of the four.  I think it would’ve given the story more oomph because we would’ve seen the hurt and the anger they felt, giving them even more reason to go after Max.

It is interesting to note that this issue, and story, follows the same formula as Countdown to Infinite Crisis.  As Booster states, Ted Kord determined Max was up to something and when he went looking for help, no one believed him.  Now, we get the same thing, with no one willing to help the four JLI members.  Let’s see if the story continues along the same path.  Who will be the one who will get their head blown off? 

I have to commend Winick, however, for addressing the problem of recordings and printed pictures.  I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the first review, but I did wonder how Max would get around the fact that you just can’t erase every single video or picture of him.  Instead, he caused the viewers to see something completely different.  It is a nice touch, especially near the end when Captain Atom sees Max Lord rather than the General.  Was it really Max Lord or was Atom seeing things?  

What are the odds that when Fire goes to Checkmate she’ll find the new King is Max Lord, albeit with a new name?  It is the only reason I can imagine to send Fire off on her own.

Giffen is not listed as one of the writers (only the art breakdowns) but his characters are all over this story, from the JLI (of course) to Jaime Reyes (Giffen was the original writer on the new Blue Beetle series) and even to Magog (Giffen is the writer of Magog).