JLA #68 The Obsidian Age Prelude - A Review with spoilers

**Emerald Archer** · 08-01-2002, 08:55 PM

Spoilers abound here, so if you don't want to know, move along, their is nothing to see here

No Really, I mean it

Look your going to regret reading beyond this point if you haven't read the issue.........

Plastic Man as a Squid - I LOVE IT!!!!

Ok, on to the review. First I always try to come clean when I do a review. I think it's only fair if the reviewer gives a little insight into what their personal feelings are about a title. So here goes, outside of Batman and Green Lantern, my greatest love is the Justice League of American. Every version of this group, out side of Justice League Detroit, I have found something to love about. And second only to the Silver Age League, is the current version. These people are the worlds mightiest heroes, and they act like it.

Ok, so with that said, I have to admit that over the last year I have felt that this title has slipped badly. For the most part the stories have been just fair at best. Their have been some exceptions, like "The Dark Nut Strikes Again", which I thought was a pretty good tale. But I was left cold by the Golden Lasso story line, didn't do anything for me, and as far as I could tell, had no real point to it. But then word came of the "Obsidian Age" story line. The return of Arthur Curry, AKA Aquaman. Now that perked my interest and I was looking forward to the beginning of the tale. The previous two issues of JLA have been warm ups, they have been setting the stage, getting us into position. They also were, IMHO, really bad. Again, pointless to the extreme. Two issues devoted to showing us that Kyle was having premonitions of Disaster. And that some major magical power was involved in the whole Atlantis mess. At least by the end of issue 67 Atlantis was back, all be it over 3,000 years old and sitting on dry land. But it was a start.

Which brings us to issue 68. Within the first page of the book, you get a sense that this one just might be about to live up to expectations. First things first we meet our old friend Garth, AKA Aqualad. He's hanging out in the pool at the Titans Tower. His rest is disturbed by the enterance of Batman, who tells him that he's going home. You can already feel the tension ratchet up a notch. Somehow, it just feels right, almost no dialog on the page, and yet it just feels right.

Cut to J'onn taking a walk through Kyle's mind, making sure that all of his screws are nice and tight. Bottom line, even though Kyle keeps seeing visions of the League dying, his mind is AOK. This raises one of the few problems I have with the book. For the last 3 issues we have been beat over the head with Kyle's visions of disaster. We get the point already, Kyle has a bad feeling about the future. OK. Thank you, we are not brain dead, we got it the first time.

The action then shifts to the beached city of Atlantis, where two of Aquaman's oldest foes are attempting to drive the JLA away from the city so they can claim it. All I have to say is that this is the first time I have ever felt any real menace from these two bad guys. And indeed they are on the verge of putting a serious hurt on the League when Garth show up with the Trident of Atlantis and puts and end to their schemes. Before he does that, we do get a great scene where Plas get to assume the shape of a Squid in an attempt to slow down the villains. You know he use to really bother me, and now I like him, So either I'm mellowing with age, or just losing my mind.

With that out of the way, we now begin to probe the mystery of what actually happened to the Empire of the Ocean. It seems that Atlantis is the focal point of all magical and mystical energy on the planet. Because of this the League has brought in a veritable Who's Who in the DC universe of Scientists and Mages. Zantana is there, as is the Atom. And yes, that does appear to be Blue Devil in one of the crowd shots. And lets not forget that the good Dr. Fate is also in attendance. What they discover is that Atlantis has always been there, it's just been sheilded from view by a magical spell. But it gets even stranger. At the end of the "Our Worlds at War" saga, when Garth enacted a spell to protect Atlantis. He did, by sending it back in time 3000 years.

Which then raises the question, did anyone survive that trip back in time. The answer is yes, and it would appear that Aquaman was one of the survivors. During their exploration of the ruined Atlantis of the present day, the League found enscribed on the floor of a Swimming Pool the JLA symbol. The inscription itself is 3000 years old, and was placed there while the pool was full. Ergo someone survived the trip back in time, and it had to be Aquaman. This was his way of asking for help. So now the rush is on to go back in time, to reach the Atlantians that are trapped back there, and to bring them into the present. The only way to do that is with the help of Garth. He must recast the spell that he used originally so that the League can use it as a door way into the past.

Garth, racked by self doubt, doesn't think he can do it. But Zantana tells him that she and the other Mystics and Mages who are present will help him control the portal, to keep it stable long enough for the JLA to go into the past, get the survivors and bring them forward.

At this point, GL begins to recall his visions. Oh yeah, this is way bad news as far as Kyle is concerned. He tries to convince the Leaguers that it might not be such a good idea to be doing the light fantastic on the temporal plain. But the gang doesn't seem to be overly concerend by Kyles visions. To bad, they should be. We all know that they just spent 2 issues setting this up, so his visions are going to pay off big time.

So Garth, with the help of Zantana, Dr. Fate and a score of Heavy Magical Lifters casts the spell and begins to send the JLA back in time. But something goes horribly wrong. Some other power or force takes control of the temporal pipeline, and takes the Leaguers someplace else. And neither Garth, nor Fate nor any of the others, know what has happend to the League. And now begins the Obsidian Age...............

As I said, I liked this issue, it has some really well scripted moments. Their is some intersting by play between Bats and Garth, where Bats reveals to Garth that he knows one of his deepest secrets. It's also a very funny moment. When Garth asks Bats if he has dirt on everyone, and the Dark Knight answers yes, you know it's not a boast, it's the truth.

Garth has always struck me as the weakest of any of the Teen sidekicks. Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl all outgrew being in the shadow of their mentor. Aqualad never did. And more than that, Garth has been shaken to his very core on more than one occasion. This is put to great use here. Not only is Garth a reluctant hero, he doesn't even think he deserves to be a hero. Garth never really got out of the shadow of Aquaman, and he felt very responsible for the "death" of his mentor and his people. Now he sees a chance to redeam himself and he fails again. The kid is going to need lots of therepy.

Finally, as usual, Batman is prepared for the disaster that befalls the League. He activates some sort of protocal by depressing a button on his utility belt. We don't know what it did, at least not yet we don't, but once again Bats proves why he's in the League.

Their are weaknesses. The way the League disregards Kyles warnings. He's been talking about these dire visions for 2 issues now, shouldn't someone take notice here? Several pages are spent recounting the action of the previous 2 issues, bringing newbies up to speed, but adding little in the way of new plot points. Dr. Fate plays a very limited role in the goings on, even though he is most likely the most powerful mage there, and without a doubt the one with the greatest collective knowledge. Wonder Woman in particular seems very under used here. She's more window dressing than anything. And she is having a really, really bad hair day.

On the mechanical side of the issue, the art is good. By far an improvement over the Golden Lasso drek. Coloration is awesome in a few panels.

All in all a fine beginning to a very much anticipated story line!

**Reed Richards** · 08-01-2002, 09:34 PM

hmmm this almost sounds cool enough for me to actually purchase-- as long as its not some massive universe-wide crossover event.

i hope this is the last "event" dc does for a good while-- marvel got into the bad habit of doing "event" after "event" until they burried themselves

**Jor-El** · 08-02-2002, 12:05 AM

This does actually sound fairly decent, but I'm going to have to just wait for the inevitable TPB.

**Trent Lane** · 08-02-2002, 01:04 AM

This was a really good issue, makes me want to get into the Obsidian Age story right now. Batman was awesome, but I can't believe no one listened to what GL was saying. Instead, they drag him along with him... can't help but wonder if Batman was summoning the JLA "replacements" there at the end of this book...

**Marc** · 08-02-2002, 08:52 AM

Yeah, so do we have any idea who the new League's members will be? I've been reading JLA since Morrison's run, but I haven't been following any rumors about the replacement team.
You think they'll reassemble the old Justice League Europe/International teams? (Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Captain Atom, etc) Second stringers yes, but it would be cool to see them together in action again. Or maybe the Titans will be upgraded to "League" status?

**Ed Liu** · 08-02-2002, 09:14 AM

Howdy,

Cool review -- thanks emeraldarcher!

Clearly, the JL forgot the one major super-duper rule of comicbookdom, which is NOBODY's visions of doom and disaster are EVER wrong. You'd think they'd have figured that out by now, but then again you'd also figure the super villains would also figure out "I'll just leave you to a slow and agonizing death while I go away and laugh evilly mwah-hah-hah-hah" isn't a great idea, either.

-- Ed/Ace

**Emerald Archer** · 08-02-2002, 12:36 PM

Some one sent me a messge saying that they had reread the review and their seemed to be additional part to it that weren't their last night. To this I please guilty. I always go back and reread my postings a least a dozen times, fix the grammer mistakes, change spellings, and add things that I forgot the first time. I think the JLA review is on it's 3rd or 4th change cycle now. I never make major changes, but I do try to add extra examples and clarify.

**Emerald Archer** · 08-02-2002, 02:32 PM

The new line up, as far as we know for sure is the following:

1) Green Arrow
2) Firestorm
3) Nightwing
4) Atom
5) Hawkgirl

Their are still several members in question as the art work is indistinct. But thats who we know for sure at this point.

**Reed Richards** · 08-02-2002, 05:58 PM

the old JLI will be featured in an upcoming mini-series or so ive heard

cant WAIT to see Blue Beetle and Booster Gold in action together again!

**Emerald Archer** · 08-02-2002, 06:06 PM

I have heard that as well. Not my favorite version of the League, but still good for a read. And it will be great to see Booster in action again.

Speaking of which, over at DC Comics web site they have been running a poll as to who the newest member of the Power Company should be. Last time I looked their was a tie between Firestorm and Booster Gold. I have to admit I voted for BG.

**Mattashell** · 08-02-2002, 06:32 PM

This writer needs to work on his clarity, untill I read your review I did not understand what was going on in this issue, especially the fight with Ocean Master and Black Manta, which did not seem to have a beginning, end or purpose. It was just there.

**Emerald Archer** · 08-02-2002, 06:49 PM

Hi Mattashell,
Just wanted to make sure I understood. Who needs to work of their clarity. The JLA writer or the humble JLA reviewer

EmeraldArcher

**Mattashell** · 08-02-2002, 06:52 PM

Originally posted by emeraldarcher
Hi Mattashell,
Just wanted to make sure I understood. Who needs to work of their clarity. The JLA writer or the humble JLA reviewer

EmeraldArcher

The JLA writer. Your review told the story better than the book.

Oh, I see. You're poking fun at me.

**Emerald Archer** · 08-02-2002, 07:04 PM

I wasn't. But before I got a swelled head I wanted to make sure it was justified

**sulimo** · 08-02-2002, 09:02 PM

I got round to reading JLA #68 yesterday. I must say my opinion of JLA isnt improving. Still dont like the art crew much at all. Plus the amount of Plastic Man comedy is getting way out of hand. I've always dislike the character, but Kelly's excessive use of him could drive me from JLA quicker than I planned...

Nice to see Zatanna though...someone I'm totally unfamiliar with aside from the animated version of the character.

**Marc** · 08-02-2002, 09:42 PM

Originally posted by Mattashell
This writer needs to work on his clarity, untill I read your review I did not understand what was going on in this issue, especially the fight with Ocean Master and Black Manta, which did not seem to have a beginning, end or purpose. It was just there.

Joe Kelly's writing definitely takes getting used too. I remember when he took over Action Comics a couple years back, I didn't know what's what. I think he's tripped out during half the issues he writes (that's probably why he writes Plastic Man so well).

I'm being patient with him, since I know he's able to write high quality stories.

I seem to be the only supporter of Doug Mahnke around here. He's one of my favorite artists and I think he's the redeeming quality of this current JLA. His redesigns of Steel's armor (in Superman: Man of Steel) and the Apokoliptic Aegis battle suit are fantastic.

**Gluttonous God** · 08-03-2002, 01:13 AM

Can anyone tell me if this is going to be a crossover, as Reed Richard implied, or is it just a JLA story leading into the new Aquaman. I'm not particularly fond of the story so far but I'm very interested to see how they set the stage for Rick Veitch.

**Emerald Archer** · 08-03-2002, 01:40 AM

Actually Captain your not. I have to say that I like the artwork on this book. As of late it seems to me to have been above average. Doug is capturing a unique look for the JLA and I have to say I like it for the most part. The panel on Page 4 of the current issue, with Ocean Master and Black Manta is great. Take a look at the lower right corner of the panel, at Manta's hand. Is it me, or is it dripping black? Not just water, black water. To me, this is the first time that Manta has ever looked this imposing. For the most part I've always rated him a 3rd rate villian. Not here, he looks powerful. Couple that with the fact that he seams to have had a power upgrade along the way and I think he just might turn into a force to be reconed with in the post Obsidian DC Universe.

As for the humor of Plas. I have to say that sometimes it goes way to far, but it's Plas were talking about. He has always been a little on the derainged side, this just proves it. And I'm sorry, but seeing him as a Squid, well it just is a very funny moment in the book. But then as I admited before, I loved "The Dark Nut Strikes Again". But more importantly, JLA needs Plastic Man, and I don't mean for his powers, thought having a rubber guy kicking around has it's uses. And who can ever forget the time that Plas pretended to be the dress that Barda was wearing. Now that was a classic moment!

No, their is a more important plot driven point for Plastic Man to be part of the JLA. The League, as a whole is a pretty grim bunch. Not a whole lot ot mirth going on with these guys. The most light hearted, at least as portrayed in JLA is Wally. Thats really not saying much. Now lets look at the most grim. Thats Batman, no one even comes close to him. He needs a counter balance, a foil if you will, and that happens to be Plastic Man. Each version of the League has had it's comedic member. Be it Snapper Carr in the original, or the trinity of Guy-Booster-Beetle during the JLI days. Just how dark would this version of the League be with out the counterbalance to Batman? Some may not like the fact that Plastic Man is here as a comedic touch, and at times I admit the humor is way to broad, but without him, the book becomes mired in the dark aura of The Bat. Even the universal boyscout, Superman, has often said that he finds the darkness of Batman very off putting, and depressing.

**Blue121** · 08-03-2002, 06:42 PM

I just read this issue, and I have to say I enjoyed it. However, since I am relatively new to comics, I didn't realize who Tempest/Garth/Aqualad was until the end. Anyone care to share some history? Thanks. Anyways, overall, this issue was a good read. The JLA ignoring Kyle's dreams is understandable, yet interesting. My one complaint, is the art. JLA is well drawn, its just, to me, the colors need to be brighter. Maybe brighter isn't the word I meant, but I think the Green Arrow art team working on JLA would be perfect. That's just my two cents......

**sulimo** · 08-04-2002, 03:11 AM

Originally posted by Gluttonous God
Can anyone tell me if this is going to be a crossover, as Reed Richard implied, or is it just a JLA story leading into the new Aquaman. I'm not particularly fond of the story so far but I'm very interested to see how they set the stage for Rick Veitch.

Its not a crossover, rather a bimonthly story that leads into the new Aquaman series.