JUSTICE LEAGUE #39

[ QUICKLY. TO THE COMIC SHOP ] 

Look out DC, because in the month of February, 2015, your comic book covers are going to be attacked by Harley Quinn. So go on. Get Geoff Johns to drop anchor. Or ask Jason Fabok to hoist the mast. It won't matter. Nothing will ever matter. Ever, ever again.

To QUOTE James Lovelock: 'An inefficient virus kills its host. A clever virus stays with it'.

THE STORY:

Once upon a time there was a deadly virus that transformed normal human beings into superhuman monsters. Yet, as luck would have it, certain members of a certain Justice based team were immune to this contagion. And so, after a bit of fuffing about, they eventually decided to formulate a plan of attack. A plan, I might add, that involved two members of this group fighting off their contaminated counterparts, whilst two other members devised a cure from a sample of Kryptonian blood.

Yeah. That sounds about right. Although if you want to know the particular details of what I'm talking about, then please pick up this issue at your local comic book store. Or alternatively, skip this one and figure out what actually happened in next month's instalment. 

THE GOOD:

Now I don't want to be nasty about this issue, dear reader. Honestly I don't. But for the life of me, the only things I genuinely liked about it were kind of sidelined by it's fairly pedestrian tone.

I mean, as much as I enjoyed Jason's grand and spectacular visuals, as well as the hard-core way Superman zapped his own hand, plus Leonard's jovial interrelations with Diana, simply put, this is an all action issue. And what do we normally get with all action issues? One massive fight scene, complemented with a number of interludes as if to give it's core theme some form of substance.

And do we get substance? Yeah. I suppose we do. Primarily in those sequences I just mentioned. Plus a couple of others where Superman and Lex talk about ethics -- the bloody bald hypocrite -- and a great introductory scene which I'll mention later.

But as for everything else to do with this story? Well...  

THE BAD:

I don't want to sound like a moaning Minnie here, although I'm afraid to say that I wasn't very keen on this comic at all. For a start, its basic narrative structure was rather pedestrian in execution (i.e. Whilst Z and Y fight off P, Q and W devise a cure so they can save the day, blah-blah-blah). What's more, even though I was thankful that this tale was finally resolved, in the same breath it's final resolution came across somewhat benign on the page (again, i.e. Q and W devise a cure, and afterwards all is well with the world when Q and Y stop the bad-man from doing naughty things).

Oh! And while I'm on the topic of this so-called bad-man, well, lets just say I wasn't all that happy with how this four part adventure basically became his origin story. Once again, without giving too much away, if the resolution of this tale should be taken at face value, then in no uncertain terms this subjugates his history -- plus a couple of other characters histories -- within the confines of their respective origins.

Listen! I'm sorry for being so vague here, dear reader. But I'm sure if you pick up this book you'll be able to read in between the lines.

THE MUSIC:

On a conceptual level I'd surmise that this yarn was about fighting off a virus. And so, as a virus type tale, how could I not musically match it up with a song that theoretically is about fending off one thing or another. So it's over to you, Engelbert Humperdinck, and your classic ballad, 'Please Release Me'.

THE COMPARISON:

At the start of this adventure Geoff and Jason conveyed a truly poetic transitional scene which essentially compared it to the plague of Athens. And do you know what? This sequence was so poetic and serendipitous for yours truly, I might as well let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak.

Or should that be sleeping Greeks?

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this issue Barry introduces Jessica to an old friend who'll most probably help her out next month. So just for fun -- quite possibly -- can you guess who it is out of the following eight options, plus what they'll actually be doing with her?

1. Dan Didio -- explaining to her that having a funny sounding surname makes you get noticed.
2. Alfred Pennyworth -- demonstrating how to cut off the crusts of a cucumber and ham sandwich, without doing yourself any harm in the process.  
3. Simon Cowell -- explaining to Jess that money and talent aren't always mutually exclusive.
4. Supergirl -- giving her a big hug before punching her in the mouth. Yes. That's right. She's illustrating what it's like being written by a man.
5. Kim Kardashian -- giving her a demonstration on how to plump that ass, baby.
6. Damien Wayne -- showing her how being a brat helps more than you might think.
7. Kristen Wiig -- making her laugh before punching her in the mouth like Supergirl did before her. Well. Every little helps, eh?  
8. Hal Jordan -- helping her control her power ring.

Nuff said.