Run before Dan DiDio and Tom King kill or evilize another one of us!
Justice League Adventures #1
DC Comics (January, 2002)
“Disarmed”
WRITER: Ty Templeton
PENCILER: Min S. Ku
INKER: Dan Davis
COLORIST: John Kaliz
SEPARATIONS: Heroic Age
LETTERER: Kurt Hathaway
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Steve Wacker
EDITOR: Dan Raspier
This is based on the DCAU series from Cartoon Network. Current roll call: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, The Flash (Wally West), and Green Lantern (John Stewart). A strange device shows up in someone’s backyard and the military evacuates the area and calls Green Lantern. As this happens the Justice League Watchtower is visited by an alien claiming to be part of a peace force and warns that John Stewart’s power ring will set off the device, a gravity bomb accidentally sent to Earth during a space war. It turns out to be a scam to get Hawkgirl’s help, assuming Thanagarians don’t help others but knowing her people know how to disarm the bomb, created by the alien’s enemies. The bomb is dealt with while the alien faces justice for threatening the people of Earth instead of just asking for help.
What they got right: Ku continues to impress me with how well he imitates the look of the show being adapted. The story itself is good and the alien (who is part of the good side of the war) gets in trouble for threatening lives to learn how the gravity bomb should be disarmed instead of just asking. We will see there might be a reason not to trust Thanagarians in the show and the alien claims that Thanagarians don’t like to share secrets but our visitor is clearly in the wrong despite noble goals. Credit for finding a clever way around the Magic Lasso though. Each member gets a moment to shine.
What they got wrong: I don’t have any complaints with this issue. The superhero fangirl is annoying and occasionally stupid but otherwise nothing wrong.
Recommendation: This is a good example of properly adapting the show, although there will be issues that mess up the tone which is why there’s a big hole in my collection. This issue however is worth checking out.
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