“Well I do own Hawkgirl $20…”
Justice League Adventures #17
DC Comics (May, 2003)
“The Weapons Of Man”
WRITER: KEVIN Hopps
PENCILER: Min S. Ku
INKER: Christian Alamy
COLORIST: John Kalisz
SEPARATIONS: Heroic Age
LETTERER: Bill Oakley
EDITOR: Steve Wacker
Aresia has a device that can control the minds of men and she uses it on Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern and has them steal weapons around the world. It’s up to Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and the Flash to find a way to destroy the device, with the Flash infiltrating in drag but gets found out. He also has a way to counteract the device while the lady Leaguers go after their friends. At least Aresia gets away from men…in an all-women’s prison as Flash notes.
What they got right: Aresia and her all girl army make for an interesting threat and seeing the Flash use his head is always good.
What they got wrong: The story however is rather uninteresting. The whole Siren thing has been done so many different ways that it’s hard to do it any different. Why does the device only affect men? They don’t have a different level of hearing than women do. Also, the Flash may be a goofball and a ladies man (in his own mind anyway) but he’s not going to hit on the villainess, especially as the instigator. The writers keep overdoing the Flash’s personality in these comics. Some of the gags did work and was in character but stuff like this still happens. The message against ultra-feminism kind of gets lost in a story that doesn’t really impress and doesn’t do anything interesting with the theme.
Recommendation: While not a bad story it isn’t a very interesting one either. This plot needs to go away unless it can be a story about understanding between the genders which is not what this plot is ever about. This is not one to hunt after.
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