Ever since Seto Kaiba expanded his card game operation no game is safe. You should see what happened to Uno.
Justice League Unlimited #42
DC Comics (April, 2008)
“Raw Deal”
WRITER: Dan Raspler
PENCILER: Christopher Jones
INKER: Mark Propst
COLORING: Heroic Age
LETTERER: Sal Cipriano
EDITORS: Rachel Gluckstern & Steve Wacker
Una Hitchens was part of a new incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. This group is obsessed with playing card games and don’t really care for video games. When the group is hired to burn down an arcade for the insurance money (the client wants to replace his own arcade with a casino) Una turns them down because she just got out of prison and wants to go straight. However, John Stewart is suspicious and even Wonder Woman is concerned when she’s seen hanging out with her own gang. After learning the client bought the neighboring lot where a group she was helping was hoping to build a community center she agrees to take the job…but it’s a trick as he convinces the client to turn the land into the community center…or else! It’s her first successful bluff.
What they got right: I kind of prefer this incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. The obsession with card games fits into why the gang took on playing card identities. It’s also nice to see Una properly reformed and how she does try to make things better in her own way. It’s also disappointing that John Stewart refuses to believe she reformed but it plays into the theme of how hard it is for a released felon to get a second chance when nobody allows you to.
What they got wrong: That doesn’t mean John has to immediately get on Una’s case the way he does at the charity rally for the community center. Wonder Woman is right to call him out on treating her like she’s guilty of a crime that doesn’t even exist. And while I like this version of the Royal Flush Gang it doesn’t work in the already mixed up lore of the gang between the Justice League Unlimited cartoon and Batman Beyond. This is just another layer of confusion.
Recommendation: Overall a good story worth looking into.
