Justice League International #13-21 + Justice League Annual #1
Originally released in 1988
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Bill Willingham (Annual), Keith Giffen (#13, 18), Steve Leialoha (#14-15), Kevin Maguire (#16-19), Ty Templeton (#20-21)
Justice League International had comedic overtones before, but this seems to be a point where it switches to a full-on comedy. It still has action, but Blue Beetle and Booster Gold get a lot of focus, Lobo (who seems to be new at this point, as nobody's heard of him) gets his obsession with space dolphins, and Fire and Ice (former members of the Global Guardians, the former superhero team of the United Nations) join to add more silliness to the mix.
There are some serious moments, such as in the annual issue where a sentient virus is let loose on the population and the Martian Manhunter has to seal it inside of himself because it won't infect him, but on the whole, these issues feel a lot like a sitcom. Even the recurring villain, Lord Manga Khan, is a goofball, talking out loud to himself, breaking the fourth wall, and having all of his minions named after Star Trek characters or sci-fi authors.
Khan runs a space-faring bartering organization that gives planets twelve hours to make a trade, or else his forces will pick the planet clean and move on to the next one. The Justice League manages to hold them off for long enough that it starts costing them money, leading to Khan's forces abandoning Earth for planets that aren't so heavily defended, but Mister Miracle is accidentally captured in the process, causing the Martian Manhunter, Big Barda, and Rocket Red to leave the Earth to get him back.
Big Barda was brought up by Mister Miracle as a potential member of the team. I think she'd be a fun addition to the team, and we'd get to see more of her dynamic with her husband, but...
...all things considered...
...I doubt she'll join as long as Martian Manhunter leads the team. (she didn't exactly make a good first impression) The team is still in a period of change - Black Canary leaves the team, and they extend memberships to Superman and Wally West (the Flash, whose identity is publicly known), but Wally isn't around to get his invitation and Superman doesn't feel like he can commit full-time.
Lobo was hired to kill the Justice League, but when fighting Big Barda, she sends him to a random spot in the universe... which happens to be Earth, specifically the Justice League headquarters. During his arrival, he hits Guy Gardner on the head, restoring his normal awful personality.
Once Lobo and Guy are kept apart for long enough, Lobo claims that Barda intentionally sent him here to help (he's planning to kill all of the Justice League at once when the spacebound members return). Somehow, this is enough to get him temporary membership in the League, which had me wondering if Martian Manhunter was going to have a Justice League to return to. Hawkman and Hawkwoman also join, though Katar/Hawkman has some serious reservations.
Martian Manhunter's group also has a Green Lantern with them, though unfortunately, they're stuck with the least competent one in the universe - G'nort, a doglike alien who only got the Green Lantern role through nepotism since his uncle was a respected member of the Corps. They follow Khan to Apokolips, where he plans to trade Mister Miracle to Darkseid for Boom Tube technology. One of Granny Goodness's minions lets Granny know that Barda has arrived, figuring she'd reward him.
She doesn't. Hawkman is equally short-tempered, with his membership lasting all of a few minutes before Guy and Lobo are enough to make him feel like this is a waste of his time.
Even Batman serves as comedic relief, in his own way. I had expected that, when Darkseid showed up, he would be played completely seriously, but even he has his goofy moments.
The plotline with Lord Manga Khan went on a bit long for my liking, but the series remains fun, and it feels like the line-up's in a more concrete state. (I doubt that Lobo, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman are going to stay, and it felt like the writers didn't really know what to do with Black Canary on the team)
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