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Mild Mannered Reviews - JLA Comics

JLA #73

JLA #73

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 9, 2002

Cover date: Early December 2002

Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciller: Yvel Guichet
Inker: Mark Propst & Bob Petaecca

"Last Call" (The Obsidian Age - Part 5)

John-Paul Zito Reviewed by: John-Paul Zito (ZitoMan11@aol.com)



Faith and Nightwing share a tender moment miles above Atlantis, fondly remembering the Dark Knight. Hundreds of miles above them Ray "Atom" Palmer works tirelessly in the JLA Watch Tower. He's discovered a "wobble" in the Earth's rotation. This wobble is causing all of the planet's water to drain towards Atlantis at an alarming rate. Things are about to go critical.

Moments later on Atlantis' shores Faith and Nightwing investigate the apparent eternal resting place of Superman's remains. Nightwing pleads with whatever force is controlling Atlantis and forcing the wobble to halt these destructive and suicidal actions. Just then as if the ground were alive the demon bursts forth from the soil. A confrontation between the demon and Nightwing ensues. Thankfully the new JLA arrive to cover his back.

Firestorm traps the demon in unbreakable promethium restraints after a quick beatdown from Faith and Hawk Girl. Jason Blood tries to read the demon's mind but it's a complicated labyrinth of mental defenses. Suddenly the demon breaks free from her containment with a spell, and then proceeds to trample all over the JLA. Jason Blood realizes that the demon is in fact a Quagmire, a demon that absorbs other beings of intense power, she is currently in possession of a dozen such beings including Zatana.

The Quagmire captures Major Disaster and absorbs him into herself. Once she realizes the amazing powers he possesses she begins to focus her will on bringing total annihilation to the JLA. Jason Blood, for reasons known only to him, sacrifices himself to the Quagmire to save Zatanna. As if things weren't bad enough U.S. government jets roar down on Atlantis and drop specialized nukes on the island without any warning. The JLA appear to be lost in the explosion. It is much more obvious, however, that the Quagmire has survived.

Deep in the caverns bellow Atlantis the JLA remain alive encased in a protective green glow. It's Green Lantern to the rescue! Sort of. It's Green Lantern's energy signature in ring form. He's waited for three thousand years for this JLA to arrive. And as he reveals the withered Indian Shaman to them Green Lantern let's them know, it's time to go save the world.

To Be Continued...

3Story - 3: It's good action packed stuff. But it doesn't need a whole issue. Every other issue of the Obsidian Age featuring the "New" JLA could be condensed and slipped into a regular JLA issue. These issues with the New JLA seem to drag along as a result, almost like they're being forced to fill 22 plus pages. They don't have the same impact as the books featuring the regular team.

2Art - 2: The art feels sloppy. The facial expressions are twisted and look out of place. Certain poses look amateur and awkward. Whole pages appear to be inked sketch work. Plus some of the action is out of place. For instance at one point Green Arrow shoots the Quagmire with some mystically endowed arrows. But we never see him fire the arrows or catch a glimpse of the arrows flying through the air. Instead we get a "thunk" sound effect and 4 arrows lodged in the demons head.

4Cover Art - 4: An effective eye catching cover that's well drawn and conceived. Does Martian Manhunter have a skeleton? I guess it doesn't matter much.



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