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Mild Mannered Reviews - Justice League Adventures

Justice League Adventures #12

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 2, 2002

Cover date: December 2002

Writer: Christopher Sequeira
Penciller: Min S. Ku
Inker: Mark Propst

"Cold War"

Reviewed by: George O'Connor (mo442@nyu.edu)

A deadly heat wave has pummeled the country of Bijouti, preventing agricultural growth and furthering poverty and misery. Ambassadors of the United Nations, on a mission to report on the conditions in the country, are surprised, however, to find the country covered in ice when they arrive.

The culprits behind this startling turn of events? A band of icy arch villains led by Mr. Freeze!

Freeze and his cohorts, Captain Cold, Icicle, Killer Frost, Snowman, Cryonic Man, Minister Blizzard, and the mysterious Polar Lord, have taken over the country and plan on launching a war against wealthy oil countries to the north if the UN does not grant them ten billion dollars.

In the Justice League Watchtower, opposing stances exist on whether it is appropriate to intervene now that the Cold Warriors have legal control over the country. The heroes also wonder if Freeze's gang hasn't been helpful to the nation when they see them handing out food to the starving masses. The hawk-like vision of the League's sole Thanagarian member, however, points out that the crates from which the Warriors are passing out food are stolen.

Convinced that the matter deserves investigation, the League rushes to the country of Bijouti.

Upon arrival, the heroes come under fire from their opponent's icy weapons, but it does not deter them for long. Superman's heat vision encircles the group in fire. Cryonic Man, however, is able to hit a switch that releases ice robots. While the robots don't prove to be much of a challenge, either, it does give Polar Lord enough time to hit a switch on his belt.

All of a sudden, the entire League crumples to the ground under the power of an ice ray from above that manages to slow matter down, thus nullifying the Leaguers' powers. Batman attempts to use a batarang, but a rain of snowballs and icy projectiles from enraged Bijouti citizens, who have benefited from the Cold Warriors' leadership, force the League to retreat.

Back at the Watchtower, an embarrassed Justice League realizes they've been defeated by a bunch of second string foes who, individually, never would have been a match for them. Batman points out, however, that Polar Lord is a completely new villain, and Hawkgirl suggests he may not even be from this planet. It was his technology, after all, that crippled the League during battle.

Green Lantern searches the stars and finds a warship of Tharrians, an alien race that have utilized cold based powers and technologies to ensure their survival on a hot planet. Believing that the Tharrians are hiding in order to stage a surprise attack on the world, the League contacts the Cold Warriors, warning them that they may have been set-up by their new friend, Polar Lord. The Cold Warriors laugh at them, claiming that they already know of Polar Lord's extraterrestrial origins and have utilized his technology to aid them in bringing about a new world order.

Disgraced for the second time in a day, inner strife explodes within the League, but Superman mediates the disputes and gets the Leaguers back on track. Batman suggests a more subtle approach, starting with the ice robot factory...

Soon after, the League has snuck into the factory, but only finds completed robots. Flash accidentally touches one of the androids and the whole group of them suddenly attack, slowly overwhelming the League until Superman can blast a set of controls with his heat vision. All of the sudden, the bots begin to back off, shaking their heads as if they're confused. Using his x-ray vision, Superman realizes that the ice warriors are actually Bijouti citizens encased in icy shells. Superman and the Flash race around the groups of ice bots, causing enough friction to melt away the shells and reveal relieved citizens beneath.

The Polar Lord suddenly slides into the room, however, and as the League prepares to battle he and the rest of his Cold Warrior accomplices, the Polar Lord reveals his true purpose for teaming up with Mr. Freeze and the others: to lure the Justice League into a trap! Removal of a curtain reveals the rest of the Cold Warriors imprisoned and a sliding door shows an invasion ship of other Tharrians. The ship's cold ray incapacitates the League as Tharrian warriors rush inside, surrounding the incapacitated heroes.

Batman brandishes his batarang, but not to hurl at the Tharrian warriors. Instead, he frees Mr. Freeze, who, along with Superman and Hawkgirl, free the rest of the revenge-seeking Cold Warriors. An alliance is formed between the Justice League and the Cold Warriors as a battle begins against the Tharrian invaders. The cold ray is quickly destroyed by the Cold Warriors, and the bathing warmth of some heat vision courtesy of Superman gives the rest of the League the defrosting they need to go after the invaders.

The Flash is first out of the factory, as he captures the warrior's weapons and Wonder Woman and J'onn aren't far behind as they clothesline a series of Tharrians with Diana's lasso. Even the people of Bijouti fight back, hurling icy projectiles and throwing powerful uppercuts. Batman and Mr. Freeze, meanwhile, share a jaw shattering punch that knocks the Polar Lord into unconsciousness.

When the Tharrians have been rounded up and defeated, Green Lantern and Superman work their powers to help defrost Bijouti. The Polar Lord thinks that he has had the last laugh in his claim that now the drought will continue for the Bijouti people, but J'onn points out that the moisture and water vapor from the melted snow will bring more rain to help fuel the country's needs.

Story - 4: A fun read with some great interaction between the characters. What could have turned out to be a very repetitive and dull story managed to have its share of exciting thrills and clever twists. While some of the Cold Warriors were given very little personality, this was made up for with characters like the Polar Lord, Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, and the members of the Justice League, whose bickering and communication really added a sense of realism to a fantastical story. The cheesy one liners and especially Mr. Freeze's "you have reaped an icy wind, for now is the winter of our discontent" really kept me laughing and entertained. The only thing that is never explained in this issue is why Mr. Freeze joined up with Captain Cold after getting his helmet handed to him in Justice League Adventures #6 by Cold and the other Central City criminals... and why, if Captain Cold defeated him, it is Mr. Freeze leading the Cold Warriors?

Art - 4: Min S. Ku scores with another great looking issue and Mark Propst's inks don't hurt either! Some great pages include 7 and 8, which are dynamic and look like Timm himself drew them, page 10 which shows us a cool action pose of Green Lantern, and pages 18-20 with some great action scenes. Movement is conveyed really fluidly and the variation in panel size and perspective complement the action oriented scenes excellently.

Cover Art - 3: A little typical and lacking on the detail, but still very (excuse the pun) cool.