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Mild Mannered Reviews - Justice League Unlimited

Justice League Unlimited #44

Justice League Unlimited #44

Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 2, 2008

Cover date: June 2008

"My Dad's A Hero"

Writer: Ken Pontac
Penciller: John Delaney
Inker: Ty Templeton

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel

Click to enlarge


Mirror Master's robbery plot is almost foiled by the Justice League.

Flash, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman are quick to stop the villain but before they can capture him and the loot, he disappears in a flash... and that's where the story begins...

Evan McCulloch returns home through various reflections till he joins his wife and son.

His son is wheelchair bound and sickly. It quickly becomes clear that Mirror Master isn't quite the villain we've been led to believe.

While high above in the Watchtower the League try to anticipate Evan's next move, he is busy at an orthopedic clinic trying to see how to cure his son. It's not cheap and Evan swears he'll do anything to cure his boy.

His next attempt at theft is a giant jeweled ring and though the League try and stop him, he is able to escape again not with the complete booty but with the ring at least. Before he sneaks away hiding in a puddle on the sidewalk he overhears Flash belittle him as a joke villain and that deeply angers him.

Evan returns home late at night and he argues with his wife. She knows he's a villain and that he's trying his best but their marriage is beginning to suffer. Evan decides to give the criminal activity a rest and look after his son. Helping his son with studies he calls another of his villain friends, Mr. Element to help out!

Mr. Element tells his friend he is enjoying going straight and also reveals he hides nothing from his family, least of all his criminal past. Before Evan can contemplate revealing his identity to his son a television show interrupts them and he sees footage of the League mocking him and his career.

Evan drops into a depression and sits silently even ignoring his son. A deep hatred brewing inside himself. He slowly makes his way to the bathroom and smashes a mirror. As he leaps into it, he doesn't notice his son has been watching, devastated.

Mirror Master takes hostages in front of a news camera and demands the two million, six hundred, seventy-five dollars he needs. The League are ready and with a Darklight cannon nullify Evan's powers. Evan grabs shards of broken glass and hurls it everywhere into a crowd of people. Hawkgirl dispatches the deadly shuriken along with Wonder Woman while Flash rushes to pull survivors out of harms way. Scaffolding is smashed loose and begins falling towards some children.

Chaos even the League can't handle.

Evan, powerless, realizes the horror he has unleashed and races to pull a final survivor out of the path of a falling iron frame. He succeeds but pinned in wreckage he's quickly captured.

Asked by journalists his motives over recent weeks. Evan reveals he did it all to save his son and his marriage. His noble motive is enough to convince Bruce to pay for Colin's operation and his misguided but heroic deeds are finally recognized by his son.

And that's all he ever wanted...

5Story - 5: It's always good to see a twist on a story.

This was one that hurled the "villain of the week with no motive" out the window and gave us a glimpse into the life of a villain and why he does what he does,

Thoroughly enjoyable with neat character driven moments that are rare in many comics today. A fantastic year one story.

3Art - 3: Ty Templeton's inks seems to overpower Delaney's pencilling here which is a little unfortunate but the splashes like the finale with the League more than make up for it with some superb work.

3Cover Art - 3: Nothing bad here, but nothing great either, a fairly bland cover that doesn't really sell the inside. It's not terrible, very well composed in fact but it just feels like it's lacking a "pick me up now!" punchy effect.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2008

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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