By Brad Meltzer, Geoff Johns & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-789-1
Once the publishers realised the sales potential of super-team crossovers it was a foregone conclusion that such collaborations would become a regular part of comicbook life. One of the most crammed of these was the JLA/JSA annual team up in Justice League of America #147-148 in 1977, which included the additional team of 30th century champions the Legion of Super Heroes.
Thirty years later the modern incarnations of those heroes did it again in ‘The Lightning Saga’, a crossover that progressed through the post-52 Justice League # 8-10 and Justice Society #5-6.
When minor villain Trident is captured he is found to be under the mind-control of the alien Starro the Conqueror. Further examination reveals that he is also from the 30th century. In fact he is a hero known as Karate Kid, part of a team of teen-aged champions that Superman joined when he was just starting out. Revelations follow swiftly as JSA-er Star Man – a mysterious hero suffering from mental illness – reveals that he too is a time-lost member of the Legion of Super Heroes.
For an unspecified reason, seven members have travelled back in time, becoming lost and amnesiac. The combined 21st century teams must track them down and discover what mission could be so vital that it would be worth risking the entire future for?
As the lost Legionnaires are recovered old-time readers might well be fooled by a brilliant red herring newer fans won’t pick up on, but rest assured the conclusion isn’t one you’ll see coming.
Terse, far-reaching, tense and filled with humour and tragedy, this action-extravaganza continues the policy of reuniting all the disparate strands of DC continuity back together after the separations of the two decades following Crisis on Infinite Earths, and does it in a stylish and thrilling manner.
This volume also includes ‘Walls’ by Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha from Justice League #11: a gritty tale of survival as Red Arrow and Vixen are buried alive under a collapsing building and #12’s ‘Monitor duty’ by Meltzer, Ed Benes & Eric Wight, which depicts a typical but never normal day in the life of the team.
The book concludes with the landmark issue #0 which re-launched the World’s Greatest Super-Team into the post-Infinite Crisis era. Written by Meltzer it featured art from Eric Wight, Dick Giordano, Tony Harris, George Pérez, JH Williams III, Luke McDonnell & Paul Neary, Gene Ha, Rags Morales, Ethan Van Scriver, Kevin McGuire, Adam Kubert, Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan, Jim Lee, Howard Porter & Dexter Vines, Andy Kubert & Jesse Delperdang, Phil Jimenez & Andy Lanning and Ed Benes & Sandra Hope. There’s also a collection of some of the many alternate covers that have accompanied the current series.
Intense and very high maintenance, the modern JLA is epic in every way but might not be to everyone’s taste. Still, if tense dramas and soap-opera ethics are your thing this is a very impressive read, ‘though not perhaps, one for the casual browser.
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