Justice League of America #41 Review

Roll Call: Vixen, Dr. Light II, Red Tornado (in pieces only), Donna Troy, Starfire II, Cyborg, Batman III, Mon-El, Guardian, Green Lantern (Jordan), Green Arrow

Guest Stars: Robin V, Wonder Woman, Tomahawk, Miss Liberty

Spoiler space here with the cover shot.

This issue is part one of two of a story called “Team History.” This is basically what seems to be the set up for the major reshuffle of JLA membership. At the start, Vixen is ruminating about the Blackest Night chaos, and then the major fight with Prometheus over in Cry for Justice. Because that mini has been delayed so many times, JLA is now “ahead” of it and there are major spoilers here. For the last few issues, JLA has been revealing the outcome of the fight, which just happened this week. They also spoil that the big dramatic scene next issue will be the heroes voting to let Prometheus go because he’s holding cities hostage. Vixen still sports her injuries from the fight (why she can’t heal herself is not discussed), and she tells Dr. Light she’s going to leave. Tornado is also on a table in pieces, which he wasn’t in CFJ 6, so I guess more happens to him.

Donna shows up next, turning up at a hospital with a crisis situation going on. She says she’s not there for that, correcting the detective when he calls her Wonder Girl, and it seems like she’s not going to act until he tells her they are in the children’s ward. She wades through some color coded terrorists (who look a lot like the ones the Secret Six fought a while back) and is greeted by Wonder Woman. They argue up on the roof, Diana persuading her to join the League. Again, why Diana herself is no longer in the League is never explained.  We do learn that Donna was there to rebury her son, brought back during the Blackest Night creepiness.

Suddenly, we’re back in 1777 Virginia, during the American Revolution, where Tomahawk, Dan Hunter, and Miss Liberty run across a strange artefact that has already incapacitated a British patrol and then gives Tomahawk visions when he touches it. Miss Liberty shows up and suggests bringing it to Ben Franklin. Much later, as in the present, Darwin Jones, a minor DC scientific character, is cataloging things in the Smithsonian, and he, of course, finds it and triggers it. Set up for later, I suppose. Some strange man with a rather archaic speech pattern shows up to take it, displaying some kind of energy powers.

Elsewhere… Donna has evidently taken Diana’s advice to heart. She’s not only joining the JLA, she’s recruiting. She gets Starfire and Cyborg to come along, and then pays a visit to Gotham. She watches the new Batman and Robin tear through some thugs led by Yellow Wasp, a former Wildcat foe, and then offers Batman the same membership. Robin, at least, is ecstatic, thinking the offer includes him as well. Personally, I really hope not, but I don’t like Damian the Wonder Brat (yes, some do, fine, it’s my review). Donna then brings Starfire and Cyborg to League HQ, and convinces Dr. Light to not quit. Light even debuts her new costume, needed since the writer had her blasted out of her old one while fighting Black Lantern Dr. Light, in what I think was one of the worst done scenes in quite a while. Apparently Hardware can design armor that lets him fight meta humans, but not a costume that won’t leave the wearer naked. Also, IMHO, having a rapist strip a hero of her costume is in really poor taste.

Off to Metropolis, where Mon-El beats Atomic Skull down, and is then persuaded to join by Dr. Light and Guardian. Points for Dr. Light, she says “You want to be like Superman? Superman was in the Justice League.”

Elsewhere, Hal recruits Ollie, who’s apparently been going after every thug he can find after letting Prometheus go. We don’t know where this is, as Star City is gone. Hal is joined by Batman to press Ollie into joining. News to me that Hal was a member at this point, but oh well. Also no sign of Congorilla, despite him being in the cover and his membership being debated hotly on the message boards.

Ok… it was nice to see Donna getting some respect as a sort of leader, and made sense to see her think of her Titans friends for membership. She also got Dr. Light to not only stay but recruit also. Dr. Light’s line to Mon-El was well done, and the Donna/Dick as Batman scene was great.

The continuity here is weird. I guess Hal and Guardian join the League in the last issue of Cry For Justice. Hal hasn’t been a member in a while, and Guardian never has. How Donna went from “I don’t want to be a hero” (something else I guess happened in CFJ) to doing recruiting for a team she just joined I’m not sure. And yes, I said it before, I”ll say it again- I don’t like Damian. His calling Donna “Harlot” isn’t cute or endearing, it’s annoying. We’ll see how the rest of this goes. Robinson can be a great writer. He just hasn’t been lately.