Damn, you gotta love paranoid mysteries that are fun for all ages!
I love the Justice League animated series, and as much as everyone wants to see a live action movie featuring the line up of leaguers, it will never ever approach the coolness of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. One of the better characters to emerge from the JLU series was, without a doubt, The Question played by Jeffrey Combs (you may remember Mr. Combs from the Re-Animator movies). Unlike Vic Sage from 52 or the 1987 O’Neil run, the JLU Vic Sage sees a conspiracy around every corner. While his hunches pay off for the better, it’s the ride that makes the story fun.
We haven’t reviewed a Johnny DC title at Major Spoilers, but I quickly bowed when The Question appeared in Justice League Unlimited #36.
For those of you who think the JLU line is for little kids, you might want to pick up a couple of issues. Even though an eight year old will enjoy the stories that are filled with moral lessons, as in the recent Freaky Friday story with the Crimson Avenger and Stargirl, there is just enough humor and adult themes that the older set will enjoy the series as well.
Wild Geese kicks off with The Question bursting into a press conference and blasting a U.S. Senator square in the chest. Talk about a cool hook, you instantly want to know what is going on, especially when the crowd starts to turn on “that no-face freak” and The Question has trouble explaining the senator is really a Durlan. Luckily for him the rest of the Justice League shows up to pull the proverbial mask off the senator and prove The Question wasn’t some crazy nut.
The Question tells everyone that there are seven more Durlans in powerful positions, and it’s down to him to weed them out. But the big guys think Vic needs a rest and send him back to the tower for some R&R.
But we all know once The Question has an idea in his head, he isn’t going to let it go.
IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT
What follows is a great ride down the conspiracy hole that touches on all the big theories from the Chupacabra, alien agendas, the head on Cydonia, Yetis, the JKF assassination, the Loch Ness monster (which looks an awful lot like the monster from Watchmen – I’ll let you draw your own conclusions), crop circles and more.
IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Coming up empty, Vic heads back to the Watchtower were J’onn is letting the entire league know they stopped the Durlans and sent their ship flying into the sun to keep any others from following. When he enters the room, the team comes clean and tells Vic they staged every step of The Questions quest to “keep him out of the way”. But of course, Vic already knew that.
IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT
The Question reveals all of he clues left behind were just a bit sloppy, and the DNA evidence left behind lead him to the very Durlan ship the Justice League had sent flying into the sun. Turns out there were bodies on board, they just weren’t Durlan.
IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT
The plotting and pace of the issue was superbly handled by Simon Spurrier and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him writing more DC stuff in the near future. Remember Adam Beechen, who now writes Robin and other DC tales, got his start writing a majority of the JLU issues to date. Art by Min S. Ku follows the art from the series, and those hoping to see more of the animated series art will find it in the Justice League Unlimited series. This issue was incredibly fun, the art solid, features a character we aren’t likely to see in the main DCU anytime soon, and is actually good for readers of all ages. With all this taken into account, I simply have to give Justice League Unlimited #36 5 out of 5 Stars.
5 Comments
I followed Si Spurrier for a while when he first started writing (through Warhammer Monthly when I was a wargames geek) and 2000AD and I’ve been continuously impressed. I think I’ll keep an eye out for this. The reviews made me want to watch JLU so I’m breaking out the dvds:)
That actually looks fascinating… I find it funny that the Question, who influenced Rorschach, is now being reverse-influenced by his metaphorical offspring’s characters. Hurm, indeed…
One of the great ironies of my life is that I absolute love the JL & JLU animated series (as well as all of the other Dini-universe), however I rarely pick up a DC title. Quite honestly, I’ve never even picked up a JL title. Shocking I know, but there hasn’t been an easy way for me to break into DC continuity without loosing my mind. I came back in the swing of things with Identity Crisis and really dug that but I very quickly became lost in that whole Infinite Crisis mix. Now this looks right up my aisle, because along with Vigilante, The Question are my favorites of the JLU universe.
I’d suggest picking up some issues of Justice League Unlimited as the stories are one shots, the characters you already know, and it is fun for all ages. And by all ages, I mean don’t expect to see any heavy love triangle stuff going on. For regular JLA/JSA stuff, you might want to pick up some back issues of JSA from this new run as it pretty much gets you up to speed even if you don’t know who all the characters are or their histories.
Thank you for the recommendations good sir. I will be making a point of grabbing up some JSA later this week along with my typical haul.