Art By: Mike McKone, Cam Smith
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 13, 2014
Remembering A Hawkman
When we last saw the JLU team, the main zeta beam had taken some damage which caused a problem making Adam Strange and his girlfriend Alanna to be zeta-ed back and forth with each other and to solve the problem the Rannian's zeta-ed Alanna back to Earth to get her out of the equation. Martian Manhunter got into the mind of the Ultra baby that had grown to an Ultra toddler and convinced the genetically engineered weapon that the JLU were it's friends and in the end Hawkman made the ultimate sacrifice by taking the damaged core of the zeta beam high into the sky, so that when it finally exploded it wouldn't harm any civilians or his new team. So we're left with Byth escaping with Lobo and Hawkman dying. Well we'd think that if we hadn't already seen him regenerate two missing arms and come back from the dead, between this and Futures End. So don't worry Hawksters, I wouldn't count our winged warrior out just yet. Okay let's check out what this month has in store for us with Justice League United.
Explain It!:
Our story begins with the Thanagarians coming to Rann to collect the body of their fallen comrade and to bitch out the Rannians for letting this happen. So yeah, Hawkman's body is transported home so he can get the burial he wanted on his home planet and our heroes sit around and talk about the teammate they barely knew. Even though it's strange to me that nobody really knew Hawkman, this is a really sweet sequence where we can see Animal Man and Green Arrow's friendship begin the way it's supposed to evolve in Futures End. I seriously don't trust the future events of Futures End, but I do see these two being the good pals that Futures End says they are. While Buddy and Oliver get closer Stargirl and Supergirl seem to piss each other off simply because Stargirl talks about how odd it is to be around aliens and Kara being an alien herself, gets pissy and tells Courtney to stop being so naive. Fast friends they are not. Martian Manhunter has a guilt fest with himself over Hawkman's death and Adam Strange is told that until the Rannians can fix the zeta problem Alanna and him seem to be experiencing he can't go back to Earth to be with her. So for the most part only Green Arrow and Animal Man are having an alright time. Let's have a moment of silence for our supposedly dead hero.
Meanwhile back in Canada, Alanna hears a noise in the Rannian underground base she was zeta-ed back to and decides, why the hell not just get suited up in Rannian armor and take a look. It turns out that the noise was simply Miiyahbin's friend heather, who tells Alanna that Mii was taken by a monster. So again since she's suited up now, Alanna figures why the hell not go after a monster in the wilderness of Canada. So the two hunt for Mii and eventually come across a cave...... Oh and a giant fucking antlered monster! Alanna tries to use her newly acquired ray gun, but the monster turns to smoke each time it's hit and simply reforms. This section contains my only gripe in the book. Alanna grabs a hold of Heather and and says we better fly and activates her jet pack, but the next panel the two are back on the ground and Alanna says we better get in that cave. I really don't understand the point of this sequence. It seems like we missed whatever action the two might of had in the air that caused them to land again, but I don't know. It's a minor gripe, but I'd just like to know what was up here. Inside the cave Alanna and Heather find a trapped Mii and as they banter about how to get her out and what she knows about the monster, the monster approaches and Mii says her magic word "Keewahtin!" that transforms her clothing into her superhero outfit and she takes out the monster with energy blasts before she simply passes out.
Back in space Byth and Lobo attack the Thanagarian ship to steal Hawkman's body for the Nth metal and the rest of the JLU say their goodbyes to the Rannian people and get zeta-ed back home, except Adam Strange who has to stay behind. Now that our heroes are back in the Rannian underground base in Canada they figure that it would make a decent secret base and decide that they should stick together and become a better Justice League........... A Justice League United. You know to inspire folks and whatnot. In the end Alanna startles the team by rushing in with Mii and Heather, pleading for help. I really dig these characters, but this story really seemed odd to get things going. The villain got away, a member died, Supergirl is just thrown in out of nowhere, another member is forced to stay on an alien planet and a future member is only given confusing glimpses of what she might actually be. The only thing that actually seemed to be accomplished is our heroes getting together and feeling really good about saying "Justice League United". Come back next month as we take these characters and jump into the land of Five Years From Now, it's this years September event Futures End.
Bits and Pieces:
While I'm not really sold on this introduction story as a whole, I did enjoy the individual issues and love the characters involved. With that in mind we have another solid issue involving the inner struggles of our characters in dealing with everything that's been thrown at them in this story arc. The art is great as it has been this entire series and I really can't wait to see where this team will go after their foray into Five Years From Now, next month. Check it out.
8/10
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