HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to Judgment Calls. Well, I should have done
this last month, but I'll do it now. My look back on 1998, and my look forward to
1999.
It would make sense to do the look back first, wouldn't it? Let's
start with the JLA, shall we? `98 was the second year of the latest version of the
Justice League, already one of the highest selling monthly comics. 1998 saw many changes to the
line up. In early `98, Green Arrow and Aztek left the team, just to have 7 new members join
the league the following issue. `98 was a good year for the JLA: it saw their popularity
continue to grow and they had quite a few specials over the year. We got to see a lot of JLA
specials this year, including an 80-Page Giant, 2 Secret Files, a Tomorrow Woman special, the JLA: The Nail
miniseries, and the start of the JLA/Titans miniseries. Not to mention the wrap up of the JLA: Year One
maxiseries. Yes, the year has been good for the JLA.
I know I keep talking about it, even though it's been over for awhile,
but the JLA:Year One maxi-series was great and I really suggest reading it if you
can find it. JLA: Y1 was the re-telling of the first year of the
League (duh). It showed a lot of how the characters interacted and learned how to function as a
team. Also at the end of the series, you see just about every DC character of the Silver Age.
Young Justice, the new JLA spin off series, is a team consisting of
DC's younger heroes. This title is a humor comic as much as it is an action
comic. It takes advantage of the fact it is a comic, and often uses the excuse "Hey we
know that (insert whatever impossible thing Peter David wrote here) cut us some slack."
YJ already has put out quite a few specials: YJ: The Secret, JLA: World Without Grown-ups (I
think of it more as a YJ than JLA), and Secret Files. YJ are also featured in the Secret
Files Origins 80-page Giant, and they're only in issue 6! Expect this to be a hot title.
Now on to our look ahead to 1999.
It seems the JLA's momentum won't be slowing down anytime soon. The
first thing they do in `99 is jump into a cross dimensional war! That's right!
They end up fighting magical beings from the 5th dimension. Yes that's the same place that
annoying Mr. Mxyzptlk comes from (a regular Pain in Supes butt). In this war, Captain
Marvel will be showing up to lend muscle and the wisdom of Solomon. This war will also feature the
new future Hourman (from DC:1M) , and the JSA! After the 5th dimensional war is fought, one of the
many DC super villain jails will have a major break out with just about every super
villain in the place going nuts. The fun begins when the JLA try to contain it. I'm not sure
which jail, but I think it's Belle Reve Prison. After that, a new Injustice Gang forms, with Lex
Luthor heading it up again, featuring Prometheus, a updated Queen Bee, and Gen. Eiling in
Shaggyman's body. All this leads up to the Mageddon story line, where Grant Morisson *gasp*
kills some JLAers!
Don't expect the humor to go out of Young Justice. They will still have
goofy plots and weird villains. In issue #7, it's parent/teacher conferences at the
cave. Look for Nightwing, Max Mercury, and others. It will be the fight of the century
when Arrowette's mom and Wonder Girl's mom go toe to toe. I also hear tales of an
impending YJ/TITANS mini or one shot.
That brings us to Titans. Finally, Titans #1 is due out in January
after JLA/Titans wraps up. There will also be a Titans Secret Files out. Look for a new
HIVE and a new group called Tartarus which will be like the Anti-Titans.
Also in the DCU at large, look for THE KINGDOM, which I believe is the
reintroduction to the DC Multiverse. In the Bat-Books, Gotham will be thrown out of the US
because of the earthquake. It's a wasteland over-run by criminals. As I hear it, this
will be a year long arc that will preeminently change the Bat-Books. In the Super-titles, Clark
Kent loses his job, so he drops the whole Clark identity and becomes Supes 24/7. He will
make appearances in almost every DC book on his save the planet kick. Even though DC is
famous for letting the cat out of the bag, no one knows what will happen, they
really are keeping the lid tight on this.
That's about it. Sorry, no character profile, didn't have the time.
Looking for all this news and doing research took awhile.
