Justice League of America - Issue 12
Featuring the twin menaces of Dr Light and double-contracted negative modal verb phrases
The Justice League (aka the Justice League of America, aka the JLA, aka Justice League International, aka Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)) is a collection of the DC Universe's greatest heroes (and also Green Arrow).
I talked about why I love the JLA in this piece here. Now I’m breaking down each and every issue of the comic book, from their very first appearance, with Atom-sized summaries. Enjoy!
Here, then, is Dr Light, a supervillain who summons Snapper Carr to JLA HQ (which remains 5/7th of an awful Scrabble draw) to gloat about how he’s used his ill-defined light powers to banish each member of the Justice League to planets individually designed to doom them (eg Aquaman to Arrakis, Martian Manhunter to Mustafar, Green Arrow to a slightly rougher part of Detroit). Luckily, Superman and Batman foresaw this and switched identities, so set about rescuing everybody else, before a classic third act (ie, the JLA act by splitting the team three ways) showdown with Light, who is now mostly a mirage for some reason, except, of course, for when he isn’t. Also, it’s allegedly April Fool’s Day, for the purposes of a last panel gag.
Fun With Comics!
MVP
It’s Superman, who just before he and Batman confront Dr Light, suggests that they disguise themselves as one another on the off chance that will help them somehow. A crazy idea, you might think, except this is about the 400th time they’ve employed this tactic, and it works like crazy every single time. (Although, maybe off-panel, the pair are also dressing up as one another all the time. Who are we to judge?) Plus, bonus points for Supes for using ‘ought’n’t’. Powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, indeed.
Top Panel
Yeah. Aquaman teaches dolphins to imitate his voice. Look, it’s lonely living under the sea.
Villain Cryptic Crossword Clue
He ain’t heavy, he’s my JLA 12 physician? (2,5)
Next Issue: ROBOT DUPLICATES!
