In a league of their own

[arbre_rieur]

Here we have JLAX #1, by Mark Waid, Gerard Jones, and Howard Porter...



As the issue reveals, the JLX are a splinter group from the JLA (Judgment League Avengers). They're basically all the JLA's mutant members, who've recently decided to go their own way. The event that caused the splintering was the incarceration of the mutant Mariner (an Aquaman/Namor mash-up). The JLA thinks it's the justice systems place to determine his guilt or innocence. The JLX thinks bigotry against mutants will prevent him from getting a fair trial, so they busted him loose.

Waid and Jones take an interesting tack to combining characters. The JLAvengers' DC halves are all the big Justice League characters, the Big Seven and those of similar popularity. The JLX's DC halves, on the other hand, in keeping with the underdog/outsider spirit of the X-titles, are all pulled from less popular incarnations of the League, like JLA Detroit and JLA Task Force.



That's Marco Xavier, the JLX's mysterious benefactor. Big time DC Comics trivia buffs will know who his DC half is just from his name.

Angelhawk of the JLA, who's secretly allied with Mr. X, fakes a back injury to let the JLX escape:



The JLX are searching for the underwater city of Atlantis, the ancestral home of mutants. They're hoping it can serve as a haven for their kind, where they can finally be free from persecution.

Out of the various Amalgam titles, this one does one of the better jobs of genuinely feeling like the latest issue of an ongoing series. It drops us right in the middle of a bunch of running sub-plots:







They arrive at Atlantis, only to find that it's been deserted. The only person present's their very own arch-nemesis:



The femme-bot is named Jocasta. First line of dialogue: "You will not hurt my precious Doc!"



So there's a bunch of fighting...



So what's Marco Xavier's deal?



The issue ends with the team making it their mission to find out where the people of Atlantis have departed to.

creator: howard porter, creator: mark waid, creator: gerard jones, publisher: amalgam

Comments

[afghanant.wordpress.com]

I loved JLX. To me it was the best of the Amalgam comics. I remember recreate that cover on this large poster board when I was like 12 and my little cousin drew on it. I miss the 90's.

[joasakura]

Ahhahaha. I loved JLX.

Oh, hey, i have scans of X-Patrol and Exciting X-Patrol. If you don't have those, I can post them ;D

[arbre_rieur]

I have the issues, but I haven't scanned them. Post away :)

[foxhack]

OH GOD IMPULSE'S EYES

AGH

[nevermore999]

That's QuickPulse!

PulseSilver?

The Quick Imp?

The Pulsing Silver Quickness

[nevermore999]

Actually, his name's Mercury! Cute!

[kenn_el]

Indeed! They need to figure a way to get him into the Flash books!

[psychopathicus_rex]

While, exasperatingly enough, I cannot view these properly, I like the idea of a renegade offshoot of the universe's premiere superteam. They'd be a perpetual thorn in the side of the regular team, who are off saving the world in the usual fashion, but then those pesky reporters keep asking them about those other guys who just wrecked the Eiffel Tower in a battle or something. It would be most annoying.
So, I can see that the Mariner is Aquaman/Namor, and Mercury is Impulse/Max Mercury/Quicksilver, but who are the others?

[kamino_neko]

Apollo == Ray+Cyclops
Runaway == Gypsy+Rogue
Nightcreeper == Nightcrawler+Creeper
Firebird == Fire+Phoenix
Mr X == J'onn J'onnz+Charles Xavier
Will Magnus == Will Magnus+Bolivar Trask
Jocasta == Jocasta+Platinum+a Sentinel
Angelhawk == Angel+Hawkman
Wraith == Obsidian+Gambit
Archer and Goliath both seem to be Hawkeye/Goliath+Green Arrow
Canary == Black Canary+Mockingbird
Captain Marvel...well...
Super-Soldier, Amazon, and Dark Claw are seen elsewhere.

I think that covers everyone.

[arbre_rieur]

The merged archer's name was still Hawkeye, actually.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Ooh, interesting character choices. Man, I gotta look this up now.

[arbre_rieur]

Also, Sentinels == Sentinels + Manhunter robots.

[katogekkani.livejournal.com]

I think Mr. X has some Bishop in there too.

[kamino_neko]

He's got the tat, but doesn't seem to have anything more substantial from him, so I skipped him.