Catfights: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #37, …EUROPE #13 (JLI 50)

[tcampbell1000]

The cover of Justice League America #37 is one of Adam Hughes’ best on the title (which is saying something), but it’s open to multiple interpretations.



What you notice first is the raw fear in Booster and Fire’s eyes, then their body language. His hand stretches out in a desperate “stop!” gesture as she clings to him. It all sells the idea that the “INTRUDER ALERT” behind them heralds an overwhelming threat. Even when you spot Beetle and Ice in the background, echoing the foreground in a role-reversed, comical way…



…some of the tension remains. And if you “read” this cover as being about Despero, that tension is fully deserved. Despero was one of the Justice League's earliest foes, appearing in Justice League of America v1 #1.



To be frank, a cheating chess nerd didn’t seem like that much of a menace to the world’s greatest superheroes. Even his third eye-focused mental abilities only bought him so much gravitas. For the most part, he came off as a pampered intellectual, and he needed a lot of plothammering to be a dangerous opponent.



Only in the Detroit League era did he really start working on himself…





And he came close to destroying that League…



Until, in their most impressive victory, they destroyed him instead.




In JLA #37 (Giffen/DeMatteis/Hughes), he finishes pulling himself back together into a transitional form, by focusing on what’s really important in life. Well, what he considers important, anyway.



But that’s the last we see of Despero until the next issue--and at no point in this arc will he invade League headquarters, so he’d never merit an intruder alert. However, there’s another creature who will. One whose “threat” is not to the Leaguers’ lives, just their dignity.

The League has developed a trash-related problem or two, as seen in issue #35. This is set just before Mister Miracle starts his promo tour:




In #37 (titled “Furballs”), Guy discovers an overturned trash can and once again plans on making that someone else’s problem:



Yep, Beetle and Booster are still working off their bad behavior as the embassy’s live-in maids. Both have accepted that punishment for a while, but it’s been two weeks, and tempers are fraying. Booster drops one dish in carelessness, then after some back-and-forth with Beetle and J’Onn, he drops another in anger.



Ted’s admitted to himself and everyone else that the casino was a bad idea, and there will certainly be no gags publshed 34 years later that will walk back this personal growth on his part (Fire and Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #1).




The cat enters Bea’s room while she’s making herself over, out of costume. Bea starts to turn, and Beetle and Guy hear a scream.





Guy throws the cat into the teleport tube, so its story is to be continued. ScottGPT’s conversation simulator doesn’t seem to cope well with exposure to water, but everyone’s too wrapped up in the usual chaos to notice.

However, the mayhem that helps the Scottbot hide its nature has a serious consequence. Booster’s been “checking out his options” by taking a meeting with a mysterious woman named Claire, and he comes back to the League already half-decided on his course of action…



Max points out the water damage and tells Booster to get to work. “Don’t worry…Guy already put out the cat.” A “BWAH-HA-HA” follows, probably from Beetle, as Booster’s fist clenches.



“--I QUIT!”

JLE #13, “Furballs II,” follows our nameless cat through the tubes into Paris. It has a Bart Sears cover--wait, come BACK, iamrman! The contents are guest-pencilled by Chris Sprouse, best known for his later work on Tom Strong. It’s guest-scripted by J.M. DeMatteis, going back to his old digs to cover the interval after Bill Loebs got too busy and Gerard Jones hadn’t started yet. It’s regular-plotted by Giffen.



The issue starts with Catherine inviting a bunch of French children to tour JLE headquarters. Hey, it’s not like they can take a field trip to the Dome, right? (Because it’s a vaporized ruin and the JLE took the blame LOL)



You can guess how well Cap’s reply goes over.



Gotta say, Catherine, I try to be positive myself, but ARE YOU INSANE? This embassy has already been invaded by a mind-controlled mob, a jealous Cro-Magnon husband, two thieves in a helicopter, and a heroine who acts like she’s from a porn comic. The odds are fifty-fifty there’s a criminal on the grounds as we speak! Wait, make that 100%:



Flash and the Crimson Fox are in the Justice League’s “Menace Chamber” (legally distinct from a “Danger Room,” see documents submitted to the International Court of Justice). Their job is to give the kids a little super-power demonstration…




Cap saves his teammates, and Flash decides he’s done for the next few hours. A reasonable decision! His continued attempts to inspire Power Girl’s lustful attention by antagonizing her, not so much.

The JLA and JLE each have one redhead with a crush he always seems to be irritating. The difference between this dynamic and Guy and Ice’s is that Flash and Power Girl each bring out each other’s inner five-year-old.




I’ll concede this dialogue has a certain flair, but I can’t be as forgiving to Wally as I can to Guy or Ranma. Even pre-Linda…c’mon, Wally. You’ve had relationships with women. Francis Kane? Tina McGee? You’re smarter than this.

Sue checks the monitor room and finds that the [mimes quotes] “Menace Chamber…”



…has had its settings changed. She runs off to tell the Captain they have an intruder. In doing so, she narrowly misses seeing the cat, who soon hops back onto the interface.



The JLA come charging into Paris in response to the red alert, and the fact that they can’t detect anything wrong in the JLE embassy only worries them more. They send in Guy for reconnaissance. This puts our two redhead jerks in a scene together and deals out karmic retribution to them both:



“I’d ask what that [crashing and banging] is,” says Captain Atom downstairs, “but I’m afraid someone will tell me.” Atom runs up as the cat flees Guy, said cat trips Captain Atom, who pratfalls back down the stairs just in time for the doors to burst open…



Captain Atom and J’Onn share a moment as true peers, while most of the situation resolves itself without their intervention:





The Cat (occasionally named Stinky) would continue to associate with Power Girl for a while in this and other titles. Later incarnations would be more pleasant in appearance, though as odiferous as ever.



In the last few years, Streaky the Super-Cat has become her pet instead. In terms of personality, both St*ky cats have treated Kara about the same, with affection and occasional grumpiness.



(Wait, Streaky's not already neutered??)

We’ll see lots more of Stinky in this retrospective, to everyone but Kara’s chagrin. (Possibly controversial take: Power Girl’s not “Paige” until she starts thinking of herself as such.)

Saturday: The Global Guardians return! Does anyone care?

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

Despero wishes he was as big a menace as Power Girl's cat.

[scorntx]

Stinky, Adept of Aur.
Or did the yellow-goldish cat overpower Guy through the power of funny alone?

Certainly seems to improve after what can't be more than a few days at most in Kara's care.
Hoping that's just because she knows some good vets, and not that it devoured that bungling thief.
Not sure that's what it means when they talk about "rich food".

Full disclosure: Kinda liking this cat a lot so far.


-Does anyone care?-
...
... hmm, sorry, what? There was some Amanda Conner PG and everything went all fuzzy for a moment.
Oh, the Global Guardians.
Well, I'm somewhat curious. Does that count?
(Wait, which ones?)