No More Star Wars?: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #51 …EUROPE #26 (JLI 69)

[tcampbell1000]

Warning for some humor that could be read as mocking the mentally ill…though I don’t think they’re the real target here.

By now, the Justice League International era had done plenty of traditional superhero yarns like the arcs spotlighting the Crimson Fox, the Extremists, Despero, even General Glory. But it’d also tried lots of non-traditional subjects: moving, repo jobs, feline violence, membership drives, pranks.

So when Starro…the Justice League’s oldest enemy…came back at the end of JLE #25 but was all “Hey, I come in peace,” you really didn’t know whether to believe him or not.



While the JLE engaged with Starro, JLA #51 presented a buddy comedy. Both stories hinge on Kilowog’s love for his “brudder aliens,” a love that stretches as far as the sus Starro, the annoying G’Nort, and the staid J’Onn. Adam Hughes is back for his farewell issue of JLA: Giffen and DeMatteis do their usual.

Kilowog takes G'Nort out for a night on the town. J'Onn ends up going along and confiscating G'Nort's ring to try to keep them out of trouble. He is unsuccessful.





William “Ex-Black” Hand has a reason of his own to celebrate. You might remember he had a bit of a meltdown earlier in this series, but now he's out of the sanitarium, completely cured of his "hero-phobia."



See? He's fine. He's fine!

Elsewhere in the same restaurant, J'Onn's reservation for "Jones, party of three" has run afoul of the restaurant's "no pets" policy.




Kilowog and G’Nort pressure J’Onn to join in with the “theme of the evening” and show his true colors. You’ve probably guessed the pattern by now: J’Onn resists for a while, they badger him, and he caves. Appearing in his natural form might get him in trouble for indecent exposure. But just one toast as his JLA self? What’s the worst that can--




Kilowog is in a fistfight with Hand’s men when the cops show up.



A+ on that knowing look Beetle trades with Booster.

We don’t see the arrest and the following arraignment, but G’Nort muses about it to himself the morning after. “I never knew anyone could yell for six straight hours! Those Martians really have lung power!”



J’Onn is still struggling to get back to his “quiet, meditative” self, and Beetle isn’t helping. But J’Onn’s only the SECOND most disturbed victim of the chance encounter. One of Hand’s men returns him to psychiatric care, where the doctor assures him not to worry too much. He’s becoming very experienced at treating this condition. Because…



I said I didn’t think Giffen and DeMatteis were making Hand their real target here, and this is why. As Gwenpool and Assorted Crisis Events have pointed out, being a bystander in superhero adventure-worlds can be hazardous to your health…physical or mental! “If WE lived in this world,” G&D seem to say, “there’s a good chance WE’D lose our grip on reality, too.” If sensible, rational J'Onn was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, then none of us can afford to be too smug about our sanity. One bad day, etc.

The Batman-phobe in glasses above? That’s editor Andy Helfer. I don't think anybody else is modeled on the creative team, but it wouldn't surprise me.

At any rate, Hand has one thing to be grateful for: the touching loyalty of his employees. Seriously, they’re the most heroic people in this story. Maybe their support is why Hand did make a partial recovery in time for a post-Giffen appearance in the Guy Gardner: Reborn miniseries (#1 of 3).



Unfortunately, he seemed to lose contact with them before entering his third phase of villainy. We’ve been over that. Maybe we have his henchmen's untimely deaths to blame for the Blackest Night.



Speaking of normies whom heroes "drive crazy" in various senses, in JLE #26 (Giffen-Jones-Sears), Inspector Camus falls deeper into his own personal hell…



And speaking of touching loyalty to former(?) bad guys, the residents of a small British town have become Starro’s greatest fans.



Kilowog cuts Cap off to announce he's ready to help his "brudder," and the villagers guide the JLE to Starro himself.





Often when people speak in hushed tones about arranging a “one-way trip,” they’re planning sabotage or assassination, but Cap and Kilowog intend no violence, only safeguards. The villagers work together to carry the invalid Starro back to his ship.



All the stars drop off everyone’s faces. Starro’s ship blasts off. The villagers shout charming British valedictions into the skies: “Ta, Starro!” “Cheerio!” “Pop ’round again if you can!”




Uh-oh.



Monday: A desperate handful of JLE members have to contend with a population that has fallen to [SHAP]...the 𓇼GLORIOUS EMBRACE𓇼 of 𓇼STARRO'S LOVING TENTACLES.𓇼 𓇼ALL HAIL STARRO.𓇼

Comments

[iamrman]

I for one welcome our starfish overlords. PRAISE STARRO!!

[metadronos]

𓇼STARRO IS LIFE𓇼 𓇼STARRO IS LOVE𓇼 ...wha? Oh, it fell off. Good.

As someone who's lived with mental illness (and doing just fine nowadays, don't worry), I'm not so much offended by the "breakdown" scenes inside and outside of the hospital, as I'm bemused at the usual "everything is your mother's and/or father's fault" stripped-down Freudianism which was already on its way out as early as the sixties. (Runaway bestsellers such as 1969's Portnoy's Complaint notwithstanding.) But then JLE/I has hardly been the only instance of that.