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scans_dailyWarning for a homophobic throwaway line from a villain, and some...controversial character development.
The heroes of the JLA and JLE are gathered in New York after the Bialya mission. While they mingle with some of their usual irreverent chatter, it’s more subdued than usual.
J’Onn and Catherine hope to get things back to normal--“as much as they can be, without Max.” But Cap nips “normal” in the bud as the JLE starts teleporting back to London.
Superman and Waverider are waiting for the JLE in their London embassy. This annual is by Giffen, Jones, and many artists, but the framing sequence is Steve Carr, as it was in Waverider’s other JLA appearance.
In Cath’s future, the JLE still exists, now funded by Interpol. But a strange stagnation seems to have settled in: the membership roster has not changed at all in ten years, unless you count Sue and Kilowog leaving to go into business selling designer teleporters. Well, and Cap's missing, but that's probably not important. Art by Russel Braun.
Waverider flinches at the sight of the embassy vaporizing, which puts everyone in a nervous mood. And the tension only builds as the testing continues. No one else seems to be in the right time, and unlike when Waverider tested Booster Gold, there’s no explanation of how they got to different eras. Art by (deep breath) Marshall Rogers, Linda Medley, Keith Giffen himself, John Beatty, Randy Elliott, Curt Swan(!), and Ty Templeton:
“How long did you THINK I meant” is just…just perfect. But the cat’s desire to mark this newcomer with his scent is what resolves matters. Final flash-forward by Marshall Rogers, featuring two Justice League villains you never expected to see again:
The Robin and Johnny of this timeline are probably doomed. Ralph might rescue the other timelost heroes, but he wouldn’t even know to look for two manchildren in black. I’ll hold out some hope that in the timeline we’re going to get instead, Robin and Johnny have a chance to not join up with Mr. Biggers and instead grow the hell up. Also maybe hurry up and get girlfriends if they swing that way, because male pattern baldness is going to hit them fast.
The last page is just a big closeup of Cap looking expressionless as Waverider shouts, “CONTACT!”
This tonal transition takes us into Armageddon 2001 #2 (Denny O’Neil, Jurgens). The vision of Cap’s future is a depressing one. Imagine America’s gun control situation was somehow even worse. Gang territory fights are legal, and one of those fights has claimed the lives of Captain Atom’s children and grandchildren. He’s kept from powering up for years due to fears about the environmental impact. But after his family dies, he stops caring about that…and then he stops caring about anything…
Breaking contact with Atom, Waverider realizes he’s been tricked.
Monarch is off to create himself by killing Dove in front of Hawk, thereby motivating Hawk to kill him and then become him.
…
What do you mean that doesn’t make sense?
Look, the editors decided it wasn’t going to be Captain Atom at the last minute, and this was the best they could do for a substitution, okay? I mean, it’s not like anybody really cared about Hawk and--
Yeah, okay, I deserved that one. In fairness to O’Neil, I think he does about as well as he can with the virtually impossible task of justifying this plot. He stirs in lots of personal details that demonstrate he at least read the series, playing up Hawk's rage issues and psychological vulnerabilities. If you're feeling generous, you can almost convince yourself it works. Sampled: the page before Dove and Old Monarch’s deaths…
...and the page after. This one anticipates the evolution of conservative thought in some uncomfortable ways.
Likewise, O’Neil tries to explain away some of Waverider’s more nonsensical actions as the work of a flawed human who had no training for his role or true understanding of how others could manipulate him. Usually, “ascended fans” like Waverider become more heroic and effective through their fandom, if that fandom is sincere. Not this time.
I mean…Matthew…you might’ve allowed Armageddon to happen because you got addicted to reading porn at work. You can be a LITTLE hard on yourself if you want. You're not gonna be harder on yourself than Captain Atom is for crimes he didn't commit.
The JLI stays active through the rest of this issue, but let’s skip to the climax of the big fight.
Cap would remain presumed dead for years, our time. He’d come back to JLA with #80, with little fanfare and not much emotional connection to the Leaguers who'd been his friends. Even though he’d go back to a leadership position in the League, it wouldn’t feel the same: post-Giffen, his personality was less neurotic and considerate, more Nineties-ish. Oh, let’s just call it what it is: he was kind of an asshole.
When Giffen and DeMatteis reunited with the character, over a decade later, he’d been through so much that in some ways, he’d come full circle. Once again he seemed a bit lost and out of phase with his surroundings, attttnd thus he was in no hurry to take command over his fellow Leaguers.
But that’s another story for further down the line. For the sake of the next set of updates, Captain Atom is dead.
Monday: Hey, remember how in Armageddon 2001 #2, Captain Atom turned out to be Monarch? Wait, you DON’T remember it that way? They CHANGED who was going to end up being Monarch? But Darick Robertson’s already drawn these pages that…oh. Oh. That’s going to be a problem, isn’t it?
The heroes of the JLA and JLE are gathered in New York after the Bialya mission. While they mingle with some of their usual irreverent chatter, it’s more subdued than usual.
J’Onn and Catherine hope to get things back to normal--“as much as they can be, without Max.” But Cap nips “normal” in the bud as the JLE starts teleporting back to London.
Superman and Waverider are waiting for the JLE in their London embassy. This annual is by Giffen, Jones, and many artists, but the framing sequence is Steve Carr, as it was in Waverider’s other JLA appearance.
In Cath’s future, the JLE still exists, now funded by Interpol. But a strange stagnation seems to have settled in: the membership roster has not changed at all in ten years, unless you count Sue and Kilowog leaving to go into business selling designer teleporters. Well, and Cap's missing, but that's probably not important. Art by Russel Braun.
Waverider flinches at the sight of the embassy vaporizing, which puts everyone in a nervous mood. And the tension only builds as the testing continues. No one else seems to be in the right time, and unlike when Waverider tested Booster Gold, there’s no explanation of how they got to different eras. Art by (deep breath) Marshall Rogers, Linda Medley, Keith Giffen himself, John Beatty, Randy Elliott, Curt Swan(!), and Ty Templeton:
“How long did you THINK I meant” is just…just perfect. But the cat’s desire to mark this newcomer with his scent is what resolves matters. Final flash-forward by Marshall Rogers, featuring two Justice League villains you never expected to see again:
The Robin and Johnny of this timeline are probably doomed. Ralph might rescue the other timelost heroes, but he wouldn’t even know to look for two manchildren in black. I’ll hold out some hope that in the timeline we’re going to get instead, Robin and Johnny have a chance to not join up with Mr. Biggers and instead grow the hell up. Also maybe hurry up and get girlfriends if they swing that way, because male pattern baldness is going to hit them fast.
The last page is just a big closeup of Cap looking expressionless as Waverider shouts, “CONTACT!”
This tonal transition takes us into Armageddon 2001 #2 (Denny O’Neil, Jurgens). The vision of Cap’s future is a depressing one. Imagine America’s gun control situation was somehow even worse. Gang territory fights are legal, and one of those fights has claimed the lives of Captain Atom’s children and grandchildren. He’s kept from powering up for years due to fears about the environmental impact. But after his family dies, he stops caring about that…and then he stops caring about anything…
Breaking contact with Atom, Waverider realizes he’s been tricked.
Monarch is off to create himself by killing Dove in front of Hawk, thereby motivating Hawk to kill him and then become him.
…
What do you mean that doesn’t make sense?
Look, the editors decided it wasn’t going to be Captain Atom at the last minute, and this was the best they could do for a substitution, okay? I mean, it’s not like anybody really cared about Hawk and--
Yeah, okay, I deserved that one. In fairness to O’Neil, I think he does about as well as he can with the virtually impossible task of justifying this plot. He stirs in lots of personal details that demonstrate he at least read the series, playing up Hawk's rage issues and psychological vulnerabilities. If you're feeling generous, you can almost convince yourself it works. Sampled: the page before Dove and Old Monarch’s deaths…
...and the page after. This one anticipates the evolution of conservative thought in some uncomfortable ways.
Likewise, O’Neil tries to explain away some of Waverider’s more nonsensical actions as the work of a flawed human who had no training for his role or true understanding of how others could manipulate him. Usually, “ascended fans” like Waverider become more heroic and effective through their fandom, if that fandom is sincere. Not this time.
I mean…Matthew…you might’ve allowed Armageddon to happen because you got addicted to reading porn at work. You can be a LITTLE hard on yourself if you want. You're not gonna be harder on yourself than Captain Atom is for crimes he didn't commit.
The JLI stays active through the rest of this issue, but let’s skip to the climax of the big fight.
Cap would remain presumed dead for years, our time. He’d come back to JLA with #80, with little fanfare and not much emotional connection to the Leaguers who'd been his friends. Even though he’d go back to a leadership position in the League, it wouldn’t feel the same: post-Giffen, his personality was less neurotic and considerate, more Nineties-ish. Oh, let’s just call it what it is: he was kind of an asshole.
When Giffen and DeMatteis reunited with the character, over a decade later, he’d been through so much that in some ways, he’d come full circle. Once again he seemed a bit lost and out of phase with his surroundings, attttnd thus he was in no hurry to take command over his fellow Leaguers.
But that’s another story for further down the line. For the sake of the next set of updates, Captain Atom is dead.
Monday: Hey, remember how in Armageddon 2001 #2, Captain Atom turned out to be Monarch? Wait, you DON’T remember it that way? They CHANGED who was going to end up being Monarch? But Darick Robertson’s already drawn these pages that…oh. Oh. That’s going to be a problem, isn’t it?
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Date: 2026-04-18 02:54 am (UTC)Which is why Days of Future Past entirely featured mutants who existed at the time, and revisiting DoFP later had to explain what happened to the thousands of characters introduced afterwards.
A Justice League with no turnover? Unthinkable.
Having Armageddon 2001 played up for the comedy of this era? Disconcerting. Especially since Captain Atom's story was SO GODDAMNED DARK compared to "lol Rocket Red in Camelot."
As for the Monarch thing? I think we've heard my opinions a few times... ugh.