Many shocked faces later - Justice League of America #209

Let Old Acquaintances Be Forgot...

Justice League of America #209

Cover Date: December 1982

Released: 2nd September 1982

Normally I don't comment on the covers, but I've got to say I love the shock faces on all the floating heads on the cover, except Robotman (and you know maybe Dr Fate) who seems particularly chill about the whole situation.

Anyway, for those that skipped All-Star, we get a summary of the events of that comic in about two pages, including a handle chalkboard of who we've got and who's still to be stopped. then we get a quick recap of the whole plan. That's about five pages before we get the story proper.

 Then we cut to Geneva Switzerland where Commander Steel, Firestar and our Power Girl, the whole reason I'm here at least, are after the next bunch of missiles. After the local Burgomeister try to stop our heroes, and I'm proud to say I knew it would be a Burgomeister without the text before the baddies just open up on our heroes with a spray of bullets. Steel is knocked back and Kara has a quick encounter with a missile, stopped with a punch before Firestorm reveals Per Degaton's goons. The head goon runs for the clocktower and Kara quickly works out that the missile must be there, but the bell ringing statue is hiding Johnny Quick her vibrates her enough to make her dizzy (insert your own adult joke here) and crash out of the tower and back onto the street. In his impatience, Quick punches the goon causing them to launch the missiles, so our heroes just have to stop them the old fashion way but tearing them apart mid-air.

Meanwhile, Zatana, Green Lantern and Firebrand find Doctor Zee and Everson, who apparently is able to build the time machine that Per Degaton is going to steal to do this little nuclear plot. They decide to use the machine to travel to 1962 to see the missiles being removed from Cuba. They're debating if they have the right to change history again when strange figures can be seen from a crack in space-time. Meanwhile, the others are flying over what will be the Pentagon where Per Degaton has built his underground base, including tanks down there for defence! Everyone gets a chance to punch goons one way or another until Roboman turns up with the captured supervillain. We finish this fight with a glorious page of Huntress having a showdown with Owlman, showing (and telling) how Batman taught her how to fight better than he could ever imagine!

Meanwhile, the entire Injustice League show up on Cuba and not expecting trouble, this being Earth-Prime, they get their butt handed to them by the three heroes. Per Degaton makes a dash for the missiles but in a badass move, Zatana removes the air from around him causing him to pass out. I feel at this point I'm contractually bound to point out that from her costume this is the Zatana who did the mindwipes that would be such a big deal a few decades later in Identity Crisis. They then use magic and green ring energy to send everyone back to where they started. And without this event, the whole timeline never happened so everyone goes back to how the story started...

Everyone doesn't seem to remember what happened, though for some reason Power Girl seems to be bummed out about something. The issue ends with Firestrom, who's been working up the nerves to make moves on Kara, putting an arm around her and comforting her on the satellite.

Whilst it is weird to modern eyes that the villain here doesn't get a massive fight with the heroes, it's all over in a few pages, the extra issues does mean it all ends in a relatively satisfying manner. Yes, I'm sure much of the plot doesn't quite work if you give it any thought, and the time-based reset switch is a little annoying after forty-odd years of continued use. But it still manages to give a relatively satisfying end. I doubt they knew back then but it's a pretty good ending to these team-ups when we only have one more left before the whole universe get reset again, and this time it's a (for good twenty-odd years) keeper...

⋅ Writers: Gerry Conway ⋅ Pencilers: Don Heck ⋅ Inkers: Jerry Ordway ⋅ 

⋅ Colourists: Carl Gafford ⋅ Letterers: Ben Oda  ⋅  Editors: Len Wein ⋅