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Mild Mannered Reviews - JLA Comics

JLA #30

Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 28, 1999

Cover Date: June 1999

Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Howard Porter
Inker: John Dell

"Worlds Beyond"

Reviewed by: Josh Gehling (rgehling@concentric.net)

(This is part 3 of the "Crisis Times Five" storyline)

Triumph taunts Steel as he is sent flying through the JLA moon-base. Triumph tells Steel that nobody liked his JLA while everyone loves the new Justice League of America. Another Earth-shattering punch and Steel's armor is torn to shreads. He hits the wall and pillars collapse onto him, but when Triumph looks for him, he is gone. Underneath the floor, Steel sits silently waiting...

Over Keystone City, two genies fight as the JLA watches below. Also, watching from below is JJ, the controller of one of the genies above (the controller of the other genie is Triumph). JJ barely saves his genie from destruction by commanding it to kick the big blue *#(%_($*@*&%*$ (and that's an exact quote). The genie gets a surge of strength and starts to fight back quicker and harder.

As the two genies duke it out in Keystone City, Zauriel and Sentinel float above the Astral Boundary deep in conversation about how to free the Spectre from his prison inside a "living, breathing world" (which cannot just be destroyed because of the life it contains). They decide that the only way to get the Spectre out is by speeding up (the astral boundary's) time until the planet is destroyed, so civilization can still carry on but a life-form will live and die in the space of a second.

Back in Keystone City, the blue genie (controlled by Triumph) tries to destroy JJ (the controller of the pink genie) which will then give him control over the pink genie and time is running out!

In Gotham City, Batman is having a conversation with Aquaman, the only other member of the JLA besides Superman who has faced a fifth-dimensional imp (or genie).

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Green Lantern team up in the fifth dimension and meet the imp that Aquaman has faced in the past: Qwsp. Qwsp tells the two heroes that he has the fifth dimension in turmoil and the third dimension in ruins. As he continues to talk GL and CM slip away from Qwsp's "house" and out into a fifth dimensional city.

In the moonbase, Hourman tells Steel that he cannot attack Triumph because he is invisible to his time senses. Soon afterwards, Steel reaches his workshop but Hourman tells him that he has very little time to work and that someone will die shortly.

On the streets of Keystone City, JJ and the JSA encounter Qwsp who tells them that the only way for them to avoid a war is to show him the meaning of true heroism by giving their life to save the world.

In the moonbase, Triumph hears the JLA's calls for help and starts to put his plan into affect... now he will save the world and be hailed as the ultimate hero that he was always meant to be. As he begins to leave, Aquaman and Batman stand in the shadows of the doorway waiting for him and...

Story - 4: : I'll admit it, the last two stories were awful and really started to alter my opinion on this storyline but this story was the exact opposite. It was interesting, exciting and most importantly: fun to read. Even though I didn't really go into detail about the speeding up of time in the Astral Boundary this truly was masterfully executed, Grant Morrison has written an exciting chapter in this "Crisis Times Five" story, let's hope he can keep this up in part 4 for the story's highest rating... average (the first two were so bad, that the only thing the next two can bring it up to is average).

Art - 3: Average Porter artwork, with everyone always in some kind of action pose and/or too skinny or too fat. Please get a new artist for JLA, DC... PLEEEEASE!

Cover - 2: A really bland looking cover... it looks like some kind of "DC Fall Special" with all the orange colors... definitely the worst part of the comic.