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Mild Mannered Reviews - Justice League Unlimited

Justice League Unlimited #10

Scheduled to arrive in stores: June 1, 2005

Cover date: August 2005

Writer: Adam Beechen
Penciller: Carlo Barberi
Inker: Carlo Barberi

"Madness... Madness... They Call it Madness!"

Reviewed by: Neal Bailey

Click to enlarge

Blue Beetle guards a convoy carrying a nuclear missile as it transports from one point to another.

The Madmen, a group of gizmo thugs, hop the convoy, get the drop on Beetle, and steal the missile.

Batman sets himself to the task of finding the missile, and ends up calling in Creeper, so that they can see how the madmen think.

Creeper acts crazy, but finally settles down after (not a typo) Batman kicks him to calm him down.

Creeper takes him to meet with a former member of the Madmen, who reveals that the Madmen are going to use the missile to blow up Coney Island.

The Justice League checks out Coney, but finds nothing.

Creeper reveals that the Madmen are mad enough to make a plot then change it, and they find the Madmen dropping the nuclear bomb down the former member's chimney to take revenge on him for quitting.

Creeper stops the Madmen and Batman dismantles the bomb.

Creeper asks to be on the main roster, and for an apology from Batman.

Batman says, "You're crazy."

Story - 2: I understand that this is a book geared towards children, and in that, I respect how surface it is. Batman is not a brooding arrogant angry man, he's just gruff on the outside and soft on the inside, like Wolverine in the X-Men cartoon as opposed to the man who's now killing 50,000 Hydra agents.

I also understand that I should be looking at this as a kid looks at it.

If I do, I realize that as a kid, I would put this down.

As a kid, I didn't care about the Blue Beetle, or the Creeper. I cared about Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Maybe Green Lantern or Manhunter. The rest were just offshoots. Still are, to a degree. So when I see a story about Creeper and Madmen, a story where Batman resorts to force to silence someone and where the main plot line is how ordinary humans can stop Blue Beetle, I'm not really interested, even with the kid in me.

It's interesting to see the Creeper in the animated universe, but his actions and dialogue are so stereotypical and geared towards those whose idea of sophistication is a Saturday Morning Cartoon that as an adult it's harder to get into it, even thinking like a kid.

For a kid, this might be an average issue. For me, it was kinda abominable. So I put it right in the middle to be fair.

Art - 4: No problems here. Given the script the artist had, the work is very vivid and exemplary. I've always liked the animated style. There are a few bad points, like with Superman's cape or when Batman kicks Creeper, the continuity is a bit off, it's a disjointed moment, but otherwise, not too bad. Good work.

Cover Art - 2: It's an homage to Kubrick, and I have respect for that, but the colors are off, the characters are in awkward poses, and the proportions are strange, and the whole affair just screams of kiddie to me. It's hard to get into that, as an adult, and it's also not that enthralling, even as a kid, I would imagine.

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