Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Mike McKone (p), Marlo Alquiza (i)
Publisher: DC
Plot:
As Wonder Woman's my way or the highway attitude meets up with the short fuse of Starfire we see the two women are soon involved in a heated contest, and this battle draws the JLA and the Teen Titans into conflict with each other. However, while these tensions are soon quashed by the arrival of cooler heads we see Starfire isn't about to let the JLA completely off the hook as she takes Superman to task for the actions of his android duplicate.
Comments:
Anytime the cover advertises the fact that the issue inside will feature two groups of heroes going after each other I'm always a bit concerned about a writer presenting characters as overly aggressive in order to arrive at a situation where the two teams would go after each other. However, for the most part Geoff Johns does seem to have a pretty solid grasp of the characters involved and their respective personalities, so as a result the battle never feels manufactured simply so team A can have it out with team B. I mean it makes sense that the overly aggressive Starfire wouldn't take kindly to Wonder Woman's demands, and Impulse's grievances that he expresses to the Flash manage to expose another source of tension between the two groups. There's also a nice little scene where Nightwing arrives and he reminds the Flash of when their young group of Teen Titans found the Justice League's visits to be highly irritating. However the real interesting moment of the issue comes when Starfire openly confronts Superman about the role that his android played in the deaths of Donna Troy and poor Lilith (who doesn't even rate a mention during Starfire's tirade). If anything I found myself disappointed that this moment wasn't used earlier in the issue as the reason for the fight, as I found the rather abrupt manner at which this tension is pushed aside to be a bit annoying, though Impulse's reaction made me smile.
As for the art, Mike McKone continues to impress as he's well on his way to proving that he's able to deliver high quality art on a monthly basis, and this time out he's been handed the fairly daunting task of clearly detailing the action when there are a dozen characters competing for panel time. First off I'd like to make mention of this issue's cover which manages to deliver a fairly exciting visual, while at the same time delivering one of the funniest depictions of Batman I've come across in quite some time. The action inside is also quite impressive, as Starfire's blasts pack a nice wallop, and does the panel where we see Cassie's new lasso gives Wonder Woman a good jolt. The scene where Impulse tests out a new speedster trick is also a solid visual, and I hope that this is a regular trick that Bart employs, as it's a pretty formidable display of power.
Final Word:
Now this isn't exactly a deep issue when it comes to the plot as it's little more that a series of encounters between members of the Teen Titans and the JLA. Now as character pieces these exchanges are pretty interesting, as one has to love Starfire and her ever present short fuse, and the scene where Impulse & the Flash have their conversation I was pleasantly surprised to see Geoff Johns had picked up on this potential source of tension, as I've always gotten the sense that Wally looked upon Bart as more of an annoyance than a potential successor. However, given Wally is all about living in the moment, I can see why he wouldn't be inclined to be thinking that far ahead in the game. This issue also nicely brings up a real sour note that exists between the two groups, but other than bringing it up, the idea that it was a Superman android that killed Donna Troy and Lilith is quickly dropped, as Wonder Woman does an abrupt about face and promptly forgets the overly aggressive stance that she entered this story with. Still this was an enjoyable pairing of the two teams, and I wouldn't mind seeing this become a annual affair, much like the JSA/JLA meetings.
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