The aborted I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League limited series, a sequel to the hit Formerly Known as the Justice League mini, finds a new home and life in this JLA spinoff with the rotating creative teams. It's seems that the events of Identity Crisis were such a big secret that the creative team here did a followup using characters no longer available to them as a result the darker event book. Well, treating this story as occurring before Identity Crisis clears that problem up, right?
Well... not really. Still, there's a lot of fun to be had here. I love Giffen and DeMatteis's sharp dialogue. Even though the running gags do get predictable, they never get old. This is still a fun vision of the classic super-hero team, but it's hindered by something that's beyond the creators' control.
A new bar is setting up shop next door to the Superbuddies headquarters, and Sue Dibny, wife to hero-for-hire Elongated Man, discovers that the proprietor is none other than the former super-villain once known as Blackguard. Sue demands that the team's manager, Maxwell Lord, do something about the perceived incursion. Meanwhile, Blue Beetle learns a little more about Booster Gold's sugar mommy, and roommates-to-be Fire and Mary Marvel go apartment hunting.
Maguire's finely detailed line work is always a treat, and the way he draws facial expressions lends itself easily to comedy. The tweaks in the Beetle and Booster costumes seem a bit unnecessary, and I was surprised we didn't get a look at Mary Marvel's costume, as it's the most iconic of the group. Maguire's backgrounds a bit lacking here, and the pastels colorist David Baron employs distract a bit from what's going on in the foreground. Still, I love the dense panel layouts Maguire employs and how well they work with the pacing of the jokes.
A shared continuity such as the DC Universe has its advantages; it's served DC and Marvel well for decades, bringing readers in and captivtating them with adventures of disparate characters in a common setting. There's also a disadvantage that makes itself known here. In Identity Crisis #1, a pregnant Sue Dibny is murdered, allegedly by a super-villain, devastating her husband. Reaction among many readers was negative. Regardless of how one reacted to it, though, it will no doubt color how those who read that comic and this one will react to the latter. Here, Sue is alive and well, hounding a former super-villain and denying a rumor she's pregnant. The reader's knowledge of Identity Crisis interferes with the reading experience here. It's not the creators' fault, just an unfortunate reality of different writers having radically different things to say about the same characters.
The jokes are solid here, and the writers do right by the classic character interactions that served them so well during the humor era of Justice League. Beetle and Booster. L-Ron and Max. Sue and Ralph. But I'm pleased to see they're making the most of a new dynamic as well. The sometimes salacious Fire and the always innocent Mary Marvel make a great odd couple, and I hope we see more of their developing friendship in future issues. 7/10
