Joe Kelly's political bent continues in JLA this month, and he explores relevant issues in the context of a super-hero universe. He continues to make the most of the new members of the roll call, and even touches briefly upon new racial dynamics in the team. Unfortunately, a rather bizarre, character-oriented subplot and some over-the-top artwork combine to make this something of a subpar chapter of an otherwise impressive creative stint on the book.
The Justice League finds itself in the role of intervenor in the middle of a standoff between U.S. government law enforcement and the metahuman protectors of a pacifist commune. The tension confrontation is the result of a misunderstanding, and the heroes quickly find themselves empathizing with the residents of the Safe Haven Collective. Almost inevitably, though, the tension erupts into a potentially fatal scenario. Meanwhile, Princess Diana visits Wayne Manor... for a date with the civilian guise of a certain Dark Knight.
Wonder Woman and Batman... on a date? It's just too big a pill a swallow. A few years ago, JLA writers dabbled with the notion of romantic tension between Aquaman and Diana, and it made sense, given their unconventional backgrounds and royal stations. But Wonder Woman and Batman... what's the point? The reader knows that DC isn't about to mix these two radically different icons. Furthermore, Batman loses his grim, distant and protected nature here, and his sharing of his feelings with Diana seems completely out of character.
Sowd's inks bring a tighter, cleaner quality to Rouleau's pencils, but overall, his exaggerated approach just doesn't suit the more grounded elements of this story. Anatomy is thrown out the window, for example, conflicting the tone of realism for which the script is striving. Wonder Woman's shoulder muscle on the page three splash, for example, is larger than her head. The characters are rendered inconsistently, and that quality takes the reader out of the story. Rouleau's work here reminds me of an uncomfortable cross between the styles of Todd (Spawn) McFarlane and Mark (Peter Parker) Buckingham.
The situation at the Safe Haven Collective is an interesting one. We're led to believe that separatist compounds and communities like these are all about cults and Koresh and craziness. Kelly has crafted some fascinating characters in Shepherd and Vela, leaders of the collective. Their philosophies and actions are well reasoned, and Kelly turns the reader's preconceptions of isolationists on its ear. Furthermore, the scene in which the Justice League willingly defends its incorporation of new members to the world's heads of state rang made for some interesting political and social conflict.
