This comic book marks retired industry legend Dennis O'Neil's return to the medium he helped to shape in the 1970s. I think his last writing gig was the now-cancelled Azrael series, one I never really got into as the title character was just too alien for my taste. With this script, O'Neil gets back to his roots, bringing social activism into his super-hero storytelling. His environmentally minded plot is more than a little ham-fisted, but his characterization of one particular member of the Justice League is entertaining. The real strength of the book is the art from Tan Eng Huat; it's a treat to see him tackle these top-dogs of the super-hero genre.
A spaceship has found its way to our solar system, and its arrival causes quite the cataclysmic stir in the JLA Watchtower. Plastic Man summons his teammates to deal with the attack, and soon, two of the Justice League's most poewrful members find even they're not immune to the ship's intense weapons systems. Before long, the heroes discover the ship's purpose, and it's linked to an earthly animal that makes the populations of other animals on the endangered species list seem as fruitful as that of the common housefly.
While I enjoyed Kyle Baker's artwork on the debut issue of Plastic Man recently, Tan Eng Huat's depiction of the stretchable super-hero blows Baker's out of the water. The artist's detailed style really makes the weirdness of Plas's transformations come to life, and his expressiveness enhances the goofier side of the character. His take on the other heroes is impressive as well... save for his portrayal of Wonder Woman. She's meant to be this exotic, noble and powerful beauty, but at times, she almost looks... bookish. I don't know what it is, but she just seems lacking somehow.
O'Neil opens the story on an appropriately exciting, action-packed note, and it's tempered by the over-the-top goofiness of Plastic Man. The plotting here is fairly basic and familiar, and the disregard the forestry workers exhibit at the end of the book is rather difficult to accept. Even so, I did find that the new alien character whom the JLA meets is unusually charming in an awkward way. I like the notion of shape-shifting as a form of communication or a means to make another party more comfortable in an initial encounter.
The book's greatest weakness isn't the forced morality of the plotline, but the rather obvious tone in the script. The dialogue itself points out it is exposition-heavy early on in the book. For the sake of that gag, it's OK, but then O'Neil perpetuates that over-explanatory tone throughout the book.
