by Randy Lander

JLA #61 Mildly Recommended (6/10) DC Comics "Two-Minute Warning" Writer: Joe Kelly Pencils: Doug Mahnke Inks: Tom Nguyen Colors: David Baron Letters: Ken Lopez Editor: Dan Raspler "The Power Principle" Writer: Kurt Busiek Pencils: Tom Grummett Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger Colors: Alex Sinclair Letters: Comicraft Editor: Peter Tomasi Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN This stands as a decent first issue, introducing each character and their abilities, giving every member of the team somewhere to shine, keeping the scale big enough for the JLA and delivering some really beautiful artwork. Unfortunately, the characterization of each characters is lacking, and the story really doesn't have much in the way of consequences, almost taking the scale too far over the top. It's time for more of a change in approach for JLA, I think, because only Grant Morrison could carry off the widescreen style he brought to the book, and even he never captured it perfectly. While Kelly has written team books with his work on X-Men, he is at his best with single characters, and that does show to some degree here. While the structure is sound, giving every character a sequence of their own, the characters all seem a bit too similar. They are all confident wisecrackers with infinite power, and the lack of diversity in approach or personality leads them all to seem a bit bland, even if the aggregate effect is one of cosmic power and ultimate confidence. There are some exceptions, though. Despite similarity of personalities, Kelly does give us some really effective moments here. Seeing the massive power of a Green Lantern ring contrasted against its wielder being unable to afford a cup of coffee is a nice commentary on the mortality behind these cosmic powers, for example. Also, seeing Batman carry on several conversations in different frames of mind while sparring with Wonder Woman maintains the uber-Bat characterization that Morrison set as the gold standard to follow for the book. Though I sometimes have problems with Mahnke's work on facial expressions, notably in longer shots, I can't fault most of the artwork here. He captures the scale of the story with enormous titans battling each other or Kyle lifting Long Island out of place, and he does some nifty design work on the nasty little beastie behind the whole mess. The artwork on this title has always been hit or miss, from the uneven Howard Porter to the frequently absent Bryan Hitch to the multitude of fill-ins, but Mahnke and Nguyen are definitely more hit than miss. The backup feature was what really drew me to this issue, as it's our first glimpse of Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett's new project The Power Company. Honestly, while reading it, I was thinking that the dialogue and narration was stilted, but a revelation about the nature of the story revealed that stilted dialogue as part of the story, at which point it switched to a more natural form of writing. This is very much a light piece, with not much in the way of plot and a teaser for the villain that is utterly generic. However, as an introduction to the characters, it's top notch, illustrating their powers and basic personalities, and I really enjoy the look of the team that Grummett and Von Grawbadger have crafted. In any case, while it's not a stunning debut, it's an interesting teaser, which is about all you can expect from a short back-up. Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.