JLI Podcast #8 – Justice League International #8 (Dec 1987)

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: BWAH-HA-HA PODCAST and The Irredeemable Shag welcome guest host Patrick Pence to discuss Justice League International #8 (Dec 1987)! It's Moving Day! This month Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire tour several JLI Embassies! Along the way we discover J'onn's love of Oreos, and they introduce an unusual onomatopoeia that might just stick around. Patrick and Shag cover what was on the shelves that same month, recap and discuss the JLI issue, and finally YOUR listener feedback!

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29 responses to “JLI Podcast #8 – Justice League International #8 (Dec 1987)

  1. I’m supposed to tell you why I love Guy Gardner. To do that, I have to use the term “love” loosely, in much the way same way that Shag always says he has to use the term “friend” loosely (seriously, you must be the loneliest guy on the planet!).

    Guy is the “hero” everyone loves to hate. That’s his role in the DC universe. If Guy’s not irritating everyone around him, he’s just not Guy. The DC world might well be a more peaceful place if there were no Guy Gardner in it….

    … but it would probably be a lot less interesting.

    (Yard Sale Artist)

  2. Man did I love this comic. It’s one of my favorites — and perhaps the best of the JL/JLA/JLI series of books!

    Great coverage on the issue and it reminded my I loved it so! And bonus for tales of young Shag and his studying/dating moves.

  3. Yard sale artist

    Became a huge fan from of Guy Gardner with this series. Love him or hate him he is a very well realized character. He was the polar opposite of all my social and political views but it doesn’t matter because he is a character that actually makes you feel something. And his relationship with G’Nort was so spectacular. To me he is way better than Hal could ever be. He does not give up!

  4. Loved hearing issue 8 being remembered so fondly. It’s a favorite of mine. And the Yard Sale Artist giveaway makes it all the better. The Guy Gardner drawing is great. I love the Green Lantern Corps. Guy is one of the most fun. You never know the next thing he’ll but you do know it’ll be inappropriate.

  5. Loved hearing issue 8 being remembered so fondly. It’s a favorite of mine. And the Yard Sale Artist giveaway makes it all the better. The Guy Gardner drawing is great. I love the Green Lantern Corps. Guy is one of the most fun. You never know the next thing he’ll say but you do know it’ll be inappropriate.

  6. I really enjoyed this episode. The camaraderie between you and Patrick came through very loud and clear. It felt like I was eavesdropping on a fun geeky conversation between two old buds, and I was!

    I had forgotten this is where we get the oreo bit AND BWAHAHA. Obviously a very important issue, and it definitely cemented the tone of the series, slanting it more toward the humor side from here on out, with a few exceptions.

    Oh, and Mattel made the Apokoliptian Rocket Red in their Justice League Unlimited line. I don’t think anyone has made this classic version yet.

    Chris

  7. Fun show, always nice to hear new voices added to the mix. Patrick’s Dad must be pretty busy running for VP, too bad he couldn’t call in to the show.

    Ever since I bought this issue off the newsstands, I’ve been of two minds on the cover: OTOH, it’s very funny, well designed, and beautifully drawn. OTOH, it is (to me) the beginning of the JLI concept tipping too far into silliness, not representing the dignity that should come with any book titled JUSTICE LEAGUE. But that’s just me.

  8. I love this podcast. I love the series it’s covering. I love this issue in particular. So yes, I loved this episode!
    This is the issue when I realized how funny the Justice Leauge was going to be. My friend Zee and I started identifying with Booster and Beatle, starting with this issue.

  9. I own all eight published issues of “Sonic Disruptiotors”, it was bad 80 rock meets bad 80 Cold War near future. It sold so poorly they just stoped publishing at eight. No ending, no explanation.

  10. What do I love most about Guy Garnder? Is it the way Messrs. Wein, Ostander and Byrne had Guy dismantle that New Universe super-ego guy in Legends? Naw. Howabout the way Guy says “OBOYOBYOBOY” when he sees a Russian he wants to fight? No! Is it how he makes a funny face when Batman hits him with one punch? No way! It has to be that Moe Howard haircut. Wiseguy! Why I oughta!. . .

  11. Yard Sale Artist’s work is incredible. Whoever wins that piece will be very pleased.
    Reasons why Guy is the best:
    –taste in hair (bowl cuts)
    –taste in personal heroes (General Glory!)
    –taste in women (nobody’s hotter than Ice)
    –taste in clothes (sleeveless jackets and big boots are all the rage)
    –taste in teams (GLC and JLI? C’mon, you don’t get cooler)

  12. You know, all that was missing from this issue was a laugh track. 🙂

    As to the Yard Sale Artist give away, I have two words for why I love Guy Gardner: Shawn Engle. I always thought that Guy was an annoyance, at best, since I only saw him in guest spots or as the nitwit pestering Hal Jordon in the early issues of the 90’s Green Lantern series (aka Volume 3). Then I listened to “Just One of the Guys” and Shawn changed my mind. Yeah, guy was still annoying at times, but he was the “jerk with a heart of gold”. Luckily, I was able to write to Shawn and tell him that while the show was still going on.

  13. Greeting from the Irish Embassy, where we are pleased to report that Beetle and Booster have arrived after accidentally going to the Australian Embassy when trying to get to the Canadian Embassy. they have with them a didgeridoo, a snow globe of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a crate of Tim Tams which they say will make J’onn’s Oreos pale by comparison!

    Another fun episode – Moving Day was a nice, done-in-one humourous story of the team settling in to their embassies. The New York episode was very well played and J’onn came across as having a dry wit in his dealings with the movers and Captain Atom. Looking at the building it does seem like the UN pushed the team into some building with limited space, surprising as it was the base for the main team. It was interesting listening to Shagg and Patrick discussing the introduction of Captain Atom on the team. That was my first introduction to the Captain and in this appearance, he does come across as someone who would fit nicely in the Booster/Beetle mold as being a more humourous character. It was only later that I learned of the more serious nature of his character through seeing a few issues of his own book and later stories.

    The Russian portion of the story was intriguing as well, introducing the Russian Chief Boris Dmitravich Razumihin as a Russian plant and giving a small glimpse of Rocket Red, which was not much (although it was interesting seeing him channel the UK sitcom “Allo Allo” when he was talking to the KGB agents).

    The Paris section was hilarious – Beetle’s delight at Booster’s failed attempt to romance Catherine Colbert was so realistic – you could imagine yourself taking the same pleasure from a friend who embarrassed himself royally as Booster did. The fact that Catherine was the Paris Embassy chief made the humour so much better. An instant classic.

    The second part of the story was intriguing. I had never seen this part of the story before, as I had read it initially through the trade paperback “The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord” which cut this out, and it was only when I found a copy of the issue in a back issue bin that I read it. The closing of the Global Guardians was a nice sub-plot and brought in Jack O’Lantern as a future protagonist down the line. Patrick mentioned how Oirish it was to have Jack O’Lantern as the Irish hero. Probably not as bad as when I read Jack O’Lantern’s appearance in the Showcase Presents DC Comics Presents Volume 2 and found that his sidekick was a member of the fairy-folk!

    DUNN DUNN DUNNNNNNNN!

    (Ooops, sorry : Beetle and Booster was hanging around with the Waiting for Doom crew in Australia and Paul Hix gave Beetle their file of the “Dun Dunn Dunn” music that they play in their recaps – Beetle just played that now! Didn’t mean for that paragraph to end so dramatically.)

    As an aside, I wonder if this issue and the next few, which had Giffen art, was to allow Kevin Maguire time to recover after having the double sized issue 7 issue?

    Re the Yead Sale Artist – it is a cool drawing for Guy. He is definitely a character to love because even though he is obnoxious and annoying, when the chips are down, he is definitely a person you want in the trenches fighting for you.

    Great show Shagg and Patrick, and next time, Millenium!

    DUN DUNN ……….(knock it off Beetle, it’s not that dramatic!)

    Funny how issue 8 ended with this “Please go to Millenium 1 to follow the JLI” and when you got to Millenium 1, they dealt with it in one panel! Guess they needed the JLI fans to try and support the first issue!

    Looking forward to issue 9, this is the Irish Embassy signing off. Now, how do I send Booster and Beetle back to New York?

  14. Bwah-Ha-Ha! The reason I love Guy Gardner is because he makes any story he is in entertaining! I love the fact that he is a brawler, doesn’t back down from a fight, and won’t quit. His look is distinctive, and I like the dynamic he brings to the team. He may be a jerk, but he is full of surprises which makes him unpredictable. Underneath all his machismo, he has the heart of a great hero. I dressed as Guy Gardner for Halloween and won second place in a costume contest, which was a copy of Secret Wars #8! Yard Sale Artist did an awesome job on the art! I think it is great that he is inspired by this podcast while working out. I am also inspired to go to work, knowing I will enjoy delivering the mail with this fun show to listen to!

  15. This was my first individual issue of JLI, which seems to be not that rare an occurrence amongst the listeners. Great episode with a great guest although he did sound somewhat damaged from long-term direct exposure to Shag.

    I really like Guy, but I’ll skip the entry as I know international postage is a bitch.

  16. I’m only a few minutes into the podcast, but had to give a shout out to Patrick for being a Geographer! Yes! Fellow geographers unite!

  17. I think you should give Patrick an episode of JLE eventually, since I thought he was a great guest and that would be a feather in his geographer’s cap. I also wanted to say I like being nestled between Closeout Comics and Coffee and Comics Blog when you do the shoutouts. It seems like my happy place!

  18. Love for Guy? When I was younger and meet Guy for the 1st time in the pages of Crisis, I didn’t know who this imposter was. He was nothing thing like Hal, thus no connection. Then I moved on over to the other company and missed out on the great late 90’s of DC. When I return to DC, Guy was in Warrior mode and thus no connection to the one time GL. Thus I my love for Guy was low and that is being super nice.
    Now as an adult, I gave the Green Lantern Corps another chance with Geoff Jones. In the pages of (wait for it…) Blackest Night tie in, I feel in love for Guy because of his passion/rage for his fellow lanterns especially Carl. I moved from disconnection to respect for Guy then. As of late, I have been going back and rediscovering all the goodness I missed at DC in the late 80’s. In the pages of JLI, I found myself not respecting Guy, but loving to hate him in the early days and was thrilled with the “one punch”. But I loved how he had his change of attitudes. I loved how it was played.
    As I have learned more about who Guy is, the more I respect him. So to say I love Guy, is more like I respect the Guy with the Green Ring. He is own man. His looks grown on me over the years, especially the art by Jarrod Alberich, the Yard Sale Artist!

  19. I shan’t enter the Yard Sale Artist contest as the postage would be murderous, so won’t point out that Guy Gardner is great because he’s had a rocky road as a hero yet perseveres and while he tends to be obnoxious, he has a better side and being around his friends inevitably brings it out. Plus, best costume ever!

    Anyway, slick podcast as ever, Shagg, and Pat was a sterling guest, please do have him on again. Perhaps he could set us a regular quiz question – though not about G’nort (I could imagine the Creeper wearing his pelt as a cape).

    I enjoyed this issue, including the back-up, which gave us a nice widening of the storyline. I don’t see that Jack O’Lantern’s name is terrible, as a Jack O’Lantern is a thing, not a pun.

  20. “Moving Day.” To quote Guy, “Oboyoboyoboyoboyoboy!”

    I know JLI #7 is supposed to be when “everything changes,” but no, it was #8. In this one issue, JLI transforms from being a superhero comic, to a character-driven comedy which happens to have superheroes. This was the turning point, and JLI would never be the same after this. And I loved every moment of it. Oreos. Bwah-hah-hah! Blue and Gold. This was “it”.

    When I originally read this issue, I enjoyed the backup story, but Giffen’s art really didn’t complement Maguire’s. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Giffen’s art. But in this phase of his style, it was a very jarring transition. It would have been seamless with his LSH/Great Darkness Saga style, or his LSH/5 Years Later (oh man, so good), but not so much going from Maguire’s art to Ambush Bug style. Yes, it was perfect for the Secret Origin Creeper issue, since that story was just so … CREEPY(!), just not in JLI.

    And hey, who else remembers the Marvel-esque story nod in Flash from the Dome/Global Guardians shutting down? Wally was using a Dome satellite for positioning data (pre-GPS) when he ran into the USSR to escort Red Trinity out, and they got stuck because the satellite was cut off in mid-trip! I really can’t recall any DC books doing things like that before. Maybe this community can point out some previous examples?

    Hmmm, seems like I’m forgetting something. Oh, that’s right! I saw the great Guy Gardner painting by Yard Sale Artist on his twitter feed. Seriously, you all should check it out. He shares lots of great stuff there, very talented, and this rendition of Guy is spot on. I truly enjoyed that we see his change from outright antagonist in GLC to anti-hero in JLI. You could only hate Guy before, but JLI let us “love to hate” him. With this series, we finally had the one, true Guy Gardner.

    Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s some blue dwarf and a tall Roman woman floating above my lawn, and I just finished planting the millennials.

  21. Super Late to the Party – I know I know but international time zones and I suspect time travel are REALLY tricky to manage.

    I’m seeking some help… Are there any clear designs / shots of the JLI New York Embassy somewhere? I am thinking about trying to re-create the Embassy in LEGO (I’ve already built something for the JSA which I think looks similar) and also the JLI Shuttle of this issue. I think there’s a fairly good image of the shuttle in issue 9 to work from but I’m never sure about the Embassy. Maybe because the Embassy looks a bit different depending on the artist?

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