JLI Podcast #11 – Justice League International #11 (Mar 1988)

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: BWAH-HA-HA PODCAST and The Irredeemable Shag welcome guest host Kyle Benning to discuss Justice League International #11 (Mar 1988)! Maxwell Lord's secrets are coming unraveled, which leads the League into a confrontation with an old foe! Kyle and Shag cover what was on the shelves that same month, recap and discuss the JLI issue, and finally tackle YOUR listener feedback!

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32 responses to “JLI Podcast #11 – Justice League International #11 (Mar 1988)

  1. Thanks for the Double Stuf Award, I’m sticking it on my bedpost so I can look at it constantly.

    This cover is just wonderful, it’s not an original idea but so well done.

    I always like the Construct. Mainly because he’s easier to pronounce than Kilg%re – do you say ‘kilgpercentageee’? Because that’s beyond me.

    Metron doesn’t excite me. Too pompous. Still, I suppose he invented the Lazeeboy

    Lovely to hear Kyle – that man can hold a tune!

    1. I just say “Kill Gore.” I could have rendered it like the surname, but I like my way better. More Chopping Mall that way.

  2. I have many things to say about this issue, mainly cause it was my entry point to the JLI and Giffen in general, who is my favorite creator.
    What I did want to mention was how missed Bob Lappan in is this issue. Not even the Leiahola issues coming right up feel as “off” as his absence does.

  3. As I have said, I didn’t really read this book so I am learning all about it here.

    The Construct is not a selling point. Isn’t he the arch-nemesis of Red Tornado? Is that damning with faint praise?

    Metron is a selling point!

    But the biggest selling point is Black Canary in that costume. Alas, she isn’t long for this comic and that costume isn’t long for this world.

  4. Funny you bring up checkmate I own all of it and think I want to do a podcast for it. I’d call it King me a checkmate podcast. Any pointers on starting ?

  5. I’m kind of surprised Kyle didn’t just start a new podcasting network while he was trapped in your trunk. 😉

    I think Kyle is channeling some of the old Rob Kelly Who’s Who anger in this episode. You may want to treat your hostages a bit better BEFORE you put them on the show, Shag. Kyle brought the rage!

    I gotta say, this cover, while well done, doesn’t stick out in my memory. I’ve owned the book for nearly 30 years, but unlike most JL/JLI covers by Maguire, I didn’t really remember this one. I did recall the Beetle color snafu once I saw it here.

    I never quite got Metron. His characterization seemed to change a lot from series to series, creator to creator. Sometimes he was a straight heroic character, other times he was presented as “above” such concepts as good and evil, and played both sides for his own gains. I guess that makes more sense, but in my young, black and white mind while reading this series, it didn’t endear the character to me.

    I greatly appreciated the overview of his published career with the New Gods. Man, what a long and winding road it’s been. I do recall all those later series being out on the shelves, but I don’t remember much about them. I do know Paris Cullins redesigns filled up the Loose Leaf Who’s Who, and when you go back and look at long-haired, freak-faced Orion, it’s quite jarring, as compared to the classic look.

    Oh, and thanks Kyle for defending Knightcast and popping more and more holes in Shag’s “Batman Phase” theory. The world has been in a Batman Phase since 1966…or at the very least 1989…but Shag refuses to acknowledge it.

    Chris

  6. Yea it’s kinda nice with this where things are put into the comic and are not necessarily a chekhov’s gun. Also did Blue Beetle just decide it would be better to attack Black Canary with a leopard strike (half fist) instead of the Construct.

  7. What kind of moron doesn’t like Soundwave? He’s the coolest of the early wave of Decepticons. You hate good things, Shag. But enjoy your fiery Ronald McDonald!

    1. Soundwave was all kinds of awesome. He’s one of the few higher-priced series 1 Transformers I had. The animation model was close to the toy, so that was a bonus. Plus, he’s got the Decepticon symbol for a head as Kyle pointed out! Now Blaster…yeah, his toy kind of sucked because the tape deck was glued shut.

      Chris

  8. So if I get what happened right Shag kidnapped Kyle Benning to get him to do the podcast by throwing him in the back in his trunk then dragged him into the studio and tied him to a chair. Then apparently had someone else go get Benning’s car to have it be parked out front so that security could have it towed away. So in a panic he goes and runs after it. Apparently still handcuffed to the chair and seems to develop Stockholm’s syndrome as he comes back to finish the podcast after escaping.

    Did I miss anything?

    1. I noticed that plothole, too! Shag should have given Kyle the hose again, instead! Kidding, I thought Kyle was a great guest on another great episode! (Iowa represent!) Maybe Jimmy McGlinchey can salvage the plothole when he makes a comment! I do love that Shag comes up with those crazy scenarios to bookend the Justice Log segment.

  9. I thought John Workman’s sharp style nailed it! I can’t think of a better substitute for the mighty Bob Lappan, who only missed out on a handful of issues in this run anyway.

    Mixed in with fresh new creations such as Gray Man and Manga Khan, Giffen & Co. repurposed more Silver/Bronze Age concepts in this series than I remembered: the Assemblers, Royal Flush Gang, Queen Bee, Despero, and this issue’s Construct. Created by Englehart & Dillin, by the way… another great thing to come out of that brief but beloved run.

    “The Weird” was an okay mini, certainly not as awesome and brutal as Batman: the Cult. The main thing that was odd was the JLI roster, which includes two characters who never overlapped: Dr. Fate and Captain Atom. Cap joined the team during Nice Guy era, too; the Weird includes regular Guy. Yeah, the roll call’s a mess.)

    I always thought that Legion sub ad was drawn by Byrne; Polar Boy’s hands and dimples give it away.

      1. Doesn’t that make me the winner? I said it had a Byrne-like look in the episode. Kesel on inks explains it, he softens some of the Byrne telltales, which is probably why Byrne doesn’t like how Kesel’s inks look on his stuff.

  10. Superb episode. Kyle was on fire, and that seemed to give him quite the pottymouth.

    I love this issue’s cover; the design is so striking it LEAPS off the racks. Considering how much Maguire is known for his facial expressions, it’s interesting that he chose to hide almost all the JLIers faces this time around.

    Kyle’s son referring to himself as Batman–in the third person–is pure win. I might start doing that myself.

    Batman Out!

    1. I feel like it’s an obligation to swear every time I appear on the network. In the 150+ episodes or so of my own show, there have been a total of 4 swear words dropped. You sir, Mr. Kelly account for half of them in your guest appearance for the Gerry Conway crossover episode. Just returning the favor 😛

  11. Hello, Irish Embassy here and I think the evil ‘puter has hacked into our server. I keep getting e-mails that are clearly fake – take this one: “Help, my name is Kyle and Shagg has kidnapped me! He keeps me tied up in the basement and is telling me, in excruciating detail, why Phantom Girl is the hottest Legionairre and taunting me with pictures of my recording studio being towed away! Send help ASAP!!!!!!” Think you may need Mister Miracle to check the system again Shagg!

    Another great show, Shagg and Kyle and a great discussion of the story. For me, the art on the story seemed a little different – a lot more expansive compared to previous and subsequent issues, even though the art team is the same. It was only when you said that John Workman was doing the letters instead of Bob Lappan that it made sense. Lappan’s tight lettering, to me, makes the art appear more focussed whereas Workman’s much more expansive lettering made the art, to me, seem more broader. I looked at the splash pages in both issue 11 and 12, and even though it is the same penciller,inker, and colourist; the word balloons in both pages gives the art a subtle difference, in my eyes. Don’t know if anyone else feels the same.

    One thing that wasn’t mentioned was how funny Guy was in his soppy mode. While no one can dispute Booster being sick as a funny moment, I thought the exchange between Rocket Red and Guy as the team flew to meet Max was hilarious :

    “This is very strange, you look like Guy Gardner, you sound like Guy Gardner, but you cannot possibly be Guy Gardner”

    “Of course I’m Guy Gardner! Why would you think I’m anyone but Guy Gardner?”

    “Because the Guy Gardner i Met in the Soviet Union was a swaggering, insufferable ass!”

    “There! That proves that it couldn’t have been me!”

    Looking on the issue too, I’m surprised at how funny Captain Atom was. I haven’t read his title in full, but I would not have placed him as one of the funny characters. Maybe leading the superhero forces in Invasion and being in charge of the JLE in a year’s time took the humour out of him!

    Finally, great shout out to Martin Gray and his contribution to the UK Superman Monthly magazine. Thiswas my introduction to the JLI and the wider DC universe and led me to seeking out places to find the original content. Hope he enjoys his Double Stuff Award!

  12. It just occurred to me that Canary looks like she’s striking a classic rock lead singer pose on the cover, ala Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey. Just imagine Daltrey’s epic “YEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” from “Don’t Get Fooled Again” as a Canary Cry!

    Chris

  13. Folks, unless you work on a Network with Shagg, you don’t even know the depths of his unpopular opinions. Soundwave is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Good thing Kyle was there to call him out on his various wrongpinions.

    I prefer to think the villain really IS the Conduit, if only because he’s one of Red Tornado’s few nemeses, and I need a lot of help to finally destroy that danged robot.

  14. Once again another great show! Enjoyed the back and forth between Black Canary and Rocket Red and the fact Canary knows she’s so hot that Dimitri’s wife might feel threatened. Of course Canary seems full of herself but being that hot why wouldn’t she? I also liked Rocket Red’s attempt at trying American slang only to have Batman of all people giving the know one says swell anymore speech. Gosh that Maxwell Lord has a keen smile. Booster a known time traveler who can’t go anywhere without his Legion flight ring getting nauseous on that super jet thing? Hilarious! That she blows indeed. And to my friend Rob Kelly! Gnort rules!!

  15. Lord love ya, Shagster, but even I can’t brew a strong enough coffee to allow me to listen to that Scooby-Doo style Grimlock impression. But then again, what else should I expect from a guy named after Norville Rogers?

    1. Fellas, let’s remember Shag does the single best Frank Welker Darkseid voice ever recorded. Frank Welker himself doesn’t do it any better.

      To me that gets him out of bad impersonation jail EVERY time.

      Chris

      1. Well since you are the authority on voice impersonations, Chris, I’ll count that as a pretty strong character witness testimony. And you’re right about the Darkseid voice. It’s pretty hardcore.

        1. Funny you mention that Frank Welker Darkseid voice, Welker was obviously also the voice of Soundwave in Transformers, which heavily relied on a post-production effect to give it its metallic awesomeness. Well in the TF Season 3 episode Webworld they left that effect off, so Soundwave’s voice actually sounded exactly like Darkseid’s. so that must have been the pre-effect voice he used. Quite the difference before and after.

  16. Boy, it was a long 2 months waiting to read issue #11, and Shagg and Kyle deliver the goods. Lots of fun revisiting Dinah’s best appearance in the series. Rather than bemoan her upcoming departure or the bittersweet “what could have been”, lets celebrate Giffen-DeMatteis-Maguire giving her this great issue. Banter with almost the whole team, taking charge of the mission, jokes with Dmitri. Black Canary stole the show. Love!

    Oh and Dmitri. Dmitri. Dmitri. I can read his dialog all day. And his character is almost exactly the opposite of most Russian characters of the time, because of that pesky Cold War thing. Not a villain, or super-serious, or adversarial. Friendly, funny, honest, selfless, dare I say it, “heroic”. And that hilarious American lingo. Just a delight.

    Keep watching his friendship with Batman (yes, Batman) evolve. Another aspect of Rocket Red being such an outsider (No, not an Outsider, different team) is he’s not that intimidated by Batman and talks to him like a person rather than “The Batman”. No wonder Bats is the one most surprised by Red’s lingo. “Gee willikers?” BWAH-HAH-HAH!

    Ok, I have to admit this. When evil ‘puter says “Oh. Hello.” It sounded like Shagg saying “Hello” at the beginning the podcasts. Now, evil ‘puter *always* sounds like Shagg! How did Shagg transform into that ‘puter? Wait. Transform? Yeah? Yeah?

  17. I assume you’re going to skip the “Year One” annual from the late ’90s that takes place between scenes from #12?

    I like Metron much, much, much better when he’s called Thanos.

    I missed issues #11-13 while buying the book off the newsstand in Nevada. Don’t recall if that was a choice or a circumstance. Millennium initially fueled but then killed my Post-Crisis DC buying renaissance, though I recall liking the JLI tie-in issues.

    I don’t hate G’nort as much as Rob, but a little bit goes a long way. He was great on JLAntarctica, though.

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