JLI Podcast #22 – Justice League International #22

Another international guest! From the Australian Embassy, Paul Hix joins The Irredeemable Shag to discuss Justice League International #22! Oberon must defend the Embassy from the attack of the little people! Meanwhile, the rest of the team meets up with Wonder Woman in the South Pacific to battle the Khund invasion force! Paul and Shag cover what was on the shelves that same month, recap and discuss the JLI issue, and tackle YOUR listener feedback!

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25 responses to “JLI Podcast #22 – Justice League International #22

  1. You’re right, I don’t listen to this show, but I do receive Google Alerts for the name BRYAN DALY, and I hate you both.

  2. Terrific guest for a great issue!

    Shag, I urge you to try the Perez-era Wonder Woman. Lots of mythology and WW-World building with a great supporting cast. WW will win your heart.

    1. I agree, lots of good stuff in there – but I found Diana pretty dull, Pérez was going for naïf but she came across as a bit childish and dim….she didn’t get a spark until Messner-Loebs.

  3. A great issue, and a great guest in Paul. And Shag! Yes, Shag. Alright.

    Seriously, this was a fun issue. Well, the Oberon part was. Around this time was when comics seemed to open up to the “good guys” killing their opponents. I can’t recall the JLA ever wiping out villains before, although someone (probably Xum) could perhaps point that out to me. Maybe the Appelaxians at different points were considered “dead” when the League defeated them, before it was retconned that their minds went back to their homeworld?

    Anyway, the influence of murderous heroes like Wolverine and the Punisher is making its way over to DC more frequently at this point. Next year Batman would straight up shoot Joker guns with car-mounted machine guns in the film. At least there was some dialog toward the drastic measures the League took here. But its interesting to note the League has now left behind its entirely “squeaky clean” image. As Cindy and I covered in JLUCast, in the animated opener, “Secret Origins” they straight up murder the alien Invaders left and right.

    Not judging, just marking the signpost.

    Chris

  4. Love the show, i always see the beetle as the guy who breaks the tension, kinda like spider-man in the avengers by brian michael bendis (also in the last podcast theres a joke in brasil that’s not in the original comic, when the parademon says “i shall rend you limb from limb” beetle answer is “arms and legs is okay, but theres the fifth one…”).

  5. Paul was great value as ever, but I don’t think that’s Sgt Rock… back then DC was sticking to Kanighetr’s tenet that Frank Rock died from the last bullet fired in the Big One

    Also, the head is entirely different. And his name tag starts with ‘Ran’.

      1. The one chap with the helmet? Young, no stubble – it’s just a soldier. Let it go, let it go….

        Sgt Rock also appeared in Keith Giffen’s Suicide Squad, well, we were led to believe, but it was a fake.

  6. Plenty to love in this issue. Return of Maguire, zof zof zof, bowling ball, and most importantly, product-placement roach motels. An ignominious fate for the ImsKhunds.

    I especially liked how Maguire handled the ImsKhunds. They looked quite awkward trying to climb the stairs and failing to avoid the bowling ball. Nicely highlights how difficult it is to get around at their shrunken size. And is it me, or are some of them looking atypical for Khunds? The armor all looks cool, but some of the designs are not familiar as Khund armor. Not that I mind at all, I just found it interesting. Or does this show why these Khunds were chosen for this mission? Non-conformists perhaps?

    Now I don’t think this was stressed enough. The first half of this superhero comic prominently featured their non-super, non-leader cast member. What’s striking is, did it bother anyone? Did it seem odd or surprising or offbeat? Or did it seem like “par for the course” for this series? In any other comic, this would have been a “special” issue. But not in JLI. It’s just another issue. I just love that!

    Moving on to the final page, I did read the Wonder Woman issue when both originally came out. It really felt like J’onn’s and Diana’s scene was there solely for Diana. It gives her a chance to reflect on her own penchant for violence including lethal force. Which I still don’t get. Did Perez shoehorn it in, which it feels like? Since issue #1 of his series, Diana has killed monsters and gods, not willy-nilly, but with intent as a warrior. Are they saying Diana’s never really thought about the lives she’s taken before? Granted, I don’t remember the series that well, but it feels like this is ground that was covered, and this moment didn’t lead to any introspection on Diana’s part. Seems like a setup with no payoff.

    Well, that’s all I had for this … WAIT! I can’t finish a comment on that! This is the JLI show!

    Oberon with the BB gun. “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48DN8QWVAJg

    Loved hearing Shag and Paul together again! DCOCD and now here! Feels kinda like a crossover. Great job, guys!

  7. Greetings from the bunker of the Irish Embassy where I await the reports of the Alien Invasion with trepidation. I fear for my life here as the aliens could be soon approaching…

    Wait, they are mainly in the Pacific Rim countries? Oh well, guess I can get out of the bunker now!

    This was a fun episode. Shagg and Paul (G’Day!) brought us through a well structured issue, focussing on Oberon being a hero in the first half and the adventures of the main team in the second part. It was good to see the team going up against a huge threat. The one issue I would have with the characterisation was with Beetle. Sure, he’s a fun guy but when it came to the plan to take out the alien ships, he should have been a bit more professional. Having Scott bark at him to not be so infantile made Beetle a lesser hero in my opinion in this case. I think being the fun book made the writing team insert jokes where it wasn’t necessary. (although on saying that, Maguire nailed Mr. Miracle’s look of frustration when Beetle was continuing his “Stare Trek” routine).

    The crossover elements between JLI and Wonder Woman were handled well, with some little flubs. For instance, in the first scene with Wonder Woman, it is Scott telling Beetle to “control his hormones” in JLI, whereas in Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman delivers that line. And Fire and Ice’s dialogue in the JLI panel is switched in Wonder Woman so that it is Fire who delivers the “Amazon Hussy” line in Wonder Woman as opposed to Ice – which actually made more sense, I couldn’t see Ice delivering that line and it is surprising that it happened in the JLI book.

    Shagg, if you hadn’t read the Black Orchid mini by Gaiman and McKean, would highly recommend it. as it is very good and occupies, as Paul says, that interlap between the DCU and Vertigo universes that brought more depth to the DCU. Gaiman covers Luthor, Swamp Thing, Arkham Asylum and has nice little easter eggs, like when one of the characters was looking at a playbill of an opera he performed in college. The other cast members included Daniel Cassidy (Blue Devil), Jenet Klyburn, Dorcas Leigh (Godiva from the Global Guardians), Wanda Wayland (the future 10 of Clubs from the Royal Flush Gang) and Carolyn Woosan (Lady Shiva’s sister).

    Look forward to the next episode and the introduction of the all new Injustice League!!!

  8. I have nothing to add. McGlinchey sent a Boom Tube to my house. So now, not only do I have to mow the lawn, rotate the compost, fix the roof, and paint the front room, I’ve got to keep chucking ParaDemons back in the tube!

  9. As I listened to this episode, I came to the realization this is probably the only issue of the pre-America titled book I apparently have never read. I’m not quite sure how I missed it! It’s off to the shop to go and find it now!

  10. Great to hear Paul Hix checking in from the Australian Embassy! Cheers to “Waiting for Doom!” This was a great issue and a fun episode. The love really comes through the speakers. Well, the love the JLI, not Shag’s love for Australia…

  11. I thought that only blue beetle could use the BB gun! One more of the little things that make the blue beetle smarter than Batman, in my opinion!

    1. I just listened to this episode and despite having read this comic a million times, I didn’t think of that fact until now. I think it was established in Beetle’s own series that the special circuits in his gloves enabled only him to use the BB gun. Only he could unlock his mask, too, so if he was captured bad guys couldn’t find out his secret identity. I suppose it can be no-prized that this BB gun is a prototype, or that he turned that security feature off. As they note in the podcast, Beetle barely used his signature weapon in JLI. He used it in the Suicide Squad crossover (where it was oddly two guns instead of one) and when he and Booster guest-starred in Mr Miracle. Really odd. Kind of like how we rarely saw Booster use his energy blasts, or Rocket Red use his power to control machines, or J’onn and Power Girl use their heat vision, Mr Miracle use his multi-cube, Green Flame use her flame breath before her powers got upgraded, or Animal Man use his powers at all. I love this series but it sure seems like the writers either didn’t know what powers their characters had or on purpose had them not use them for some reason.

  12. It’s interesting. Everyone mentions Fire and Ice talking but I just noticed Fire hanging all over Beetle making a flirtatious remark to him about being able to stay with her when he can’t go off with Wonder Woman.

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