Justice League Unlimited #5

Mark Waid – Writer

Dan Mora – Artist

Tamra Bonvillain – Colors

Dave Sharpe – Letters

Cover by Dan Mora

Marquis Draper – Associate Editor

Paul Kaminski – Editor

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Supergirl based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover is a beautiful, updated look at the old, classic Legion of Doom. And I do mean old. This lineup was basically what was used in the Super Friends cartoons from the 1970s. Dan Mora has quickly become one of my favorite artists of all time, and I think he's rendered everyone exceptionally well. This issue also had a lot of variant covers, but since Impulse isn't on any of them, I won't worry about them.

So ... it's been a while! Let's see if I still remember how to do this! While I was taking a break from blogging to obtain my master's degree, Mark Waid launched a fun new series at DC. Justice League Unlimited borrows the same concept from the cartoon show of the same name from 20 years ago. Basically every hero on Earth is now a member of the Justice League, coordinated by Mr. Terrific from the Watchtower satellite. And as we saw on the cover, many of Earth's villains have also united. Unfortunately, Waid will treat this like a big reveal on the last page of this issue ... oops!

Anyway, our story begins in Sydney, Australia, where Impulse has surprisingly been chosen for the security team at the G20 Summit — a gathering of 20 of the world's most powerful leaders. Joining Impulse is the Flash, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Star Sapphire, and Thunderlord. Wally explains to Bart that the Justice League is currently battling a mysterious group of superterrorists known as Inferno. Since Inferno has been so unpredictable so far, the League decided to balance the security at this event with strength and super-speed for quick reactions.

Bart's mostly bored by all this and devours all the available snacks, while speculating whether they'll get to deal with a meteor storm, time-traveling assassins, or a poison plague. He's never met Thunderlord before, who explains that he has a supersonic scream. Bart suggests he can use that power to yell for more help, to which Wally kicks Bart's ankle and apologizes for him having the "decorum of a leaf blower."

Suddenly, the 20 world leaders and six superheroes are transported to a different dimension inhabited by gruesome monsters. Simultaneously, Inferno has used an army of robots to attack a nuclear reactor in Japan and destroy China's Three Gorges Dam. These disasters tie up all available Justice League members, while Mr. Terrific tries and fails to find any connection between Inferno and the Legion of Doom. Meanwhile, Batman and Martian Manhunter are working with the Atom to try to locate J'onn's missing telepathic powers.

Back in the other dimension, our heroes are having a hard time protecting the world leaders, as they are not used to taking orders and want to go their own way. Impulse suggests having Wonder Woman use her diplomatic skills to talk some sense into the leaders, but she's too busy fighting the monsters. Impulse, unfortunately, has a hard time making himself useful and ends up basically being run over by both the Flash and Wonder Woman. Wally chews out Bart for being in the way and reveals that he warned Superman against including him on this mission.

Bart sadly slinks to the side, feeling like a wet blanket (as shown to us in a classic Impulse thought bubble). But then Bart notices one world leader standing off by himself and actually smiling. Naturally, this is a huge red flag for Bart, who decides to investigate.

Impulse picks up the delegate (who's surprisingly heavier than he looks), and he directly accuses the old man of working with Inferno. The world leader initially feigns ignorance, but when Impulse refuses to yield, he calls him a clever boy and reveals his true self. Before Bart can react, the villain places him in a trance and wipes his memory of this interaction.

Meanwhile, the Atom discovers that J'onn's telepathic powers were in an African jungle before disappearing at the same time as the G20 leaders and our heroes. Batman correctly surmises that one of the delegates has Martian Manhunter's powers and is behind the kidnapping.

The heroes (minus the dazed Impulse) finally manage to get all the leaders gathered in one spot and Star Sapphire puts them in a protective bubble. Flash figures out how open a portal out of the dimension by vibrating, but he accidentally takes them all to the Phantom Zone. Luckily Supergirl knows how to get them all back to the Watchtower from there. Wally orders Bart to take Green Lantern to the medbay, while Atom, Batman, and Martian Manhunter confront the disguised world leader. The villain reveals himself as Gorilla Grodd, who then is promptly escorted off the satellite via his sleeper agent, Air Wave. And the last page reveals what the cover already showed us — Inferno is actually the Legion of Doom.

I have really mixed feelings about this comic. On one hand, I am always thrilled to see Mark Waid return to his creation, Impulse. And I'm even more thrilled to see Impulse drawn so gorgeously by someone as talented as Dan Mora. But on the other hand, I feel like Waid really did Bart a disservice here. He didn't actually accomplish anything. He acted bored and rude at the summit, then just got in everybody's way in the weird dimension. He was clever enough to discover Grodd in disguise, but that achievement was instantly undone by Grodd's mind wipe and Batman's investigation. So, in the end, Impulse didn't even need to be there. I guess Waid just wanted to throw him in there for fun without altering his long-term plan, but I feel like he could have still accomplished this without making Impulse look completely worthless.

I also have to complain about the lack of mystery or tension in this issue. Yes, it was a lot of fun, but there was absolutely no suspense. And mostly because of the cover. Before we even open the book, we know the Legion of Doom is the big bad guy. But then we have endure a full page of Mr. Terrific explaining how the Legion of Doom couldn't possibly be behind this. When Impulse confronts Grodd, we don't see the villain's face, which created a mystery that lasted for ... four pages. What was the point of obscuring his identity if you were just going to reveal it a couple of pages later? 

Oh well. I guess it doesn't really matter for this blog, as Waid chose not to include Impulse in the rest of his Justice League stories. But Simon Spurrier did include Impulse in his Flash stories. It's not a big role, but just enough for me to justify reviewing it.

Next time: The Flash #22