JLA: Welcome to the Working Week

Writer Patton Oswalt
Penciller Patrick Gleason
Inker Christian Alamy
Letterer Ken Lopez
Colorist John Kalisz
Separator J.D. Mettler

Cover Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Cover Inker: Christian Alamy
Cover Color: Dave Stewart

This is a 64-page special, telling the story of Marlus Randone, a young man who publishes his own magazine about superheroes, and somehow was able to spend a week at the JLA Watchtower. The hodgepodge cover shows the various photographs, notes and clippings Marlus uses for his magazine. It also is a perfect representation of the hodgepodge nature of this story, as well as the humor befitting the comedian Patton Oswalt.

The story begins with an alien invasion hitting Marlus' neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. To protect the citizens, the JLA teleports the whole neighborhood to the Watchtower. The aliens are quickly disposed of and all the people are teleported back home. Except for Marlus. He manages to sneak away from the group and spend the next week hiding, stealing food, and taking a few pictures of the heroes in action. Much of what he observes is your basic superhero stuff (and none of it involves Impulse), but there are a few highlights I found interesting.

One day, the Weather Wizard threatens the Virginia coastline. But instead of sending in the Flash to take him out, Batman calls up the Weather Wizard and negotiates with him. He points out that even if the Weather Wizard did fight and defeat the Flash, his act of terrorism-for-profit would have every human and metahuman agent and agency on his trail for the rest of his life, not to mention Doctor Fate and Zatanna hounding him in the afterlife. So Batman offers Weather Wizard a chance to work with a major U.S. corporation to co-patent his technology, receive a huge tax break and earn royalties in perpetuity as the device is used for beach reclamation around the world.

On another day, Wonder Woman brings Cheetah, Killer Croc and Lady Shiva up to the Watchtower to spar with her to have a few months shaved off their prison sentences. And in a rather gruesome scene, Batman tests his limits by seeing how long he can survive in space. But the only part we really care about is the night that Plastic Man throws a party, and everyone is invited. And I mean everyone.

Impulse is seen hanging out with Blue Beetle for some reason. We also see Robin with Nightwing and Superboy dancing with Spoiler. Poison Ivy tries to crash the party, but Plastic Man catches her. The issue then heads into a climactic battle against some monsters from another dimension, and Marlus is able to help thanks to a dream he had. In the end, he's teleported back home, and we learn that the JLA knew he was there the whole time. Martian Manhunter decided to let him stay because he recognized Marlo from years ago when his father, a firefighter, died saving J'onn's life.



This is an unusual comic. It was kind of fun to see the JLA operate from the perspective of an outsider who doesn't quite know what's going on. Although, too much of that did become a bit frustrating and disorienting. Adding to the disorientation were all the time jumps, flashbacks, dreams and fantasies. But working through the confusion, this comic does have some funny and really interesting moments (I thought the bit with Batman and Weather Wizard was brilliant). Unfortunately, the art did let me down a bit, which is kind of odd because in 2017 Patrick Gleason is one of my favorite artists. I guess he wasn't quite as refined in 2003.

Next time, we'll conclude Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day.