Slugfest!

In a project that has developed out of the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad mini-series, DC was very thorough in setting up the new Justice League of America (Vol. 5) releasing a series of one-shot issues featuring each of the supporting characters: Black Canary (Dinah Drake-Lance), Vixen (Mari McCabe), The Ray (Ray Terrill), The Atom (Ryan Choi), Lobo (The Last Czarnian), and Killer Frost (Caitlin Snow). They also published a Rebirth issue to establish how Batman personally recruits each team member with the exception of Lobo, who was recruited by Black Canary. It's a series somewhat reminiscent of the original Batman and the Outsiders, with its varied assortment of metahumans.

Steve Orlando does his best to create the internal dynamics of the fledgling team, and Brazilian artist Ivan Reis and a team of inkers (Joe Prado, Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira) bring the book together visually.

The issue opens with everyone in various locations: Batman and Vixen prowl through Gotham City, The Ray and Black Canary are in the city of Vanity helping to evacuate people from a burning building, Lobo is somewhere over the Pacific Ocean dealing with baddies, and Atom and Frost are in The Sanctuary in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island working together to fix the Troubalert, a program which will alert the team so they will know where they are needed.

Meanwhile, in Saratoga, New York, Lord Havok and the Extremists cross "the weakened universal membrane" in an energy bubble. Luckily, Caitlin and Ryan get the Troubalert working in time to see Havok and company beginning their assault. Batman is immediately alerted and contacts each member of the team as they prepare for the transmitter surge to transport them to the site.

As the destruction of Saratoga begins, Lord Havok espouses that since governmental structures cannot be trusted to protect its citizens and unchecked freedom only lead to disaster, only authoritarian, despotic leadership can offer people protection.

The JLA arrive just in time to counter Havok's claims! The battle erupts and when the Atom attempts to infiltrate Havok's armor, he is repelled by an electric shock. Havok then grabs Atom by the throat and when he is about to use his axe to kill Atom, Batman offers himself as the sacrifice...to be continued!

I was a little skeptical when I read that Lobo would have a place on this team, but he adds levity to an otherwise very serious team of characters. The Extremists are interesting choice for the initial issue and similar to Marvel's Squadron Sinister (who mimicked DC's Justice League....see Slugfest reviews of Avengers #69-71...heh), as each member is patterned after Marvel counterparts: Lord Havok (Doctor Doom), Doctor Diehard (Magneto), Dreamslayer (Dormammu), Gorgon (Doctor Octopus), Tracer (Sabertooth) and Brute (Hulk).

DC's measured Rebirth has slowly expanded to larger proportions with Steve Orlando now handling the task of writing Supergirl and this book. It's great to see Ivan Reis on a regular gig instead of the one-off Rebirth issue (Batman #6 and Superman #14) and Rebirth covers. I'm curious to find out if where the Extremists energy bubble came from will be fully explained. Also, what exactly does Havok mean by "the weakened universal membrane" and is it connected to a larger story in DC's Rebirth? It will be interesting to see where this series takes us.

Greg Rucka opens his story of immortal warriors by quoting General Douglas MacArthur ("Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.") and sets the tone for his new series from Image Comics. The Old Guard is lushly illustrated by Leandro Fernandez, who shares a wonderful visual style and vocabulary similar to his Argentine compatriot, Eduardo Risso.

The story centers around Andromache of Scythia ("Andy"), who is phenomenally exhausted with the repetition of events and scenarios she has experienced as an immortal; nothing seems new or different. While in Barcelona, Andy and her team of mercenaries (Nicky, Joe and Booker) receive a tip for a job from Copley, an independent contractor working security and intelligence for different clients. The team has worked for Copley before when he was with "The Company", and they debate the danger of working for the same client. Ultimately, the lure of money decides their course of action.

When Andy and Nicky go to Paris to meet Copley, he tells them of a situation in North Africa in which seventeen girls were abducted from a school and time is critical. Andy reluctantly accepts the job and relays the information to the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a squad of Marines is searching a town looking for a specific target. After entering a home, a gunfight erupts as the target is acquired. One of the marines named Nile becomes a casualty of the operation.

Andy and the team are geared up when they arrive in South Sudan. As they enter the bunker to rescue the hostages, it initially appears to be empty, but suddenly they are assaulted by a company of soldiers who hit them hard with a rain of bullets. After the smoke clears, we see Andy and her team's wounds heal immediately and set about evening the score. Andy "gets medieval" when she breaks out an axe to finish the job. Afterwards, they search the bunker only to find it truly empty. They realize they have been duped when the only thing they can find is a digital camera which has been transmitting the entire battle to reveal the team of immortals secret.

The issue ends as we return to Afghanistan and find that Nile has completely recovered from her seemingly fatal wound.

All in all, a very satisfying issue of a new promising series. This issue raises many questions: Is Copley responsible for the assault on the team and the recording, or is Copley being played by one of his clients? What is Nile's connection to the team? In what seem to be a sly tip of the hat to Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's series, 100 Bullets, one of the characters (the Marine who holds Nile as she bleeds out) is named Dizzy (like Isabelle "Dizzy" Cordova..."The Girl".) Looking forward to the next issue!