Intruder? They do know that's Booster's left hand, don't they?
I remember this cover from thirty years ago but damned if I remember the story on the inside. I probably even talked about how much I liked Adam Hughes' art way back then but, having forgotten nearly every moment of my life to the point that I don't think I can even call myself myself anymore, his name never stayed with me. Maybe this time it will and I can remember how much I love his art all the way to the grave!
This issue is called "Furballs!" which is probably a play on Spaceballs. It's only a play on the title of that movie if you somehow remembered Spaceballs was a film at the moment you read "Furballs" but, being Giffen and DeMatteis are behind this issue, it checks out as a hilarious reference. Anyway it's funny without any context simply because it has the word "balls" in the title (and fur on balls to boot!). Plus as we saw with the Justice League Europe annual (for those reading my posts in chronological order as you should be doing), the Paris Embassy cat mascot should be making an appearance. I know this isn't the Europe comic but according to the "Next Month" blurb of Justice League Europe #12, this issue and JLE #13 are a mini-crossover.
Speaking of the cat, the intruder could be the cat because both Beetle and Booster are reacting on this cover the same way my high school best friend Paul, who was terrified of cats, always reacted when my cat Smaug would approach him.
After Booster and Beetle stole all of the money in the League's account to fund their island resort casino (which they lost when the island turned out to be a living creature and Major Disaster bankrupted the casino playing Blackjack with his Rainman buddy Big Sir), they've been relegated to continual clean-up duty around the New York Embassy. Booster Gold isn't happy about it but it doesn't stop Blue Beetle from continuing to make old timey references.
This issue is called "Furballs!" which is probably a play on Spaceballs. It's only a play on the title of that movie if you somehow remembered Spaceballs was a film at the moment you read "Furballs" but, being Giffen and DeMatteis are behind this issue, it checks out as a hilarious reference. Anyway it's funny without any context simply because it has the word "balls" in the title (and fur on balls to boot!). Plus as we saw with the Justice League Europe annual (for those reading my posts in chronological order as you should be doing), the Paris Embassy cat mascot should be making an appearance. I know this isn't the Europe comic but according to the "Next Month" blurb of Justice League Europe #12, this issue and JLE #13 are a mini-crossover.
Speaking of the cat, the intruder could be the cat because both Beetle and Booster are reacting on this cover the same way my high school best friend Paul, who was terrified of cats, always reacted when my cat Smaug would approach him.
After Booster and Beetle stole all of the money in the League's account to fund their island resort casino (which they lost when the island turned out to be a living creature and Major Disaster bankrupted the casino playing Blackjack with his Rainman buddy Big Sir), they've been relegated to continual clean-up duty around the New York Embassy. Booster Gold isn't happy about it but it doesn't stop Blue Beetle from continuing to make old timey references.
It seems crazy to me that they'd reference Hazel from 1961 in a 1990 comic book but I suppose that would be like me making a casual The X-Files reference now.
Maybe the reference just feels older because Hazel was unwatchable in 1990 but The X-Files is still sort-of watchable. And by "unwatchable," I actually mean "unlistenable" because I wanted to jam pencils in my ears every time I heard Shirley Booth's voice.
I just watched a clip of Hazel for five seconds to see if her voice was as I remembered it and her portrayal made me laugh out loud. So maybe I should apologize for saying it was unwatchable! At least she wasn't upstaged by massive shoulder pads and a gigantic cell phone. That's my old timey The X-Files reference!
Booster Gold throws a huge tantrum because he's tired of being broke, disrespected, and trapped in the 20th Century. Can he not time travel because Skeets is broken? Or did he time travel some other way, like in one of those Legion bubble things? I might know the answer to this if I owned more than six non-sequential issues of Booster Gold. I also don't know why Blue Beetle is broke because I don't think I ever owned any of his comic books at all.
Meanwhile, an alien composed mostly of hate, teeth, and soliloquys re-forms in orbit around Neptune. It's hate seems to be focused on the Justice League because that makes it easier for the Justice League to wind up battling it. If it were simply hating Earth, Giffen and DeMatteis would have to write all that boring stuff about it attacking Earth and then waste some pages on The Huntress stuck on monitor duty and then waste a few more pages where the rest of the team learns about the alien from The Huntress. Having the alien come back to life already hating the Justice League is a nice shortcut. Now the Justice League just have to sit around the embassy waiting for the alien to come to them. It was probably killed by Superman and Wonder Woman though so it's really going to be surprised at how easily defeated this current Justice League will be.
I just watched a clip of Hazel for five seconds to see if her voice was as I remembered it and her portrayal made me laugh out loud. So maybe I should apologize for saying it was unwatchable! At least she wasn't upstaged by massive shoulder pads and a gigantic cell phone. That's my old timey The X-Files reference!
Booster Gold throws a huge tantrum because he's tired of being broke, disrespected, and trapped in the 20th Century. Can he not time travel because Skeets is broken? Or did he time travel some other way, like in one of those Legion bubble things? I might know the answer to this if I owned more than six non-sequential issues of Booster Gold. I also don't know why Blue Beetle is broke because I don't think I ever owned any of his comic books at all.
Meanwhile, an alien composed mostly of hate, teeth, and soliloquys re-forms in orbit around Neptune. It's hate seems to be focused on the Justice League because that makes it easier for the Justice League to wind up battling it. If it were simply hating Earth, Giffen and DeMatteis would have to write all that boring stuff about it attacking Earth and then waste some pages on The Huntress stuck on monitor duty and then waste a few more pages where the rest of the team learns about the alien from The Huntress. Having the alien come back to life already hating the Justice League is a nice shortcut. Now the Justice League just have to sit around the embassy waiting for the alien to come to them. It was probably killed by Superman and Wonder Woman though so it's really going to be surprised at how easily defeated this current Justice League will be.
This is the guy who was rooting through the Justice League's garbage in a previous issue. Now that he took his beard off, you can see he's some guy without a beard.
Am I supposed to somehow recognize the guy stealing the Justice League's garbage to write some kind of tell-all book about them? Is it Jack Ryder? It certainly isn't Clark Kent although wouldn't that be something?! Whoever he is, he only steals one trash can because the drunk cat is in the other one. The cat sneaks inside when Guy Gardner checks the alley to make sure no bums are stealing their garbage. And I guess the cat is yellow because Guy doesn't notice it. Is that how the Green Lantern weakness works? Close enough.
The cat walks in on Fire and she explodes into nakedness. She sets her whole room on fire but somehow finds the time to grab a towel. Stupid Comics Code Authority! Can't even allow a slight hint of green areola?! Guy Gardner comes to her rescue and discovers he's not quite up to battling a feral yellow cat.
The cat walks in on Fire and she explodes into nakedness. She sets her whole room on fire but somehow finds the time to grab a towel. Stupid Comics Code Authority! Can't even allow a slight hint of green areola?! Guy Gardner comes to her rescue and discovers he's not quite up to battling a feral yellow cat.
Too bad G'nort was kicked out of the Embassy last issue, what with him being a dog and all.
Guy manages to subdue it and teleports it over to the European embassy. So that's the entirety of the cross-over?! The dumb cat! I mean the totally cute cat who is probably my favorite character from this point on!
Booster Gold meets somebody named Claire Montgomery to see if he might work with her because he's fed up with the Justice League. Does she have something to do with The Conglomerate? Is that about to happen?! I have a feeling that even in 1990, I had no idea what was going on. Tired of being a joke in this timeline and seemingly having no recourse to currently jump to a new one, Booster Gold decides to quit the League. This must be when he starts up The Conglomerate! I wonder if I own any of those issues?
Justice League America #37 Rating: B. This issue was all about the cat, I guess? Unless it was actually just about seeding the issue with future story arcs, like the guy digging through their garbage and Booster Gold quitting and Fire needing to go shopping for more clothes and, of course, the cat! The pitch for this issue was probably just, "What if Guy Gardner gets his ass handed to him by a stray cat?" And everybody was all, "Great! A new way to humiliate Guy Gardner whom we obviously created simply to torture!" This is what happens in a media format where writers are constantly taking over for each other. If you write a character that other writers can't stand and would love to see get their comeuppance, the character is simply going to wind up in a long string of stories where they're utterly humiliated! It's not cool, man! Can we please have a writer who can make poor disabled Guy Gardner sympathetic?! At least stop having him sexually harass every woman in the League!
Booster Gold meets somebody named Claire Montgomery to see if he might work with her because he's fed up with the Justice League. Does she have something to do with The Conglomerate? Is that about to happen?! I have a feeling that even in 1990, I had no idea what was going on. Tired of being a joke in this timeline and seemingly having no recourse to currently jump to a new one, Booster Gold decides to quit the League. This must be when he starts up The Conglomerate! I wonder if I own any of those issues?
Justice League America #37 Rating: B. This issue was all about the cat, I guess? Unless it was actually just about seeding the issue with future story arcs, like the guy digging through their garbage and Booster Gold quitting and Fire needing to go shopping for more clothes and, of course, the cat! The pitch for this issue was probably just, "What if Guy Gardner gets his ass handed to him by a stray cat?" And everybody was all, "Great! A new way to humiliate Guy Gardner whom we obviously created simply to torture!" This is what happens in a media format where writers are constantly taking over for each other. If you write a character that other writers can't stand and would love to see get their comeuppance, the character is simply going to wind up in a long string of stories where they're utterly humiliated! It's not cool, man! Can we please have a writer who can make poor disabled Guy Gardner sympathetic?! At least stop having him sexually harass every woman in the League!
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