Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Justice League International #13 and Suicide Squad #13

So, what would you think a fight between the Justice League and the Suicide Squad would look like? If you thought it’d involve Harley Quinn trying to ram Wonder Woman with a motorcycle, you’d be correct. While that recent crossover was actually pretty good, that’s not the subject of today. The League and the Squad did square down before but it was less world-ending. In the late 1980’s, both teams were revamped after the crossover event, Legends. John Ostrander went gritty with the Suicide Squad while the team of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire brought the laughs with Justice League International.

The two teams eventually had a little crossover with their books. They are Justice League International #13 and Suicide Squad #13. I first ran across this in the JLI Omnibus years ago before I eventually found the single issues. JLI was written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis. Instead of Maguire on the art, Giffen also did the pencils while Al Gordon did the inks. As for Suicide Squad, John Ostrander was the writer. Luke McDonnell handled the pencils while Bob Lewis handled the inks.

Justice League International #13

Writers: Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis

Pencils: Keith Giffen

Inks: Al Gordon

Colors: Gene D’Angelo

Letters: Bob Lappan

Editor: Andre Helfer

“Collision Course”

The story starts out as Tom Tresser (aka Nemesis) is stewing in a Russian prison. In earlier issues, Nemesis was a part of a Russian mission that went bad. He ended up getting caught by the Russians. Reports about his arrest reach the USA and the JLI embassy. Batman is particularly shocked about this since he knew Nemesis pretty well. He wants to go, but the Martian Manhunter says no since they’ve already gotten into some trouble with Russia. Meanwhile, the Squad hear about this and want to go back. Amanda Waller forbids it since this could get them into more trouble. Since Rick Flag apparently has a death wish, he ignores her orders and gathers the Squad up for the trip back to Russia.

The higher-ups (including President Reagan) find out about what the Squad did. In order to keep US/Russia relations stable, Waller suggests that Reagan ask the JLI go over to stop the Squad. The JLI takes the call and goes over at the behest of Max Lord, their boss. Waller and Lord even have a little chat about the whole thing at the hospital Lord’s in. Then, the higher-ups in Russia hear about American heroes coming to the prison, so they get the Heroes’ People, The Rocket Reds, and Red Star on the case.

Let's see... we have Batman being a douche, J'onn being mediator, and Guy acting high.

The JLI reach the prison and want to see Nemesis. Batman starts to be a bit more abrasive and it gets to the point where J’onn and tells him to back off. Meanwhile, the Squad make it to the prison and start to work their way around. Soon, both teams end up meeting and it’s quite a shock for some members. The story ends with both teams staring each other down and with the Russian heroes on the way.

Suicide Squad #13

Writer: John Ostrander

Pencils: Luke McDonnell

Inks: Bob Lewis

Colors: Cark Gafford

Letters: Todd Klein

Editor: Robert Greenberger

“Battle Lines”

The story continues with both teams staring down each other. Since some of the JLI is wondering why folk like Vixen and Bronze Tiger are allied with villains, no one really takes the first step. The ones who pretty much get it all started are Blue Beetle, aka “Mr. BWAHAHAHA,” and Lashina, a new recruit.

They split off into groups and face each other one-on-one. There are some who aren’t fighting though. J’onn and Mari (Vixen) end up going off for a talk since was once a League member. Nightshade and Captain go off to flirt a bit since they’re secretly dating. Of all the bunch, Batman and Rick Flag are the ones who really throw down. They both get into it over Nemesis. Meanwhile, Rocket Red (a Russian teammate) talks to Nemesis and finds out why he was locked up in the first place. Back in the USA, Waller and Lord still have their chat about the whole thing.

Hmm... Batman fighting Rick Flag and not trouncing him in seconds? You'd never see that these days!

In Russia, things start to cool down a little bit. Rocket Red believes Nemesis will die here if they don’t do something about it. In order to get him out safely, J’onn and Bronze Tiger get both teams to stand down. Deadshot needs some convincing from Tiger to do that, though. Things seem to be fine when the teams find out that Flag and Batman are still going at it. The teams stop the fight and the JLI allows the Squad to leave. The JLI also handles Nemesis’ release from prison through legal channels. At JLI HQ, Batman realizes he’s had enough of the new League and quits. The story ends on the Squad back at Belle Reve Prison hoping Waller doesn’t be too hard on them.

…………………………………………….

I thought this was a nice little crossover for both teams. All the writers did well for the most part. A lot of the characters were handled well. There was one that was a little grating, but I’ll get to the Dark Knight later. The story is pretty good with the JLI issue being the setup and the SS issue being the “big” battle. I kind of liked how the battle played out as well. It was funny, touching, and brutal at times. I also liked Waller’s interactions with Max Lord.

The artwork is mostly good. Giffen and McDonnell do a good job for the most part. The action was cool and the quieter moments worked as well. I do have to say that I was missing Maguire’s pencils with the JLI issue, but Giffen was fine. I didn’t have too much a problem with him. As For McDonnell, he brought his usual look to the book. He also drew the JLI characters pretty well.

Now, there were a couple of things I wasn’t a fan of here. Some of the humor didn’t work for me. Most of it was good, but then you’d have a couple of jokes that didn’t hit. Then, there was Batman’s portrayal. Man, he was high-strung and not in a good way. From what I remember of those early JLI issues, he was kind of always like the stern, jackass-like, drill sergeant. I’m not a big fan of the overly serious Batman, but I can tell that he didn’t exactly fit with this new, light-hearted League. Other than those things and a couple of nitpicks (how long did Guy Gardner stay like that?), this was pretty nice.

Overall, if you’re looking for a brief crossover, this would be it. It’s not great but it is a good one. It took two pretty cool teams for one quick adventure. Well, Justice League has been released in theatres, so you know what may be coming next. Before I get there, I do want to stop a couple of places along the way. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t let that turkey and dressing slow you down.