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Rating:  -
After Vol 2's spotty reproduction (what with broken up word balloons and other effects that should be cleared up in a reprinted collection), we get Vol 3 where the linework maintains its integrity and the colors are bursting! Sure, Steve Leialoha's art is an acquired taste (one which, I must admit, I did not acquire), but Ty Templeton and especially Kevin Maguire did a wonderful job pencilling these stories!
And talk about a who's who of great, underappreciated DC characters! Martian Manhunter, Guy Gardner, Captain Atom, Fire and Ice, Big Barda, Blue and Gold, Lobo, G'NORT!!!, and most of all, Lord Manga Kahn and L-Ron... what a set of characters this story encompasses! Giffen and DeMatteis were firing on all cylinders (awful cliche, but true here) with this!
The only 2 VERY minor issues I have: 1) There were 2 cross-overs with the Invasion storyline. This collection only has the first one. It would make much more sense to have both in the same book. 2) We do not get JLI Annual #2, which is a hilarious story of the Joker trying to kill the League, but instead kills his hired assassins as each fails in ridiculous fashion.
But like I said, these are minor quibbles. If you have any recollection of this wonderful period of sequential storytelling, PLEASE buy this. If you want to see how you can have serious storylines while still being ridiculous, PLEASE buy this book. If you want pretty pictures and realistic drawings without everyone's muscles exceeding the size of the panel, this is DEFINITELY something you should get.
I really can't praise this enough, so I'm going to stop now.
Rating: -
Each volume of JLI is awesome in its own way. But this one is the gratest so far. Is really fun and well writen. You'll get to read space adventures and political stuff. The Darkseid stuff is great. The only downside is the paper but it doesn't affect the reading experience. If you'll buy just one JLI volume, buy this one.
Rating:  -
By this point, in 1988, a year into the series, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis had gotten a sure handle on this incarnation of the Justice League, and, in this set of issues, with the debut of the soliloquy-minded Manga Khan, they officially crossed over into the genre of wacky levity. JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATION Vol. 3 collects issues #14-22 and continues the JLI's madcap missions and misadventures.
"Shop... or Die" introduces the rather silly intergalactic barterer Manga Khan and his wiseacre bootlicking droid L-Ron, as they and Manga's fleet of Cluster ships come to Earth to either deal in trade or plunder the planet's resources. The JLI doesn't take too kindly to Manga's threats, but, in the ensuing fracas, Mr. Miracle is taken away in Manga's space vessel. And the lovely but intimidating Big Barda, Mr. Miracle's bride, doesn't take too kindly to this. Barda, the Martian Manhunter, and Rocket Red blast off into deep space in pursuit, joined and aided sloppily by a mangy, mutty Green Lantern.
Back on dirtside, Batman (who I thought had quit the League) takes a handful of JLI members and goes undercover to look into shady shenanigans in the dictator-ruled nation of Bialya. But Batman's investigation runs concurrent with the Queen Bee's efforts to topple the current Bialyan regime, and the inevitable face-off is explosive.
Catching up with Big Barda and company, who are still tracking Mr. Miracle, we find that Manga Khan has contracted the services of the invulnerable assassin Lobo, with the JLI as his targets. And Lobo turns out to be someone truly not to be effed with, although it's fun seeing him get increasingly frustrated as each of his attempts to off a JLI member is stymied. This story arc culminates on the planet Apokolips and would come to involve the entire roster of the JLI battling for survival (excepting Captain Atom, who seems to be always late to the party). This, even as no one seems to quite know what's really going on. In light of this air of befuddlement, it's perhaps apropos that the resolution is so anticlimactic.
Issue #22 is the JLI's tie-in issue with DC's Invasion crossover event. It breaks down into two stories, starting with Oberon single-handedly taking on tiny aliens in the JLI's New York embassy, followed by the JLI fighting off a wave of Khund battleships in the South Pacific.
Somewhere in all this, there's a membership drive, and yet another member quits. But several new recruits do sign on, or as Guy Gardner tactfully puts it: "Hey!!!! Who's the geek in the wings?!" Newcomers include Fire & Ice (formerly Green Flame and Ice Maiden), who would both become core members. And, if you haven't clued to it yet, Guy Gardner reverts to his true nasty form, just in time to tangle with Lobo.
Kevin Maguire, the sensei of drawing the expressive face and pose, returns and handles most of the artwork. But the series loses some of its luster when Steve Leialoha (issues #14, 15) and Ty Templeton (issues #20, 21) step in as guest artists. Nothing against them, but this version of the Justice League has become so associated with Maguire's illustrations that anyone else's stuff quickly establishes a jarring feel.
Giffen and DeMatteis never had it so good. J.M. DeMatteis on his own is considered a serious comic book writer. Only when he's paired up with Giffen is his inner irreverence fully unleashed. In their five year run with the Justice League, although there was ample straight-up adventuring, Giffen and DeMatteis for the most part served up the superhero story done sitcom style, with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold rapidly becoming the impetus to some of the more zany plots. I'm still waiting on Beetle and Booster's get-rich-quick scheme to transform KooeyKooeyKooey into an island resort. But that's not until issues #34 and 35. Anyway, check out JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL Vol. 3 if you want to see what the fuss was all about, in the comic book world way back in the late '80s.
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