y Sean McQuaid

asual comics readers often cry confusion on ing to make sense of some books’ ongoing ontinuity-- and few comic books have a ngthier or more checkered history than the stice League. If anything, the League has ever been more mixed up than it isnow. There e currently three ongoing Justice League ks Justice League America, Justice League ask Force and Extreme Justice), each one aturing a completely separate group calling self the Justice League.

In all its forms, the Justice League has een an assemblage of the best and brightest C Comics characters. The original League vas the Justice League of America, which was nspired by the original comic book super- eam, DC’s Justice Society of America. The LofA lasted about two decades and hundreds fissues, until the cancellation of their series which concluded with the team’s disband- ng). Almost immediately thereafter, several eague members joined with other heroes in ie Legends mini-series to form a new Justice eague. It soon won international diplomatic tatus and established a European-based roster Justice League International) and a special lissions unit (Justice League Task Force), lus the home team (which became known as ustice League America).

More recently, a series of crises led to he League’s official U.N. sponsorship being evoked and the team breaking up along ideo- gical lines as three rival leaders emerged. Vonder Woman remained leader of the core, ‘original”” team (still known as Justice League lmerica) while Martian Manhunter and Cap- ain Atom established their own independent ustice League rosters (in Justice League Task ‘orce and Extreme Justice respectively). All tee teams claim the name Justice League ven though they work apart (and Captain \tom’s vigilante team considers itself a rival 0 the others).

The dubious Extreme Justice book has

hat really matters

Faith Hunter

Well, the break is over, back to the nches. So did you all have fun? I know, I now, it’s not very kind to speak of gourmet ‘hen we're all eating fast-food. But, hey, ~"™ of it this way: another month and (thank Codness) it’ll be over.

Still, I know that this doesn’t comfort ‘any of you, since you have term papers ae out your ears, reading enough to last ~il Christmas, and only exams-- which we ). larch 7, 1995

already been reviewed in this column. Justice League Task Force is okay but unremarkable; its small, low-key cast makes it less appealing than the other rosters, the moreso since the

- heck, they’re not even a Task Force anymore (despite their title), just a Justice League splin- ter group. It’s passable reading.

Justice League America is the strongest of the three titles, partly because it’s the heir to the name and prestige of the original JLA, with amembership culled from the cream of the DC Universe. The current roster is (for the most part) very intriguing, with a mixture of ne- glected characters (like Obsidian and Blue Devil) and established stars (like The Flash and Wonder Woman), plus Justice League staples like Fire and Metamorpho. It’s one of the most interesting JLA rosters ever, and writer Gerard Jones does a good job of charac- terizing most of them both in terms of indi- viduality and interplay. Problems lie in his narrative captioning (often awkward or intru- sive) and his characterization of Obsidian as absurdly pessimistic (a caricature at best of earlier portrayals). Jones should also work to display Nuklon’s and Obsidian’s full range of

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abilities, since he has barely scratched the surface in that area. Still, itis a very interesting group and Jones has a number of fascinating subplots on the go. Storytelling is strong

overall. SPECIAL BONUS: Lest anyone be confused, we’re throwing in the first-ever Reader’s Di- gest guide to who’s who in the Justice League and where they’re at. Read on....

Justice League America members: Fire, Diana (the original Wonder Woman, currently stripped of her title by rival Amazon Artemis), The Flash (III), Metamorpho, Crimson Fox, Hawkman (II), Nuklon, Obsidian, Warrior, Power Girl, Icemaiden, Wonder Woman (II) and Blue Devil.

Justice League Task Force members: Martian Manhunter, Gypsy, The Ray (II), Despero (L- Ron) and Triumph.

Extreme Justice League members: Blue Bee- tle (II), Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Maxima, Amazing Man (II), and Firestorm.

Active individuals but not active members: Aquaman, Batman, Black Canary (II), Green Lantern II (alias Parallax, turned renegade), Green Arrow, Atom (II), Elongated Man, Tor- nado (formerly Red Tornado II), Zatanna,

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Vixen, Captain Marvel, Mister Miracle, Doc- tor Light (II), Rocket Red #4, Lobo, Huntress (ID, Orion, Lightray, Superman, Tasmanian Devil, Bloodwynd, Black Condor (II), Agent Liberty, Animal Man, Blue Jay and Maya; Nightwing, Bronze Tiger, Dolphin, and Thun- derbolt (one-time Task Force members). Deceased: The Flash (11), Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Steel (II), Vibe, Doctor Fate, Doctor Fate (ID, Rocket Red # 7, Ice, General Glory, Crimson Fox (ID), Silver Sorceress and Hourman. kkkkkkkkk

In addition to the above groups and characters, there was a corporate-sponsored division ofthe U.N.-sanctioned Justice League called the Conglomerate. Its founding mem- bers were Booster Gold, Gypsy, Maxi-Man, Praxis, Hardline, Vapor and Echo. Now inde- pendent of the League, the Conglomerate’s members include Templar, Echo, Hardline,

Nuklon and Jesse Quick. There was also amercifully short-lived

Justice League Antarctica SLANT), whose members included Major Disaster, Cluemaster, Clock King, Multi-Man, Big Sir, The Mighty Bruce, G’Nort and the Scarlet Skier. Assem- bled by the Justice League as a means of making unobtrusive use of several trouble- some hangers-on, JUANT folded when the team destroyed their headquarters while fend- ing off killer penguins.

Last but by no means least, there was a ‘funny animal’’ version of the Justice League of America onan alternate earth called ‘‘Earth C.”’ This team, called the Just’a Lotta Ani- mals, included Super Squirrel, Batmouse, Wonder Wabbit, Green Lambkin, The Crash, Aquaduck, The Martian Anteater, Green Spar- row, The Item, Hawkmoose, Stacked Canary, Elongator, The Rat Tornado, Zapanda and Firestork. These instant classics co-starred in a two-issue Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew story, and we can only hope they retum. After all, to paraphrase Tiny Toon Elmyra, ‘‘I just love aminals!’’

all love with all our weary hearts-- to look forward to at the end of it all.

And so, I sacrificed my entire break for you (well, okay, more like half an hour of it, but still). I’ve come up with 10 reasons you should stick out this next month or so. I know that your eyes are already glazing over from reading yet another paragraph, so I’ll not de- lay. Pay attention. Here they are:

1. You’re hung-over from the break anyway - - what better place to fall asleep than ina nice cosy classroom with the monotonous tones of your professors ringing in your ears?

2. Ifyou goto class and understand things now, you’ll be better off when you start your 8 papers the night before they’re due.

3. If you don’t have class, you can’t skip class (think of the fun you’d miss!).

4. If you leave UPEI, you’ll be flipping ham- burgers next month. (Why not wait until you graduate before starting that?)

5. Going to class each day is of vital impor- tance because it is the way that many of you remember what day it is. (Think about how confused you get just after a weekend!)

6. If you aren’t at UPEI, you won’t read the X- Press, and you’ ll lose the abundance of inspi- ration and practical advice you get from some very wise and experienced students (like me). 7. Where else but the Pit can you possibly get apple juice, a turkey sub, an exotic view of the RL breezeway, the company of your peers

(stressed-out, but procrastinating students), and the beginnings of lung cancer all at the same time?

8. What about driving around the parking lots each morning? If this were gone, you’d never listen to the news on the radio!

9. If you left UPEI, your parents wouldn’t send you cookies.

10. Most importantly, without UPEI, you’d probably never read, you’d never analyze or critically think about the world around you, you'd sleep more than 4 hours each night and eat more than one meal each day, and you’d learn what it means to be truly lazy. Now do you want that to happen to you?!

Take care & dream big, folks.