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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Super-Diverse Team: Aquaman and the Others volume 1: Legacy of Gold

Cover of Aquaman and the Others volume 1 TPB

 


Review:

To celebrate the recent release of the movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, I am revisiting some past Aquaman stories in graphic novel format and posting reviews.

Labelling any group of people "the Others" immediately relegates them to second-class, outsider status. In this super-powered group's case, the label is not without merit, for this cast of characters - they are all land-based air-breathers whose powers are connected to literal gifts and talismans, ancient Atlantis artifacts. Aquaman is the clear centerpiece and leader, the glue that holds this team together, even more so than Batman was for his Outsiders.

There's Operative, an old, greying yet nimble and strong man with a closet jam-packed with secrets. Prisoner of War, an African American ex-soldier haunted by the ghosts of his dead brothers in arms. Ya'wara, a ferocious, untamed jungle girl from South America. Sky, an Indigenous American "ghost walker". Eventually they are joined by Sayeh, an Iranian woman and future-seer, and Vostok the Russian cosmonaut.

This admirable international and gender-balanced mix of characters has loads of potential. And writer Dan Jurgens gives them a central place here, despite their diminutive team name. They must battle an ancient Atlantean ruler bent on vengeance and his Trezigstanian super-sidekicks. They must learn to forgive past hurts and bond as a team, develop and strengthen this vital mutual trust and faith, which feels so fragile throughout.

With this potential in place, this series seemed in good hands - those of Dan Jurgens with his history of writing fantastic comics in the past with solo characters (most notably Superman, Captain America, Thor, Booster Gold) and team books (Teen Titans, various Justice League titles). Sadly, this is not his strongest work, as the plot stretches, as the relationships shift in simplistic dramatic twists. For all their diversity, these characters talk and sound too similar.

Ultimately this debut of an exciting new super-team disappoints.


Description:

Spinning out of AQUAMAN, the King of Atlantis re-joins his first team—years before he even met his super-powered allies in the Justice League—The Others. With strange powers, abilities and mysterious origins, The Prisoner, Ya'Wara, and The Operative unite with Aquaman after they find themselves targeted by an unknown foe that wants their Atlantean artifacts!

Collects: AQUAMAN #20, AQUAMAN ANNUAL #1 and AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #1-5

Authors: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Lan Medina
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Jan. 27 2015
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-1401250386
Pages: 176 pages


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