Justice League #29 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Doug Mahnke (pencils), Keith Champagne & Christian Alamy (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: I, Cyborg. You, Grid.

The Review: Ever since Cyborg showed up on Wil Magnus’ doorstep last issue, I’ve been pretty excited at the prospect of a Cyborg-Metal Men team-up. It’s one of those no-brainer pairings that probably would’ve eventually happened in The Brave and The Bold, had DC kept that eminently useful series around. If Avengers A.I. has taught us anything, it’s that there’s a lot of potential in seeing how different kinds of robots—or androids, or cyborgs, or what have you—relate to each other.

Johns capitalizes on that potential almost immediately with the Metal Men’s various reactions to Vic, whom they see as a distant relative, curious and horrifying by turns. That, perhaps, is what makes the Metal Men unique: they are of the old school of comic book A.I., with a purely robotic perspective on existence. In one of the issue’s more amusing moments, Mercury sees Vic not as an upgrade, but as a chimera gone wrong: “Oh, God, is this the future? Are we all going to be merged with human beings and turned into monsters? No offense, buddy.”

The childlike innocence and enthusiasm of the Metal Men bring some levity into what would otherwise be a rather dour showdown between Grid and Cyborg, who fight it out on both the physical and digital plane. In the process, Grid reveals himself as an abstract notion made manifest, a literalization of Vic’s deepest fear: “‘I do not belong here.‘ That is the thought that created me and the thought that haunts you.” This is old hat for Johns, who’s played the fear-turned-real trick several times before, especially in Green Lantern. It’s his way of letting a hero battle his external and internal demons at the same time, without having to show things subtextually, a task which often seems beyond him.

But Grid’s origins, while interesting, don’t quite mesh with his obsession with wanting to feel something. If he’s a creature who embodies Vic’s sense of isolation, why would he take up sides with anybody, much less the Syndicate? Why would he care about feeling anything, anyway? As I’ve said before, isn’t the very desire to feel something a feeling in itself? What about arrogance (“I will not tolerate any more of this from a group of simple androids.”) or mockery (“You could have had power here had you chosen it.”)? These may not fall into Johns’ primal spectrum of emotions—”Satisfaction.
Happiness…sorrow or regret.”—but give Grid a personality long before Vic reduces him to a whimpering wreck in the dark. Grid’s inability and goal to feel is a compelling idea, but one whose profoundness Johns doesn’t quite appreciate himself.

Still, Johns’ instruments may be blunt, but he always manages to get the job done, which in this case is elevating Vic to a higher status in the League and DCU than he stood at before. Vanquishing Grid on his home turf frees Vic from the final worm of angst that’s infected his system during this series, but that’s only one feat of many he’s accomplished on this arc. Taking out Grid effectively stymies the Syndicate (see Ultraman robbed of communication with Superwoman in his moment of need) and by marshalling the Metal Men, Vic is keeping the Secret Society distracted. And he still has one more crowning achievement to go: “I’ve gotta go save the Justice League.”

I’ve gotten so used to seeing a crowd of inkers for any given Mahnke comic that to see only Champagne-Alamy on the job makes you half-expect some drastic effect on the art would happen. Not so, apparently. This is Mahnke’s usually dramatic work, though perhaps inspired by Ivan Reis’ elegant, graceful lines, or maybe Rod Reis’ satiny colors just give Mahnke’s visuals an approachable flair that he usually lacks. Whatever the case, the art here has the best of both worlds: dramatic heft and mainstream spectacle.

Conclusion: Never let it be said that Johns doesn’t do his best to take B-characters up a level. The issue’s a standout for Cyborg even if it doesn’t do much with his antagonist or supporting cast.

Grade: B

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Respect points for anyone who can name every single one of the Society villains who show up in this issue. Go!

– Does anyone else find it a little sad that after escaping lord knows what evils to rendezvous with Vic, Steve Trevor just gets knocked out from behind? Give the guy a break, already.