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Title: Stone of Destiny (Rock Of Ages Part 6)
Writer: Grant Morrison
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FEATURE CHARACTERS
Aquaman, Aztek, Batman I, Flash III, Green Arrow II, Green Lantern V, Martian Manhunter, Superman,
VILLAINS
The Injustice Gang (as seen in issues JLA #10-12)
GUEST APPEARANCES
Plastic Man (as recruited by Batman in JLA #11)
J'emm Son of Saturn (the alien controlled by Luthor)
Metron (New God of Knowledge)
Hourman III (a member of the future version of the JLA, first appearance)
Adam One and the legions of Wonderworld (foreshadowing of a future threat)
CAMEO APPEARANCES
Darkseid and Highfather (trapped on the Source Wall)
The Superman of 835th Century (as seen in shadow)
COMMENTS
Note: This issue is double sized.
The time span of this story is really strange we have a full month between parts one and two while little more that three minutes pass for the majority of the other four issues. Then it's another three months until the next story.
The first twenty two pages of this issue happen parallel to the story in JLA #12-13.
Something of the anatomy of Jemm is revealed: he has eight independently functioning lungs. At least some of the League seem to know Jemm's name.
The Philosopher's Stone or Worlogog as Metron called it first appeared with this name in a Jack Kirby story.
SYNOPSIS
Back in the normal present the lines are drawn and the players are in place for the show down between the Injustice Gang and the Justice League. Lex Luthor thinking he has the upper hand had teleported twelve nuclear warhead into the JLA Watchtower giving Aztek the option to die or join him. Refusing his offer Aztek take the third path and starts defusing the warheads. Meanwhile on the Lexcorp Satellite Luthor starts to notice something is amiss when the Joker is revealed to be Plastic Man in disguise (the real Joker is discovered by Dr. Light tired up near the generators). It is then that Luthor notices the rock that Superman placed in orbit heading straight for the satellite with an expected time to impact of little over three minutes. If the situation couldn't get any worse for the Injustice Gang Green Arrow shows his true colours by deactivating the satellites weapons as Superman, Batman and the Martian Manhunter beam onto the satellite direct from the Batcave. After a brief struggle the Gang is subdued and Superman makes as to destroy Luthor's mystery weapon.
Superman is stopped from destroying the Philosophers Stone by J'onn who had received a telepathic alarm from the recently returned Green Lantern. Later back on the JLA Watchtower the Joker reveals that he had pulled an old Gypsy trick to steal the Stone. To stop him the Martian Manhunter telepathically orders the information in the Joker's brain and for a few brief seconds the Joker is sane and surprising remorseful. Luthor seizes the moment and convinced the Joker to use the stone to undo the carnage in Star City, the dead are brought back to life and nobody remembers the attack. With the dead now living the League have nothing to charge the Injustice Gang with and are forced to let them go.
The course was chosen. The Injustice Gang won by escaping and the Justice League lost if only to stop the world from falling under the might of Darkseid. Metron takes the Philosopher's Stone which he called Worlogog and hands it to Hourman III for safe keeping. Aztek decides to quit the League due to his origin being compromised by Luthor, Green Arrow make a similar decision explaining that he simply isn't ready to deal with the shear level of threat that the League had encountered. Both their decisions are rendered moot by Superman announcing that the Justice League has been formally disbanded for a total restructuring.
QUOTE
"You are only the forerunners. Prepare for the fortification of Earth." - Metron's warning to the Justice League.
ALAN KISTLER'S ANNOTATIONS
Cover - Another nod to the Silver Age. Back then, nearly every cover had the characters saying something that warned the readers of the emergency taking place within the comic. Such covers stayed in the seventies and were used only about half-as-much during the eighties. By the nineties, they just about died out.
Page 1 - We learn the truth of the Philosopher's Stone (very creative concept) and we see an obvious future-version of Metron educating the new Hourman, his successor-to-be. And I must say I like the whole concept of a time-ship sailing through the sands of space/time. Metron's analogies are also a very nice treat.
Page 2 - From the evidence on this page I assume this takes place before Hourman's meeting with GL in Part 3. Also, notice Metron's reference to "this era's Superman." Is Kal merely the first of a long-line of champions? This concept mirrors the legacies of Flash and GL.
Page 4 - Ironic twist. By providing Aztek with his technology, Luthor ensured that the hero would be able to defeat his schemes.
Page 5 - Again, Batman seems to retake his former role as leader of the Justice League. We see his has built a new teleporter (nice design) that hacks into the Injustice Gang's teleport booth. We also learn that Plastic Man is apparently already on the Gang's satellite. But where?
And notice that Batman warns about Luthor rather the Joker. Obviously he doesn't perceive the Joker as a current threat. But why? :)
Page 6 - Panel 2: For some time, Joker has seemed intent on getting some kind of response from Jemm (remember the exploding cigar in Part 3?). And in Part 3 he was also interested in whether or not Luthor had a back-up plan in case Jemm woke up. And apparently this little acts are having there effects because back in Part 3 Luthor noticed that his alien slave seemed abnormally uneasy. We are soon to learn that there is a reason for the Joker's strange behaviour.
Page 7 - Panel 5: Ooh! An very neat effect that is reminiscent of the T-1000.
Page 8 - Panel 1: The aforementioned-mentioned spare Joker costume. And now we learn why the Joker was bothering Jemm. It was really Plastic Man acting on Batman's orders (mentioned on Page 5). I'm guessing that somehow Mirror Master snuck him into the satellite. Batman obviously knew what he was doing. After all, he needed a guy who could play the part and at the same time be able to take care of himself if things went bad (case in point). Plas fits the role perfectly. His wild humour makes it easy for him to impersonate the Joker and his powers make him very hard to kill.
Page 9 - Panel 1: In case you have no idea what Joker's talking about, he's referring to the Underworld Unleashed saga. Mirror Master later makes a reference to it on Page 12.
Page 10 - Batman's third spy is revealed. If any of you thought Connor was a true traitor, feel free to turn in your JLA Fan Club cards!
Page 16 - Very nice. With the Philosopher Stone's aid, Dr. Light attains god-like powers.
Page 18 - Panel 2: I found this hysterical. And it makes sense! Oh, and in case you don't realise why Ocean Master is screaming in agony on the next panel, it is not because of the kick. Just take a look. GA ripped his sceptre away and Orm mentioned earlier what happened when this occurs.
Panel 4: Batman's putting his fingers to his cowl in order to activate his own night vision lenses.
Page 19 - Panel 3: Such arrogance and greed. As if one Stone isn't enough!
Page 20 - Panel 5: We see the aforementioned-mentioned Batman/Luthor angle take a literal turn as they finally confront each other.
Page 23 - Panel 4: Don't tell me you don't recognise the classic Star Trek line "Damn it Jim! I'm a doctor, not a (fill-in-the-blank)!"
Page 24 - Panel 2: A subtle illustration of why Luthor hates Superman. He sees him as the most powerful man on Earth and he can't stand it.
Page 26 - I saw this one coming and it still scared the hell outta me! A madman like the Joker in possession of the Stone. This event was foreshadowed in Part 2 by his telepathic manipulation of the faux Injustice Gang satellite. I must admit, I like the idea of a giant grin on the world. Silly, yet still menacing. Nice job, Grant!
Page 29 - Panel 5: Luthor once again proves that he is prepared for any contingency. Like Mirror Master he teleports away through one of those wacky trick-mirrors. Argh!!! And yet again we see the connection between him and Batman by his closing statement. Could he be planning a revenge plot against the Dark Knight? The concept intrigues me.
Page 31 - Again, we get the feeling that our heroes are merely the first of a new breed.
Page 37 - And so we come back to the chapter's beginning. 833 centuries have past since Metron gained the Philosopher's Stone and in that time he's gained a new Mobius chair and became "master of time and space," a role we now see him passing on. The figure on Panel 4 is, I believe, on of Superman's future successors (if you use your imagination you can see an S-shield). And notice the reference "Justice Legion A." It puts into my mind the image of various armies and legions of super-heroes (pardon the pun) fighting for justice all over the span of space and time.
Page 39 - This is not the first time one of the Leagues has disbanded but I am still somewhat surprised by this. I felt that this particular group was a kick-ass roster myself.
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