JLA #111 (April 2005)

"Syndicate Rules Part Five: 36 Hours: The Storm" (22 pages)

Credits

Character Appearances

Featuring

Villains

Guest Stars

  • Teen Titans - Beast Boy (Garfield Logan; former-child actor; can shapeshift into green animals) and Cyborg (Victor Stone; cybernetically-enhanced former college athlete; leader of the Titans)

Cameoes

  • Dyno-Man (off-screen; champion of Sorrata & Irrta; mentioned as killed in the Qwardian attack)
  • Magellanic Knights (a company was visiting Valtunn when the Void Hound attacked)
  • Power Company - Bork and Sapphire

Groups and Henchmen

  • Thunderers of Qward (The army of Qward; long-time opponents of the Green Lantern Corps)
  • Weaponeers of Qward (The technicians and engineers of Qward; designers of Sinestro’s yellow power ring)

Story Details

Locations

  • STAR Labs San Francisco (JLA/CSA battle-royal)
  • Unidentified volcanic island (Ultraman versus Superman)
  • JLA Watchtower
  • Planet’s ravished by the Void Hound -

Continuity

Superwoman’s lasso compels the target to reveal their deepest darkest desires. Erdammeru was one of the Qwardian Dark Gods. The Void Hound that is named after him is built around a captured artificial-intelligence and was so powerful that it destroyed 10 solar systems on its first test. The Weaponeers were so overwhelmed by its power that they hid it in a remote planetoid in the positive-matter universe and its existence passed into legend.

Comments

Busiek’s announcement

When it was first announced that Kurt Busiek was writing this story it was also announced that he would be the regular on going writer of JLA. However, while this issue was on the stands he announced, after discussion with DC that:

I won’t be the regular writer on JLA after all - by my own choice. I’ve been having trouble with the deadlines, as has Ron, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that on a book that requires this much coordination, that ties in with so much of the DCU, I simply can’t manage a monthly schedule, not with my current health.

Despite his unfortunate departure Busiek did hint that he had setup at least three possible follow-up stories which could one day see print in JLA CLASSIFIED or elsewhere. He also said that had he stayed he would have added Green Arrow, Black Canary, and an updated Red Tornado to the team, as well as a new character - the Star Sapphire analogue from the Crime Syndicate’s universe.

Other stuff

  • The arc title in the books has always been “Syndicate Rules”, but it was originally solicited as “Crime Syndicate of Amerika!”. This issue is the first where the solicitation matches the comics.
  • The Power Company were a group of West Coast heroes Busiek created for DC Comics and their own self-titled series. They’re structure was based on that of a legal practise with senior and junior partners. On the DC Message Boards he noted that “The Power Company members that were there were hurt, but not killed. No guarantees that nobody at all died in the attack, but I wouldn’t kill off superheroes I created in a one-panel appearance.”

Synopsis

Highlord Roval of Qward slowly brings Erdammeru, the Void Hound, under his control. The ancient machine - a captured artificial intelligence embedded within the most powerful weapons platform ever created by the Weaponeers - destroys world after world under his command. His command crew is worried by the animistic aggression that Erdammeru brings out in their leader, but he assures them that he is in control and that his ultimate target will he their enemies on Earth. Meanwhile the Justice League has detected the continuum realignment that has brought the Qwardians and the Crime Syndicate to the positive matter universe, but they are caught by surprise when the Crime Syndicate attack the San Francisco branch of STAR Labs seeking information about the phenomena.

San Francisco’s resident heroes, the Power Company, are no match for the CSA. A battle-royal breaks out when the League arrives and both sides appear evenly matched. Superman and Ultraman take their fight to a volcanic island, Owlman disrupts the Manhunter’s telepathy, and Superwoman shows Wonder Woman how devastating her lasso can be. Even with the assistance of Cyborg and Beast Boy the League can barely hold the Syndicate and are forced to leave the field of battle to care for their wounded.

The Syndicate is surprised that the League wasn’t pulled into the anti-matter universe as expected (a side effect of Brainiac’s cosmic balance device that brought the Syndicate to the positive-matter universe). Owlman studies the STAR Labs data and discovers that the continuum shifts experienced by both universes has not only affected the displacement effect, but it has also removed the fundamental difference that stopped the League and the Syndicate being able to truly win in each other’s universe. The Syndicate then decides to remain and conquer the positive-matter Earth. Their decision occurs just as Erdammeru and the Qwardians enter the Earth’s solar system.

Review

See JLA #107 for a complete review of this story arc.

(5/10)

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