JLA #82

WARNING! SPOILERS! PURE AND SIMPLE FROM THE EIGHTH DIMENSION!

Title: The White Rage, Part III
Release Date: August 2003
Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciller: Duncan Rouleau
Inker: Aaron Sowd
JLA Members: Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Firestorm, the Atom, Manitou Raven, Faith, Major Disaster, and Batman.
Guest Stars: The Martian Manhunter and Scorch.
Bad Guys: Manson, the Clockwatchers (Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and others), and Axis America (Shepherd, Hel, Zaladin, Baal, Fleshburn, and Great White).

So what happens?
We start out with the Flash, who's been running through the Speed Force to hide out from the authorities -- until he suddenly remembers that he had nothing to do with the explosion at the Safe Haven compound in Oregon. He returns to Earth, pissed, looking to kick some butt.

Meanwhile, Faith meets Manson, her creator and former special-ops boss, in Tempe, Arizona. She persuades Manson to accept her back into the Clockwatchers and asks him to help Major Disaster hide out, too.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, Firestorm, Atom, and Manitou Raven are battling a bunch of superpowered neo-nazis called Axis America, including Shepherd (faux cult leader/superstrong skinhead), Hel (previously known as Vela Shepherd, she's a big winged Valkyrie), the magic-sword-weilding Zaladin and his "demon bride" Baal (a demon who seems to have a symbiotic relationship with Zaladin), Fleshburn (a skull-faced radioactive assassin), and Great White (a big fat guy with an energy whip). They're able to subdue the three Justice Leaguers just before the Flash arrives on the scene.

And over at the jail where Superman is being held, the police are getting ready to transport him to federal custody. Supes is going along with it, because he believes that he was responsible for all the deaths at Safe Haven. But Wonder Woman shows up, lassos Supes with her magic lasso and compels him to recognize the truth: he had nothing at all to do with the explosion. Oh, goody! Now Supes gets to beat up neo-nazis!

Meanwhile, back in Arizona, Manson is refusing to help out Major Disaster, and both Disaster and Faith are getting pretty agitated about it when Faith suddenly becomes aware of a voice whispering that she caused the disaster and must run away from the authorities -- she recognizes it as Mouth, one of the Clockwatchers' operatives, who can induce a kind of low-grade, long-range hypnosis with low-frequency sound waves. Realizing that Manson has convinced all the JLA that they were responsible for the explosion and that Safe Haven was created solely as a tool to kick-start a takeover of the nation by Axis America, she's about to tear him into little pieces when he reminds her that if he dies, they'll never learn where the cultists are being kept. Reluctantly, Faith and Major Disaster agree to let Manson go.

Meanwhile, Flash isn't having much trouble knocking most of Axis America around, though Shepherd gets one hell of a good kick in. But then Superman and Wonder Woman show up, ready to do some righteous skinhead smiting. But damn if Manson doesn't call 'em all off and teleport 'em away. After that, the Leaguers rescue the cultists, and everything's hunky-dory. But Manson and Axis America are still out there, planning their next strikes...

But wait, there's more! We return to the Martian Manhunter and Scorch in Virginia. J'onn has decided that he can't heal Scorch's mind, and that she can't help him with his weakness against fire. Scorch is angry that J'onn is breaking his promise to help her back to sanity and that he's too afraid of change to allow himself to learn to withstand fire. She sets her whole house aflame, shouting that she knows that he can beat his weaknesses and asking if he really wants to live his life chained by fear. And then, with the house blazing all around them, they fall into a very hot, very passionate kiss. I guess opposites attract, right?

Cool Moments!
Flash opening up a superspeed can of whup-ass on Axis America rocked, and Faith telekinetically bashing Manson with a half-dozen automobiles was even better. That smooch at the end, though, put the rest of the issue to shame. Neo-nazis just can't hold a candle to superhero-supervillain love affairs.

Cool Quotes!
Hel, showing her true colors after nabbing the Atom: "First night out and we've secured three traitors. I think the little one may even be a Jew."

Shepherd, gloating: "I wish you could see what's coming, brother... It's going to be incredible. Purity. Cleanliness. Order. The ultimate "American Dream"! And there won't be a dirty mongrel in sight."
Wonder Woman, just arriving on the scene: "There are days where the pledge not to kill is particularly difficult to abide by."
Superman: "Tell me about it."

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