JLA #34 (thing)

WARNING! SPOILERS ARE FROM SHAOLIN! YOU WANT FIGHT? FIGHT ME!

Title: The Ant and the Avalanche
Release Date: October 1999
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Howard Porter
Inker: John Dell
JLA Members: Green Lantern, Aquaman, Zauriel, Plastic Man, Superman, Batman, Steel, Huntress, Orion, and Oracle.
Guest Stars: Mister Miracle and Sturmer.
Bad Guys: A bunch of supervillains at Belle Reve Prison (the Red Dart, Dr. Light, Crazy Quilt, the Rainbow Raider, Killer Moth, the Shadow Thief, Hector Hammond, and several others I don't recognize), Prometheus, and a Remote Sender.
Cameos: Lex Luthor, the General and the Queen Bee.

So what happens?
There's a more-violent-than-normal riot going on at Belle Reve prison, which features a number of supervillains as inmates. Green Lantern is on the scene, but he gets his power ring stolen by a minor villain called the Red Dart, and now the other villains are busy trying to stomp GL into a stain on the floor. Aquaman, Zauriel, and Plastic Man (disguised as an inmate) show up to help out, but Batman isn't willing to leave earthquake-ravaged Gotham, and Superman is trying to prevent a space station crash.

Back on the moon, Steel and Huntress are watching nervously as some unknown figure waltzes through all of the Watchtower's security traps--turns out it's one of the New Gods, Mister Miracle, the ultimate escape artist, who has brought along a bunch of soldiers from New Genesis to help with the "fortification of the Earth." He says a primordial weapon has resurfaced...

Meanwhile, back at Belle Reve, the Red Dart takes Green Lantern's ring to his contact, Prometheus, who has sneaked into the prison. Prometheus spends some time examining the ring, then tells the Dart to give it back to GL. The riot finally starts to calm down when Batman makes an appearance, silhouetted against the top of one of the guard towers. Superman shows up after saving the space station, congratulates "Batman" (actually Plastic Man in disguise), tells the cons to head back to their cells, and picks up Green Lantern's ring from the Dart.

Down in the basement, Aquaman, Zauriel, and Green Lantern discover something unexpected and gruesome: a giant, gooey, scarlet eyeball grown over the head of Silver Age Green Lantern villain Hector Hammond, broadcasting a psionic signal that made the prisoners so violent. Orion appears with Sturmer, a huge New God attack dog, and blasts the eye to pieces. He calls it a "Remote Sender" and warns that Mageddon is coming.

Elsewhere, other dark plans are in the works: a new Injustice Gang, featuring Lex Luthor, Prometheus, the General, and the Queen Bee...

Cool Moments!
A powerless Green Lantern holding off a dozen supercriminals (who the hell lets convicts keep their super-weapons anyway?); Plastic Man's masquerade as Batman; the first glimpse of the Remote Sender.

Cool Quotes!
Astronaut, after Superman saves their lives, then flies off: "He saved our lives."
Second astronaut: "He was gonna be the first man I ever kissed..."

The Red Dart, after the riot: "I said to the contact, 'Why me for the job?' 'My research picked you out,' he said. That's the difference between big time and small time, you know what I'm saying? Research. And then he said 'Sometimes even an ant can start an avalanche, Tony,' like he knew what I was thinking. So I look at the moon and I know the one thing they'll never really understand is just how much we hate them. And how happy we'll be to see them fall."

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