JLA #56 (thing)

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! PASS WITH CARE! DO NOT DRIVE ON SHOULDER! OW! MY SHOULDER!

Title: Terror Incognita, Part II: The Harvest
Release Date: September 2001
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Mike S. Miller
Inker: Dave Meikis
JLA Members: Superman, Batman, the Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Plastic Man.
Guest Stars: Firestorm.
Bad Guys: the White Martians.

So what happens?
After a forest fire in Oregon spontaneously extinguishes itself, Superman gets suspicious and examines the surrounding air molecules with his microvision. He discovers that all of the air molecules have been mysteriously altered to make them fireproof -- everything from campfires to internal combustion engines no longer work -- and worse, the fire that could have used to counter the evil White Martians can no longer be relied on...

Meanwhile, in Murmansk, Russia, Green Lantern's shield is still the only thing keeping Wonder Woman, the Flash, Plastic Man, and a bunch of Murmanskians from getting incinerated by a mushroom cloud. The people of Murmansk, however, don't seem appreciative -- they're trying as hard as they can to force GL to drop the shield. The rest of the JLA are trying to run interference for Lantern, but the force mind-controlling all the civilians suddenly decides it's time to start mind-controlling the superheroes, too, forcing Green Lantern to shoot a blast of energy at Wonder Woman. Thinking fast (that's what he does best, hyuk hyuk), Flash zips through the crowds, finds the only two people who look happy and relaxed about all the chaos, grabs them, and puts them in the path of Green Lantern's energy blast. Their control over the citizens of Murmansk broken, the two interlopers are tied up by Wonder Woman, but they suddenly turn invisible and insubstantial, and then disappear...

Meanwhile, Batman has discovered that all the brainwashed White Martians who had been under surveillance are now missing, and the JLA computers have been reprogrammed to cover up the disappearance. He realizes that the Martians have been stalking and kidnapping fortune-tellers, psychics, gamblers, and detectives for some nefarious purpose, and the trail leads to Phoenix, Arizona. He pays a visit to Phoenix, taking along a neural amplifier once owned by a supervillain to mask his mind from the alien telepaths, and soon discovers what the Martians are doing with all the people they've been kidnapping -- slicing their skulls open and removing the brains! Nasty! The Martian Manhunter is also in Phoenix, being tortured by the White Martians, and he accidentally lets slip that he's seen Batman in their hideout. When they attack, Batman is able to hold them off for a while, but they soon grab him and prepare to operate on his brain.

Luckily, J'onn has escaped by now and leaps to Batman's defense. During the battle, the Manhunter tells Batman that he's the one who accidentally awakened the White Martians from their mental stupor -- during the Id case, J'onn briefly made mental contact with the wish-granting Id and made a wish that his loneliness be cured. The ever-capricious Id granted the wish by awakening the White Martians. (I am so goddamned tired of Id. I wish the writer would find another deus ex machina) Anyway, the Martians have been spending the last several weeks kidnapping psychics and fireproofing the atmosphere in preparation for a full-scale invasion. As J'onn is swarmed by White Martians, he tells Batman that he's given him "the Ray of hope we need" (Yeah, like a bunch of telepaths aren't going to be able to figure out he was telling Bats to find Ray Palmer, the Atom). Batman teleports out, and the Martians broadcast a telepathic order to all the other White Martians worldwide the hunt down the JLA.

In the Midwest, Superman has discovered that the altered atmosphere is causing plants to begin to die -- animal life will start to go next. He discovers one of the Martian "ion stations" that are screwing up the air, and as he prepares to dismantle it, is joined by Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Plastic Man -- but he doesn't realize that they're really shapeshifted White Martians! Hey, watch your back, Kryptonian!

Cool Moments!
The first glimpse we get of the White Martians' brain removal operations is pleasingly shocking; the costume-wearing White Martians getting ready to clean Superman's clock are neat, too; on the whole, though, it's really a bit of a muddle.

Cool Quotes!
Batman, discussing White Martians: "When they want to be, they're utterly undetectable. In fact, the only way I know they're not still here is that I'd be dead by now."

Back | Index | Forward