Justice League: Generation Lost #24
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan
Brightest Day wasn’t the only book that came to a close this week, as Judd Winick’s awesome Justice League: Generation Lost also saw its final issue ship out. Promising an all out battle from cover to cover, Winick did not lie. The issue features both OMAC Prime vs the Justice League International as well as Maxwell Lord vs Booster Gold. That’s right everyone, the long awaited Max vs Booster fight happens in this issue!
Let’s start by talking about the battle between the JLI and OMAC Prime, who is as much Amazo as he is OMAC, and it makes for a hell of a fight. The fight itself is narrated by the Blue Beetle, who really is the MVP of this fight, but I’ll get back to that. Winick peppers in humor with Rocket Red to help keep the tone that the book has been known for to good effect, though I may just be pointing this out because Gavril is my favorite Commie and he’s pure gold anytime he speaks. The majority of the JLI is ineffective in the fight until the big guns show up in the forms of Captain Atom and Power Girl, but again, this OMAC is an Amazo. An Amazo who quickly takes on Captain Atom’s powers which leads to a great momentum shift in the fight as well as a great display of not only Atom’s powers, but his character. He’s been back and forth throughout the series with how much of a man he is, and his fight with the OMAC is one of his two self declerations in this issue.
I never thought I’d say it, but I actually care about Captain Atom now. It happened sometime after the Chicago incident, but it’s lasted; this book has actually made me a Captain Atom fan. Winick does some great character work in this book, even with the non-stop fighting tone of the issue. Beetle gets a great moment at the end of the OMAC fight and, SPOILER WARNING, Beetle gets the killshot and does it in the name of Ted Kord. Jaime has been a natural fit for this title, and while at first I was questioning why this fan favorite Teen Titan at best deserved a spot on a Justice League, even the JLI as their Blue Beetle, I honestly can’t imagine this book without him. I will throw in, just as something I noticed, that after two issues of doing a good job with Diana, she spends this issue getting pummeled and is pretty much fight fodder. This is a shame since I was actually liking Wonder Woman for a change.
Max vs Booster is the highlight of the issue for me, hands down. I mean, this fight has been YEARS in the making, Max Lord murdered Ted Kord! He killed Booster’s best friend! And then Wonder Woman went and gave him neck snapping action before Booster could even deal with him face to face. Their first encounter since then helped open this series, and it’s just fitting that the series ends with Booster finally getting to do something that we’ve all been waiting so long for. That’s right everybody, Booster Gold punches Max Lord right in the f’ing mouth! Alright, the fight is more than that, and Winick is able to quickly employ a setting for both men to fight without powers, which leads to a bloody fist fight where both men not only get in their licks, but get to yell at the other like we all know they wanted to. Max and Booster have had an interesting relationship in the series, and it’s expanded upon on their old one through moments like Max briefly confiding in Booster before wiping his mind of it. The fight is perfect and does both men justice, with an ending that does as much to elevate Booster as a hero as it does Max a villain.
Aaron Lopresti handles the art for this issue, just like he handled the first issue, and while I normally don’t like to compare different books in reviews….this book looks better than Brightest Day in large part due to having a single artist. There is something to be said about a singular art style when telling a story, and with Lopresti you have someone who has done a third of this title on his own, someone who knows the characters and whose style feels right in the book. I’m not trying to use this space to knock another book, but really, cycling artists as the issue goes on is jarring, and having artists who specialize with single character all of the sudden drawing all of them. Anyway, back to this book. Lopresti does a great job with all of the fighting, and the ever changing design of OMAC Prime as he goes through different powersets makes for a lot of really cool looks…save for him with Wonder Woman hair….that just looked weird. Max and Booster have a very simple style to their fight, no big explosions or powers, just a fist to face brawl, and Lopresti pulls it off. I also have to toss in that I liked the ever growing battle damage to Rocket Red, and Blue Beetle’s suit going super badass. Great visuals from start to finish. Oh, and damn near everything with Captain Atom looks freaking awesome.
I’ll throw out a spoiler that Judd Winick himself dropped last month, and no, I won’t strike this one out. Max Lord lives to see the end of this issue, and I’ll accompany it with another spoiler and add that the heroes don’t catch him. Captain Atom gets a badass moment with Max, where he points out that he’s more of a man than Max (grat Atom moment). Max’s exit only sets up the books conclusion, one that should probably be well spoiled by the time you get a chance to read this, but not to say too much….Max is able to position himself into an ongoing bad guy role. The kind you’d want to see in an ongoing series.
Like the upcoming Justice League International ongoing title announced at the end of this issue. You’ve been spoiled, too bad.
I’ve been calling for it for months and I’m not the only one, this book has been too damn good to be limited to a one year run….even if it was twenty-four issues. Winick gave us the best finale to this book that we could have hoped for. By promising the future, Winick is able to give us a sense of closure without having Max lose. Booster and the rest won, they beat him, they saved Wonder Woman, and they are officially the Justice League International again.
Their generation isn’t quite so lost anymore.
Overall?
9/10
