Retro Facsimile Review: JLA/Avengers #1-4 by Busiek & Pérez

JLA/Avengers #1, 3; Avengers/JLA #2, 4 (originally published September – December 2003)

Written by Kurt Busiek

Art by George Pérez

Coloured by Tom Smith

Spoilers from twenty-three years ago

I have not paid much attention to the craze of publishing facsimile editions of older comics; I find that I often already own the stuff they are reprinting, or are uninterested in them. This series, though, caught my attention, because I’ve been wanting to read this story since the passing of George Pérez a few years ago.

I don’t usually like inter-company crossovers, with very few exceptions. Typically, they are based on the usual formula where two heroes fight and then team up to stop some kind of threat that usually involves their respective most prominent villains, who have also teamed up. Sure, I liked the New Teen Titans/X-Men book that I finally read a few years back, but I’ve paid no mind to things like the Amalgam Universe, or the recent string of Marvel/DC collaborations. It doesn’t interest me.

What does interest me is the fact that there is very little George Pérez art, especially from his exquisite late period, that I haven’t already seen, and this series represents four prestige-size comics that he drew. More than that, this series looks to play to his strengths – it has a large cast of diverse characters, and a larger-than-life storyline. 

The collections of this story are prohibitively expensive, as are the original comics, so the chance to get them at reasonable facsimile prices also had a lot of appeal. This came out at the time that Busiek and Pérez had completed their legendary run on The Avengers, which I think is among the best runs that property ever had. The Justice League had come down from the high of Grant Morrison’s incredible JLA run, and I had stopped reading it. 

I am looking forward to returning to this era for both titles, and know that Busiek and Pérez will have done a good job on this.

This book features the following characters (actually, there were more, but unless they spoke or were directly referred to, I left them out; there was one character I couldn’t identify, and a couple I wasn’t sure of, so I left them out):

Heroes:

• Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner, JLA; #1-2,4)
• Superman (Clark Kent, JLA; #1-4)
• The Flash (Wally West, JLA; #1-2, 4)
• Aquaman (Arthur Curry, JLA; #1-4)
• Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz, JLA; #1-4)
• Wonder Woman (Diana, JLA; #1-4)
• Batman (Bruce Wayne, JLA; #1-4)
• Plastic Man (Eel O’Brian, JLA; #1-2, 4)
• Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff, Avengers; #1-2, 4)
• Warbird/Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers, Avengers; #1-4)
• She-Hulk (Jen Walters, Avengers; #1-4)
• Iron Man (Tony Stark, Avengers; #1-4)
• Jack of Hearts (Jonathan Hart, Avengers; #1-2, 4)
• Yellowjacket/Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath (Hank Pym, Avengers; #1-4)
• Thor (Avengers; #1-4)
• Triathlon (Delroy Garrett, Avengers; #1-2, 4)
• Wasp (Janet Van Dyne, Avengers; #1-4)
• Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, Avengers; #1-4)
• Captain America (Steve Rogers, Avengers; #1-4)
• Vision (Avengers; #1-4)
• Quasar (Wendell Vaughan, Avengers; #1-2, 4)
• The Atom (Ray Palmer, JLA; #1-4)
• Hawkeye (Clint Barton, Avengers; #1-4)
• Wonder Man (Simon Williams, Avengers; #2-4)
• Hawkman (Carter Hall, JLA; #2-4)
• Blue Beetle (Ted Kord, JLA; #2-3)
• Black Canary (Dinah Lance, JLA; #2-4)
• Hercules (Avenger; #2-4)
• The Thing (Ben Grimm, Fantastic Four; #2)
• Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards, Fantastic Four; #2)
• Green Arrow (Oliver Queen, JLA; #2-4)
• Captain Atom (Nathanial Adams, JLA; #2)
• Firestorm (Ron Raymond, JLA; #2-4)
• Red Tornado (JLA; #2-4)
• Zatanna (Zatanna Zatarra, JLA; #2-4)
• Steel (John Henry, JLA; #2, 4)
• Black Panther (T’Challa, Avengers; #2-4)
• Photon (Monica Rambeau, Avengers; #2-4)
• Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, JLA; #3-4)
• Elongated Man (Ralph Dibney, JLA; #3-4)
• Flash (Barry Allen, JLA; #3-4)
• Beast (Hank McCoy, Avengers; #3-4)
• Moondragon (Heather Douglas, Avengers; #3
• Green Lantern (Guy Gardner, JLA; #3)
• Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse, Avengers; #3)
• The Phantom Stranger (JLA; #3)
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson, JLA; #4)
• Doctor Light (JLA; #4)
• Hulk (Bruce Banner; #4)
• Bloodwynd (JLA; #4)
• Huntress (JLA; #4)
• Mystek (JLA; #4)
• Justice (Avengers; #4)
• Sandman (Avengers; #4)
• Crystal (Avengers; #4)
• Namor (Avengers; #4)
• Marrina (Avengers; #4)

Villains:

• Ultraman (Crime Syndicate of America; #1)
• Warrior Woman (Crime Syndicate of America; #1)
• Power Ring (Crime Syndicate of America; #1)
• Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate of America; #1)
• Owlman (Crime Syndicate of America; #1)
• The Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast; #1-4)
• Krona (#1-4)
• Terminus (#1)
• Starro (#1)
• Fin Fang Foom (#1)
• Darkseid (#2)
• Desaad (#2)
• Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom; #3)
• Shrapnel (#3)
• Killer Croc (#3)
• Bloodsport (#3)
• Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley; #3)
• Silver Swan (#3)
• Silver Banshee (#3)
• Sonar (#3)
• AIM (#4)
• Hydra (#4)
• Kobra (#4)
• Parademons (#4)
• Moloids (#4)
• The Royal Flush Gang (#4)
• Batroc The Leaper (#4)
• Screaming Mimi (#4)
• Felix Faust (#4)
• Whirlwind (#4)
• Absorbing Man (#4)
• Prometheus (#4)
• Zaran (#4)
• Constrictor (#4)
• Attuma (#4)
• The Grim Reaper (#4)
• Radioactive Man (#4)
• Solarr (#4)

Guest Stars

• Arkon (#1)
• Thundra (#1)
• Eternity (#1, 34)
• The Spectre (Hal Jordan; #1, 4)
• Eternity-like manifestation of the DC Universe (#2-4)
• Galactus (#2)
• Spider-Man (Peter Parker; #4)
• Speedball (New Warriors; #4)
• Kid Nova (New Warriors; #4)
• Red Guardian (Defenders; #4)
• Nighthawk (Defenders; #4)
• Valkyrie (Defenders; #4)
• Sabra (#4)
• Cyborg (New Teen Titans; #4)
• Wonder Girl (New Teen Titans; #4)
• Changeling (New Teen Titans; #4)
• Captain Marvel (Mar-vell; #4)
• Adam Strange (#4)
• Nikki (Guardians of the Galaxy; #4)

Supporting Characters:

• The Watcher (Uatu; #1-2)
• Metron (#1-4)
• Oracle (Barbara Gordon; #2)
• Edwin Jarvis (#3)
• Snapper Carr (#3)
• Rick Jones (#3)
• Peter Henry Gyrich (#4)
• Lana Lang (#4)
• Maxwell Lord (#4)

Let’s see what happened in the comics, with some commentary as I go:

• The event starts on the planet Polemachus, where Arkon and Thundra’s day gets interrupted by the appearance of some glowing eyes in space that end up destroying their whole universe. The Crime Syndicate attack the planet Qward (which is apparently in the same place in the DC Universe as Polemachus is in the Marvel Universe), but the glowing eyes turn up and ruin that too. We pull way out to an image of Eternity, and then see that the Grandmaster is watching the entire Milky Way. He’s joined by the glowing eyes, who we learn belong to Krona. He is looking for “the ultimate truth”. A month later, the Justice League is dealing with an attack by Terminus, the old giant Avengers foe, outside of Keystone City. They fight the being, and manage to defeat it with some cool teamwork. The Spectre (Hal Jordan at this time) appears to take the vanquished being away. In the 616, the Avengers (it’s a huge roster) fight of an attack by Starro. Many of the Avengers become possessed by his smaller starfish, but they cause it to flee through Wanda’s chaos magic. Quasar, who is out in space, gets in touch with the team to tell them that there have been some strange other-dimensional incursions on other planets – we see that Lobo is fighting the Imperial Guardians in Shi’ar space, while Khunds are attacking a race I can’t identify. The Flash, carrying a piece of Terminus’s armor, manages to visit the 616, where he finds a crowd chasing a mutant. He tries to help, but he can’t access the Speed Force there. The JLA monitor the same kind of incursions on other worlds – Skrulls fight Thanagarians while the Brood attack Mongul. The Flash returns, but his story is interrupted by the appearance of The Watcher outside the Watchtower. The Grandmaster turns up in the tower, explaining that Uatu is just watching. He’s detained by the heroes, and starts to explain what’s going on – their two dimensions have been joined, and their inevitable destruction can only be stopped by gathering twelve items of power, six from each world. He shares the locations of the items from the 616 in their minds, and disappears. Flash knows he can’t go, so the Atom is filling in for him. Flash sends the heroes to the 616 by running around them. The Avengers work on the same problem, only now Hawkeye has shown up to help out. The JLA explores the 616, seeing a lot of things they don’t like (Dr. Doom, Genosha, the Hulk, and the Punisher) and despite his rule of non-involvement, Batman does beat up Frank Castle off-panel. The team heads to an island where one of the items is, but find that it’s guarded by Fin Fang Foom and a couple of other old Marvel Monsters whose names I’ve never learned. While the team fights, Batman finds the item – the Ultimate Nullifier. Just then, the Avengers show up and Hawkeye knocks the Nullifier out of Batman’s hands with an arrow. Diana grabs it just as they all return to their own world. Superman is not impressed with the Marvel crew, or their world. The Avengers (it’s a smaller squad than we originally saw, and I’m not sure why) find they are being watched by the New God Metron, who shows them the twelve items, and tells them they need to stop the JLA from getting them all. No one notices that the Atom has stayed behind and is watching all of this. Metron gives the Avengers a Mother Box and disappears. The Avengers arrive in Metropolis via boom tube, and immediately stop some high tech bank robbers. They remove themselves from an adoring crowd, and do some reconnaissance, where they learn just how much heroes are revered on this world. The seven Avengers are confronted by the seven members of the JLA, and early attempts to talk go nowhere, so Thor gets mad and hits Superman with his hammer. Elsewhere, Grandmaster watches all of this, and tells Metron that he’s actually playing two games at once, hinting that whatever he has going on with Krona is not his ultimate goal. We see that the Atom is there, listening in.

• The second issue is incredibly busy, and beautifully laid out. We see how Krona has been obsessed with learning what happened before the Big Bang (we see those hands that always show up), and learn that after he was exiled from his body and universe, he’s traveled to many other universes, ultimately destroying them while trying to learn their secrets. We see how he and Grandmaster met and made an agreement, as Grandmaster worked to keep from having the Marvel Universe destroyed. He told him that there was a being who survived the previous universe, and suggested a game. We are then shown a female figure that looks like Eternity. Then we are in the present, with the Avengers and JLA fighting in Metropolis. While the heroes pair off to fight, Batman and Captain America recognize each other’s skills, and decide to talk instead of fight. They leave the others to keep fighting. Scarlet Witch taps into the chaos magic of the DCU and is supercharged. She can feel all the items they are searching for, and teleports the Avengers away to get them. The JLA realize they’ve gone to the Marvel Universe, and Flash sends them there. Before they leave, the Martian Manhunter telepathically contacts reserve Justice Leaguers to seek out the items in the DCU. On Earth, the Wasp coordinates some reserves as well, and Triathlon offers to stay at the Mansion and manage comms. The JLA arrive in a field where Metropolis would be, and realize that the Marvel Earth is smaller than theirs; they split into teams to go after the items. Iron Man and Hawkeye get the GL battery from Kyle Rayner’s apartment and stop Flash. They learn that when they acquire an object, it gets teleported away, to the Grandmaster. Superman and GL get attacked by Warbird and Wonder Man in Santo Rico. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch look around the Flash Museum, and talk about how heroes are treated in the DCU, when Hawkman, Blue Beetle, and Black Canary attack them. Wonder Woman and Aquaman arrive in Asgard, where Hercules and She-Hulk are waiting for them. Diana does not like Hercules because of what his DC counterpart did to her mother, so their fight is brutal. All of the fights are intense. GL and Aquaman each acquire items. Pietro notices that Wanda is losing control, but manages to get the item they wanted. Batman’s taken Cap to the Batcave, where Bruce checks in with Oracle. They are puzzled by Metron’s involvement in things, and we see that the New God is watching Galactus destroy a planet. Cap triggers something on his belt, and The Thing appears with a ‘time-bike’ for him and Batman to use. They talk briefly with Mister Fantastic, and then Ben teleports back to the 616. Cap and Batman head out. Some Avengers have gathered in the Himalayas, where Wander continues to struggle. Superman, WW, and GL confer as well. At the JLA Watchtower, Zatanna tries to figure out what’s going on with chaos magic, while Steel outfits Flash with a vest that will help him keep his speed in the 616. In Happy Harbor, Thor and Vision fight Red Tornado and Firestorm, who gain their object. In Wakanda, Black Panther watches as Wasp and Yellowjacket fight Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man, before retrieving the Mask of Medusa himself. Cap and Batman learn of the stakes they are fighting for as they end up in a ruined universe. Iron Man and Hawkeye have defeated Captain Atom and Green Arrow off panel. Tony leaves Clint with the Cask of Eternal Winter as he uses the Mother Box to boom tube somewhere else. On Paradise Island, while Steel fights Vision and Wanda gets sicker, Quicksilver and Flash fight, with Wally winning the object. In the Blue Area of the moon, GL and WW fight Photon and Quasar. Iron Man joins them, tipping the battle in their favour. Cap and Batman end up in the Grandmaster’s home, where they find The Atom. He shows them how to watch the others, and they see Clark and Aquaman talk about how the 616 is a harsher world with heroes that don’t try hard enough. They also see a recording that shows the arrangement between Grandmaster and Krona; Krona forced a change on their game, so that the Avengers are on his side and the JLA is on Grandmaster’s. Cap realizes that this makes the Avengers the bad guys in this situation. Thor, Flash, Firestorm, Quicksilver, Hawkeye, and Steel are on Apokalips, where they realize that Darkseid has the Infinity Gauntlet, which terrifies the Avengers. Darkseid realizes it won’t work in his reality and tosses it away. Flash manages to snatch it, putting his team up by one against the Avengers. All of the heroes are transported to the Savage Land, where the Cosmic Cube hangs above them. Wanda is suddenly fine, and they realize the Cube is the last treasure to acquire. The fight that starts is brutal, with Thor and Superman really going at one another. This fight takes the centre of each page while we see other fights happening around it (including Photon draining the green energy from Kyle’s ring). Thor is shocked to see Superman push back his hammer. Clark smashes Thor really hard, knocking him out. The other Avengers team up and start stomping on Superman, until Aquaman comes out of a lake on a massive sea monster, scattering them. Kyle tries to grab the Cosmic Cube, reciting Hal’s oath and managing to charge his ring from the Cube. Warbird grabs it before he can get it, though, but the Flash grabs it from her. Pietro, faster than Wally on his world, grabs it from him. Grandmaster and Krona appear in the sky, and Pietro boasts that he has the Cube, until Cap’s shield knocks it from his grasp, sending it to Batman. Cap orders the Avengers to stand down, and Batman tries to use the Cube’s powers, but it won’t work for him. Grandmaster tells Krona that he lost, and Krona blasts him, demanding he tell him the info he seeks. Krona keeps blasting at Grandmaster, while the heroes try to separate them. He learns Galactus’s name, and teleports him to them. Galactus is not happy, and Krona attacks him. At the same time, Grandmaster, badly injured, starts to do something with the objects of power, and all of existence seems to turn into a swirl that disappears.
• Issue three started off very confusingly, as the Justice League looks at Doctor Doom, who has become part of the Source Wall. It’s not the League we’ve seen so far, in that Elongated Man and Hawkeye are on the team (and Clint is now with Black Canary, which annoys Green Arrow). We also immediately notice that Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern, and it looks like Barry Allen is the Flash. They make plans to go tell their friends on the other Earth that they’ve stopped one of their major villains. As they leave, the camera pans back and we see Eternity and the female version of Eternity from the last issue are making out. On the other Earth, the Avengers have just defeated Brainiac, and we notice that Iron Man is wearing old armor, that Beast is on the team, and Hank Pym is in his Ant-Man guise. They enter their Hydrobase just as the JLA arrive, and Jarvis prepares to serve them some hors d’oeuvres. Cap feels like something is wrong, and looks at a photo that is a rework of the old cover showing the first meeting of the Justice League and Justice Society. We learn that the teams have met every year since, and Cap suddenly realizes that they are actually meeting on the JLA satellite, and that there are a lot more people present. There are members from various incarnations of both teams, and this time it’s Superman who feels like something has gone wrong. Now they’re in Avengers Mansion, and both Cap and Superman feel off; the others have memories of various meetings over the years, and instead of trying to sort things out, Supes and Cap start yelling at each other (Superman’s character feels so off in this series). When they hit each other, everything fades to white again. Vision finds himself in a ruined city, and finds Aquaman, who is also confused (and who has his hand back). They are attacked by a half dozen DC villains, and fight back. They’re about to be overwhelmed when some other Avengers and Leaguers come and help them. They figure out that they are on the JL-Earth, and wonder what’s happening on the other Earth. There, some other heroes find that almost all of New York is on fire. Superman figures out that some of the people in the crowd are from his Earth. When it starts snowing, some people turn into ‘ghosts’ and other people start to appear. Martian Manhunter crosses between the two worlds and helps the heroes communicate with one another. They find a portal that looks like Krona (Hal recognizes him) and Superman and Iron Man follow it into space on both of their worlds. They see what looks like their planets merging. Scarlet Witch and Hal use their powers/ring to blast at Krona, and things go white again. The Avengers are assembled on their planet, and return to the Mansion, where they find a dishevelled Jarvis. They expect that the Justice League will visit them, just as they arrive. They are able to see through the monitors that their friends are dealing with issues on both planets, and that they are manifested as various versions of themselves (Hawkeye is in his carney gear, Firestorm is an elemental, etc.). They figure out that the Grandmaster must have done something, but don’t know how to find him. That’s when the Phantom Stranger strolls in and takes the heroes on a cosmic path. They find the badly injured Grandmaster lying on a checkered floor. He explains that he misjudged Krona’s ruthlessness, used the power items to freeze him between the two worlds, stopping his plan to recreate the Big Bang by merging the two Earths (I think Jonathan Hickman would call this an incursion). Grandmaster is too hurt to reverse this, so the only way to stop things is to defeat Krona. Cap asks what putting things back to normal would look like, and so Grandmaster uses the last of his powers to show everyone the various paths they would take. This is a flash of the greatest horrors of these characters’ lives (Batman sees Jason Todd’s death, Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern see their deaths, while Hank Pym sees himself hitting Janet and Wanda sees her children become part of Master Pandemonium). The heroes waffle for a moment, but then agree that they need to make things the way they were no matter the cost. We see that Metron is watching this.
• I can’t even imagine the amount of time and energy it would have taken Pérez to draw the fourth issue of this series. It opens with Krona ranting to Metron about how Galactus’s original universe ended but the planet-eater came through to the new one, and how excited Krona is to see his quest about to finish. Then we see the two Earths combining like a Venn diagram. In the New Yorks of both worlds, we see heroes that aren’t the Avengers or the JLA working to rescue people as wild weather and reality-warp effects endanger civilians. The Avengers and the JLA are in Gamemaster’s place, trying to figure out how to solve things. They know they have to set aside the terrible things they saw in their pasts/futures/alternate presents and focus on getting to Krona’s stronghold to stop him. Superman suggests that the teams band together under Captain America’s leadership, and he accepts. The two teams get to work, converting an Atlantean warship provided by Aquaman so it can get them to Krona’s base. Along the way, there are many nice character moments between the teams, as well as heartfelt conversations between Vision and Scarlet Witch, Wasp and Goliath, and Flash (Barry) and Green Lantern (Hal), wherein they all realize they have to accept their personal misfortunes for the benefit of both worlds. As they prepare to attack, Cap gives Superman his shield to carry, since he will be taking point. The heroes fire up their ship, which runs on a combination of Thor’s hammer, Flash’s cosmic treadmill, and Wanda’s magic. They cross barriers and learn that Krona’s built his fort out of Galactus’s body. They are immediately attacked by AIM, Hydra, Kobra, maybe Intergang, and some of Darkseid’s forces. The heroes leave the ship and attack. Cap relays commands through Martian Manhunter’s telepathy, and soon the heroes are wading through goons from a number of organizations, including the Moloids. Batman moves on his own to find Krona’s command station, but a reality-altering wave hits, and from this point on, all sorts of different heroes swap in and out, as the most established heroes go through different costume changes. Waves of villains from both planets attack, starting with the Royal Flush Gang, and what follows is pages of fan-service action. Krona shows Metron that he’s captured Eternity and his counterpart from the DC Universe. Flash and Hawkeye are killed in the battle, and things get crazier as more heroes and villains keep appearing, and the heroes push towards Krona’s fort. Cap is found by Prometheus, while Batman faces a large array of Marvel villains (but is joined by Black Panther, Huntress and Black Widow). Things escalate at Krona’s citadel, as the heroes push ever closer to it. Scarlet Witch discovers that the entities are imprisoned, and Wonder Woman and She-Hulk hang back to give the rest of the heroes cover. Radioactive Man and Solarr combine their powers to weaken Superman, but Vision blasts him with his solar ray to recharge him just before being destroyed. Superman finds a final wall protecting Krona’s base, and Thor gives him his hammer, which he uses to smash through. Krona seems really powerful as he engages the heroes himself. He then turns back to the entities, and is about to get whatever it is he wants, but then Flash (Barry) and Hawkeye turn up, smashing part of his equipment with a TNT arrow. Some kind of cosmic vortex drags Krona away, and things start to revert to normal (Wally returns, and the bodies of the various heroes and villains that weren’t in on this from the beginning fade away). Batman points out that there is an opening forming between the two planets, with giant hands emerging. It’s the Spectre (Hal Jordan), and he separates the worlds, putting them back where they belong. Krona’s base starts to fall apart as Galactus recovers. Superman finds he can no longer pick up Thor’s hammer, and as the entities part from their embrace, we see the two teams teleport (via Flash speed and Norse gateway) back to their worlds. It’s curious that we don’t see the heroes return to their normal lives, but we instead see that Grandmaster was never dead, and was always involved in a different game with Metron. They have in their possession a cosmic egg, infused with Krona’s being; we learn that Metron started this whole process.

This was a really fun read that blanketed me in nostalgia for the days of the Busiek/Pérez Avengers run. It was so great to see that lineup, as well as a close variation of my favourite JLA lineup in the Morrison era, but let’s be real, the draw of this book is the Pérez artwork. I’d say that this book came out just after his peak, when he was still an incredible artist with an ability to draw and differentiate massive amounts of characters so that they all conveyed different personalities. You can tell that Pérez had a ball drawing this book, especially as reality started shifting and he could use just about any hero, costume, or era he wanted to.

This book must have involved a lot of research, as well as a deep historical sense of who these characters are (all of which are strengths of Busiek’s), and I really enjoyed seeing so many beloved characters, even if only for a panel.

I know that the days of me seeing new Pérez artwork are basically over, as I’ve read just about everything from his best eras, and that this series was sort of the last thing I could experience (kind of like how I’ve left one last novel to read for some of my favourite novelists who are no longer with us). 

The story was kind of contrived, as any such thing would have to be, and I thought the choice of Krona as the villain was a little weird, but preferable to bringing back the Anti-Monitor. The Krona stuff didn’t really matter anyway, as the intent was to enjoy seeing these characters interact. 

I thought it was clever how Busiek thought about the differences between the two universes’ Earths, showing that the DC one was larger (accounting for the sheer number of fictionalized cities and countries on it), and I liked seeing how the different worlds would look to visitors. 

I found that the portrayal of Superman felt off until the last issue, which is kind of explained away, but still bothered me. Beyond that, I most enjoyed seeing the immediate rivalry form between Hawkeye and Green Arrow, and between Flash (Wally) and Quicksilver. 

This was a really fun read, and I’m glad I got to read it in its original format, although not at current back issue prices. I can’t think of too many other ‘facsimile’ projects I’d be interested in, but I’m glad I got this one. I also am thankful that everyone involved limited the scope of this to the one series; it’s not hard to imagine that the same thing being made today would necessitate at least a dozen one-off specials from both companies, just showing different characters fighting each other and then teaming up, basically what Pérez did time and again, only extended.

There will never be another George Pérez, and I’m glad I got to read one of his masterpieces (there’s another special project of his on my to-read shelf, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to it, but it’s basically the last thing, not counting some of his early work, so I’m in no rush).

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