Broken Frontier

In a sequel to their Eisner Award-winning series, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis return to their unique take on the Justice League with mixed results.

The Super-Buddies arrive for another day in the work of providing affordable super-heroics. Things immediately become complicated, however, as former second-rate super-villain Blackguard has moved in next door to our hapless heroes. The odd couple of Fire and Mary Marvel, meanwhile, go apartment-hunting. Amidst all of this action, the team, of course, cannot stop bickering. Yeah, the Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League is back.

Giffen and DeMatteis pick up right where they left off in Formerly Known as the Justice League with witty dialogue, sarcasm, running jokes and repeated satire of super-heroes. In other words, everything that readers have come to expect from these writers shows up in this issue. Unfortunately, some of those tools do not work as well as usual for this outing. The sarcasm found in this book lacks the usual bite from these creators, while at least one of the running jokes simply does not work. However, Giffen and DeMatteis still inject a great deal of humor into this book. The pairing of Fire and Mary Marvel has already begun to deliver on its incredible potential, while the dialogue between Booster Gold and Blue Beetle is absolutely priceless .

Two aspects of this story, besides the essential humor, truly stand out. First of all, Giffen and DeMatteis have made this story more accessible than I expected. While the pair still get in their share of Manga Kahn jokes, for example, most of the humor can be understood by all. The second aspect of this story that will jump out to all readers is that Sue Dibny, of Identity Crisis fame, is alive and well. Undoubtedly, continuity kings will go into convulsions while others will claim that this story is irreparably damaged by association. If you are one of those people, you just might want to chill. I was well aware of Sue Dibny's death and it did briefly take me out of the story, but only long enough for me to say to myself, it's a comic book and go back to enjoying my reading.

You can call this version of the league whatever you want to, but whether they are the JLI, the Super-Buddies, or whatever, the book needs Kevin Maguire . His smooth style and hilarious facial expressions make the story work every time. Even though he occasionally goes a little overboard with the facial expressions, Maguire has a distinct style that stands out as one of the best in super-hero comics. And while I'm usually not one to notice lettering, I must say that the book simply would not be the same without the unique work of Bob Lappan.

If you have enjoyed the previous Justice League stories by these creators, you will enjoy this comic too, even if the quality is not quite as high. Funny comic-books are all too rare these days and the bottom line is that this comic is funny .

- Eliot Johnson