Justice League of America (vol. 2) #35

This issue is the first part of a three-part run by veteran JLA writer Len Wein which fits in between Dwayne McDuffie’s final issue (JLA #34) and James Robinson’s first issue (JLA #38). This could easily have been a straight filler story with an unexplained enlarged roster, but they keep the roster from the last issue. Firestorm, Vixen, and Doctor Light being the only heroes left. Vixen is the only member to survive from Brad Meltzer’s run. Firestorm and Dr Light were picked up along the way and seem to have become members by default more than anything else.

Wein was one of the writers of the original Justice League series. He wrote about a dozen issues starting the first Silver Age appearance of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (JLA v1. #100-102 (Aug-Oct 1972)). That Seven Soldiers story ended with the “death” of the Red Tornado. Wein was also the writer who brought the Elongated Man into the League (JLA v1.  #105 (Apr-May 1973)). So maybe it isn’t a surprise that be fleshes out the short-staffed League by bringing back the Tornado and another stretchable hero, Plastic Man.

This issue starts with an attack on a high-tech Las Vegas casino by the Royal Flush Gang. The Gang taken an entire casino hostage and reveal that they’re working for as mercanaries for a mastermind codenamed “Wildcard.” The five remaining members of the JLA beat off the Royal Flush Gang. However, whilst the League and the casino security were occupied the plain clothed Five of Spaces stole the casino’s nanotech processors – the hearts of their advanced gaming machines.

It is only at the end that the reader is shown the real identity of “Wildcard”. He is Amos Fortune, a manipulator of luck and an old enemy of the League. He and the Justice Society villainess and slaver Roulette are engaged in a card game. He is using the Royal Flush Gang as his deck and she is using the Justice League. She complains to him, “When I agreed to use the Justice League as my players, I expected a better hand.” To which he replys, “Luck of the draw, my dear! You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt.” One might almost think that those lines were a quotation from a conversation between a JLA writer and his editor.

The art by Tom Derenick for this issue is quite good, but once more we’re given an entire deck of inkers. Please for once can we have a singular, consistent art team on this book. The really nice cover by Eddy Barrows is a case in point. It shows a the Royal Flush Gang in the older versions of their costumes rather than the new variants used by the team in the interior art.

The Verdict

	Site	Reviewer	Original Score	%
Reviews Portal	Comic Book Resources	Doug Zawisza	3/5	60
Reviews Portal	IGN	Alex C. Lupp	3/5	60
Community Reviews	Comics Vine User Reviews	Ave of 1 review/s	3.5/5	70
Community Reviews	iFanboy	233 pulls	3.2/5	64
Character Site	Superman Homepage	Michael Bailey	4 (story) & 4 (art)/5	80
Reviews Blog	A Comic Book Blog	Wayland	3/5	60
Reviews Blog	Comics Per Day Reviews	Timbotron	Fair	60
This Site	Captain’s JLA Blog	Jason Kirk		50%
		Grand Average		63%