Just as soon as JLA writer Grant Morrison had established his new JLA team, he was on sabbatical, taking off four months to devote his time to writing and overseeing DC: ONE MILLION, the next summer’s mega-crossover continuity event which was scheduled to cross over into every single DC series. As it turned out, the time was well spent, as DC ONE MILLION turned out exceedingly well, probably the best “summer crossover event” either DC or Marvel has ever pulled off. But that’s a story for another column…

Anyway, in the interim, JLA was in the hands of guest writer Mark Waid, who did an excellent job of breaking in the new team in two two-issue stories running in JLA #18-21 (May-August 1998). Waid’s first tale brought the original JLA member Atom back into the fold, at least for a guest spot, as the JLA wrestle with, of all things, quantum physics, in the form of Dr. Julian September’s monkeying with the laws of probability. It’s a slightly head-trippy but very engaging adventure.

Waid followed that up with a visit to Rann and a somewhat addled Adam Strange, who promptly enslaves the Justice League and puts them to work rebuilding his ravaged adopted homeworld.

A great story here, not only in itself but also in how it returned Adam Strange to the proper status quo after being unnecessarily ripped apart in a previous miniseries.

Morrison and artist Howard Porter returned to the series in JLA #22-23 with “…Perchance to Dream, ” an entertaining two-issue adventure pitting the League against Morrison’s updated version of Starro the Conqueror. The most notable thing about this story is the very surprising guest appearance by Daniel, the Lord of Dreams, from Neil Gaiman’s already-a-classic SANDMAN series.

To my knowledge, outside of a few brief cameos in Geoff Johns’ JSA, this is the only time that the Gaiman Sandman has made a guest appearance in someone else’s story in the mainstream DCU. Morrison does a great job with Gaiman’s baby here, and in one of my favorite bits of dialogue refers to Kyle Rayner as having a “wishing ring.”

The end of this story also sees the departure of Hippolyta as an active JLA member and the return of Diana as Wonder Woman – with Superman’s return to his non-electric status a few issues before, the JLA is finally back to its classic roots visually, as we hadn’t seen since Morrison’s debut story arc.

The next story arc (JLA #24-26) pits the JLA against the Ultramarines, a group of U.S. soldiers turned superhumans through the machinations of their renegade commander, General Wade Eiling (a fairly long-running supporting character who first made his debut in DC’s CAPTAIN ATOM series in 1986).

While Eiling’s Ultramarines and a battalion of U.S. Army troops take on the JLA, Eiling executes his real plan, transferring his consciousness from his terminally ill body (suffering from an inoperable brain tumor) to a new, indestructible and practically immortal host body: the android body of the JLA’s old adversary the Shaggy Man. However, being the spit-and-polish military man that he is Eiling stops to shave before heading off to kill the Justice Leaguers who’ve discovered his plan.

Although the Ultramarines give the JLA a run for their money, Superman convinces both the troops and the Ultramarines that they’ve been led astray by their general, by merely standing his ground.

Meanwhile, Batman, Huntress and Plastic Man fight for their lives against the now-unstoppable Eiling, and with the help of the just-arriving Superman and the Ultramarines, manage to back Eiling into a corner until Batman can lure him into his trap, teleporting him into deep space millions of miles away.

The Ultramarines, meanwhile, declare themselves an independent state and a global peacekeeping force, although they surprisingly don’t show up again for the remainder of Morrison’s run.

Guest writer Mark Millar and guest artist Mark Pajarillo show up in JLA # 27 (March 1999) with a sharp little done-in-one tale that officially returns the Atom to JLA status, if only on a part-time basis. The conceit of the story is also well done, as the League contends with a redesigned Amazo that absorbs and duplicates the powers of every Justice League member it faces, and as the JLA calls in more and more of its reserves to face him, (including some long-absent members like Blue Beetle, Animal Man and Aztek), Amazo only gets more and more powerful. Luckily, the situation calls for a thinker like the Atom, who quickly arrives and advises Superman on the correct course of action:

With that, Amazo is deactivated – problem solved. Superman proposes Atom come back on board, and soon there’s a tiny chair floating above the JLA meeting table once again.

A long-absent tradition returned to the pages of JLA in April 1999, with the first Justice League/Justice Society team up in about 15 years or so. “Crisis Times Five!”, appearing in JLA #28-31, reunited the two teams to face, of all things, an invasion from the Fifth Dimension, the home of Superman’s longtime annoyance Mr. Mxyzptlk. When it’s revealed that the upcoming invasion from the 5th Dimension (as warned by the JLA’s time-travelling new associate Hourman) involves genies, the JLA calls in the only folks they know with any experience dealing with genies: the remaining members of the Justice Society of America: Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Wildcat and Hippolyta.

And in typical Morrison fashion, there’s enough story here for three or four plotlines, as the JLA and JSA contend with a reality-warping battle of the genies and the introduction of a new successor to Johnny Thunder, young Jakeem Thunder, while guest-star Captain Marvel and Kyle Rayner make a trip to the Fifth Dimension to seek intercession. (But not before Captain Marvel suckerpunches Superman, knocking him out so that he won’t try to accompany him to the 5th Dimension. And in a great bit of characterization by Morrison, just before the punch Superman repeatedly addresses Marvel, casually and almost a bit paternally, as “Bill,” almost to highlight the sense of betrayal Marvel must feel.)

Meanwhile, Zauriel and Alan Scott try to free the imprisoned Spectre, trapped within the fabric of a world, in the hopes of gaining his assistance. And in the most heartbreaking subplot, fallen and powerless former JL Task Force member Will McIntyre (formerly the timelost Triumph) makes a very literal deal with the devil and regains all of his power and more, then mind-controls his former teammates Gypsy and the Ray and heads to the Watchtower to take back what he sees as his rightful place in the Justice League.

After quickly dismantling Steel’s armor and sending him to an immediate retreat, Triumph lays claim to the Watchtower – at least until Superman, Batman and Aquaman show up. In a single page that’s both tragic and wicked cool, the armorless Steel announces over the intercom to Triumph that he’s taken full control of the Watchtower’s weapons systems (“I AM NOW WEARING THIS BUILDING!”), while Superman delivers the knockout blow, both physically and emotionally, when he says “I know you were dealt a rough hand, but … All you had to do was talk to us; you were a fine Leaguer, Will. You’d have been welcome anytime.”

Ouch.

Just as the League has Triumph on the ropes, the now-freed Spectre shows up, and performs one of his typical “Spirit of Vengeance”-type punishments, turning Triumph to ice and preparing to shatter him, when Zauriel steps in, refusing to allow the Spectre to kill him. As a result, “Crisis Times Five” ends on this melancholy note from the JLA Trophy Room:

As epic and large-scale as “Crisis Times Five” was, it merely set the stage of Morrison’s swan song in the title, “World War III,” which will close out our look at Grant and Howard’s run next week. See you then.

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