JLA Year One 11
November 1998

"Stalag Earth"

Cover: ???
Storytellers: Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Barry Kitson
Inker: Michael Blair
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Pat Garrahy
Separations: Heroic Age
Editor: Peter Tomasi
32 pages
$1.99
Story and art © DC Comics

Characters: Ace Morgan, Rocky Davis, Prof Haley, Red Ryan and every other hero in the DCU.

Synopsis: The Challengers help the fledging JLA repel the Appelaxians, elemental dominators who conquer Earth.

This story takes place when ???.

Note Rocky on the cover directly below Superman. His uniform should be colored yellow and red (discussed below).

The newly-hatched JLA had, in their origin story, fought one each of the Appelaxians. One gold bird-alien, one earth-monster, one quicksilver guy, one blue fire guy, and so on. The individual monsters were defeated as the new JLAers learned teamwork.

Now the Appelaxians have returned SEVEN THOUSAND strong! The JLA fights in batches all over the world. With them are various DCU heroes, but many have already been trounced. Superman was beaten up. The Atom trapped in an atomic jar. The Metal Men got their heads knocked off, literally.

The trashed heroes have been dumped on a small island in the Atlantic, formerly Blackhawk Island, now "Stalag Earth." Behind fences and guarded wait Green Arrow and Speedy, Blackhawk, the Freedom Fighters, Liberty Bell, many others - and the Challengers. We don't see the Challs among the crowd - except for Rocky on the cover.

There are complications. Vandal Savage is taking advantage of the chaos to consolidate power. And Jonn Jonzz's files on every superhero and their weaknesses (cited earlier in the series) has been nabbed by the bad guys.

The JLA is finally surrounded, pounded, and rounded up, and dumped on the island. Except they break loose by using the wrong powers. Turns out the JLA switched identities so their weaknesses don't apply.

Flash zips around and returns the heroes' weapons. Heroes blast down the wall. Flash clenches both fists. "The aliens may have taken the world - but we're taking it back!"

In the next issue...

JLA Year One 12
December 1998

Story and art © DC Comics

"Justice For All"

Credits are the same as for issue 11

Issue 12 has a terrific "ascending to the fight" (or Heaven) cover. But take a close look at our heroes. The purple-colored Challs (below the Spectre) really wear shoulder wings and no gloves. So their uniforms should be yellow and red. This sets the story amid the Challs' "superhero" period.

Ye webmaster has recolored the uniforms here.

Earth's heroes kick Appelaxian butts. The trick is working in teams.

In this sequence, we see the Challengers, Cave Carson, and Sea Devils help Aquaman and Animal Man lure the aquatic aliens into a hole and dynamite it shut.

Amid epic bouts, common people help too. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen fight to keep communication lines open and get the story out and the facts straight. While heroes wrestle aliens, teams of civilians pull people from buses, fight fires, or just give comfort as they can.

The world's foremost team combines strengths to smack down the Appelaxians. Vandal Savage hollers, "This is your chance for revenge!" But the heroes open a portal and send the aliens spinning back where they came from. "We're not about revenge, we're about justice!"

And it's over. Heroes shake hands and slap backs. Note Rocky at the extreme left shaking hands with Robotman of the Doom Patrol. (Remember how they always fought before?)

All that's left is cleanup. And headlines such as "JUSTICE LEAGUE LIBERATES EARTH".

Comment

If you haven't read JLA YEAR ONE, do. It's a heck of a great series. We see the heroes start out, falter, mistrust, learn to trust, get in some rousing fights and snappy dialogue, and finally save the entire planet - with the help of the Challengers, of course.