Although perfectly aware that the current expansion of the multiverse in the form of exponential crossovers cynically reflects IP exploitation by new corporate quasi-monopolies, I admit I continue to derive a visceral pleasure from the concept, at least when there is the good sense of giving leeway to creators who actually understand the source material. What can I say, as a geek I’ve always found joy in forging oddball connections – I remember reading Italo Calvino’s The Cloven Viscount and The Nonexistent Knight back in the day and deciding that in my headcanon those allegorical novels were set in the same ‘continuity’ as Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It seemed right!
To be fair, at their best, talented writers can bring together highly disparate works and find that sweet spot where the allure of the two sensibilities overlap, fusing them in a way that is gratifying for fans of both worlds. Comics, in particular, have been pulling off this sort of stuff for ages. Classics like Batman versus Predator and RoboCop versus the Terminator don’t even bother with the reluctant team-up cliché and just give you a cathartic clash of titans. Here are a few recent projects about slaughtering monsters that prove there’s still much fun to be had with this approach:
RED SONJA ATTACKS MARS
Although this doesn’t come up very often in Gotham Calling, Red Sonja is one of my go-to franchises whenever I just need a quick fix of pretty, entertaining, pulse-pounding comics. This is probably a Pavlovian impulse given its obvious affinity with Xena, the Warrior Princess, which is a show that consumed many of my teenage years, along with Due South (replacing my previous obsessions with MacGyver, Mission: Impossible, and The Twilight Zone). Plus, like with Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja’s pulpy adventures in the Hyborian Age tend to stay clear of convoluted continuity and just approach this mythological time and place as a loose springboard for wild sword & sorcery, striking visuals, and deadpan comedy, so I know I can easily pick up a trade or a short run full of gory images of this ginger warrior mowing down – and outsmarting – all sorts of fantastic creatures and evil wizards.
That’s how I found myself having a blast, a few years ago, with John Layman’s and Fran Strukan’s Mars Attacks Red Sonja, which is the sort of trashy pop culture product (a crossover between a spin-off of a comic-book literary adaptation and a silly trading card series from the ‘60s) that sounds creatively bankrupt but, in the right hands, can satisfyingly push my most basic instincts.
The same applies even more to last year’s sequel. Once again, the frantic narrative (now written by Jay Stephens) doesn’t take itself very seriously – or seriously at all, really – and it’s mostly in the service of Strukan’s lovely artwork, which delivers the goods in the form of a slew of bloody, bodacious fight scenes. Combined with some of Miroslav Mrva’s gaudy color choices and Carlos M. Mangual’s occasionally stylized lettering, many of the splashes could indeed belong on nifty trading cards.
That said, what ultimately earns Red Sonja Attacks Mars a spot in this list is that the amusement doesn’t just rely on goofy violence, but also on neat dialogue and characterization…
As the punchline above indicates, there is some trans and gender-related humor, which feels refreshingly devoid of either preachiness or mean-spiritedness. A scene at a harem may be too tasteless for certain readers, but it struck just the right level for me to chuckle and appreciate the surprising plot turn (if you’re actually looking for a sensitive literary take on the toxic relationships of wizards’ concubines, though, go read Alan Moore’s short story ‘The Hypothetical Lizard’ instead). This angle also belongs quite comfortably in a Red Sonja tale, since the character’s appeal has always ridden on a quirky blend of kickass feminism and sleazy exploitation.
Indeed, Stephens clearly knows the material he’s working with. Besides callbacks to Layman’s mini-series, he works in a couple of guest appearances of concepts from the Conan/Sonja universe, along with different types of nods to the original Mars Attacks! cards. The result doesn’t have a lot of fat on the bone, but it’s nevertheless a damn fine meal.
ALIENS VS. AVENGERS
At first sight, Aliens vs. Avengers may seem like a more straightforward – and even serious – approach to the same high concept as Red Sonja Attacks Mars, pitting less campy heroes against a less madcap horde of invading extraterrestrials (which, I suppose, would do justice to their respective filmic incarnations, as the Alien series has been dark as hell while 1996’s Mars Attacks! movie is a bonkers comedy). Sure enough, Esad Ribić’s no-nonsense, anatomically elegant artwork and Ive Svorcina’s textured colors generate the flair of epic paintings chronicling a legendary saga.
It’s a vibe that suits Jonathan Hickman’s script, which mercilessly escalates the stakes every handful of pages. Although less misanthropic – and less aggressively anti-capitalist – than other Aliens comics (like Mark Verheiden’s amazing initial trilogy), this is a vicious work that keeps pulling the rug from underneath readers expecting a safe superhero adventure with respect for sacred cows. And to give things an even more massive scale, Hickman builds on the mythology of both franchises, from Prometheus’s Engineers to a plethora of Marvel characters stretching way beyond the usual Avengers. This does more than fan service: it keeps us on the edge about who – if anyone – could actually save the day.
And yet…
I suppose you can take Jonathan Hickman’s typically portentous dialogue at face value, but I think he’s having – and providing – plenty of gleeful fun. The whole thing is packed with ridiculously cool moments. It’s not just the milk-bleeding android quoting The Merchant of Venice… At one point, Mister Sinister comes up with a goddamn gun that fires xenomorphs!
Ultimately, the sheer ruthlessness of eviscerating beloved characters in the apocalyptic mayhem and ending up with an offbeat status quo has a darkly humorous quality. Hickman being Hickman, he can’t resist laying it out in a cheeky opening: ‘It’s disappointing, isn’t it? To expect one thing and instead get another entirely.’ Still, given the Elseworlds approach, the result is never as shocking as 1998’s WildC.A.T.S/Aliens, the rare consequential intercompany crossover, where aliens actually killed off notable heroes in continuity (even if they eventually came back, decades later, because comics).
GODZILLA’S MONSTERPIECE THEATRE PRESENTS
ROMEO & JULIET AND GODZILLA
The gloriously bizarre high concept behind the irresistible 2024 mini-series Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre was that the titular giant creature attacked the world of the classic Jazz Age novel The Great Gatsby. The comic then combined prose lifted from – or mimicking – F. Scott Fitzgerald with reworked shots from the Japanese film series, rendered by Tom Scioli through trippy colors and cartoony drawings (reminiscent of old strips), a fusion that reached its peak in scenes with highly inventive depictions of urban destruction narrated with a pastiche voice paraphrasing familiar lines: ‘For a transitory enchanted moment, I held my breath in the presence of this monster, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation I neither understood nor desired, face to face for the first time with something commensurate with my capacity for wonder.’
Although the awesomeness derived from the glaring clash of cultural references, it was only a starting point, as Gatsby then teamed up with Thomas Edison, Sherlock Holmes, and other historical and fictional figures (mostly related to turn-of-the-century adventure and fantastic literature and cinema), including some truly surprising cameos, making this a major multiverse crossover… or, better yet, the childlike fantasy of an artist playing with a lot of disparate toys laying around, displaying varying degrees of familiarity with the source material.
The result was such a hoot that it’s no wonder it has already spawned a follow-up…
Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla is a variation of the same joke, now retelling William Shakespeare’s famous play during a massive kaiju battle. Tom Scioli is no longer the main creator (he only does a backup featuring Robin Hood), with Adam Tierney taking over as writer and Sean Peacock doing the art. Although lacking Scioli’s vibrancy, they acquit themselves well. Once again, recreating Godzilla back in time empties the creature of its powerful origin as an allegory of the nuclear age, but the Shakespearean juxtaposition actually works thematically to some degree, with the two lovers caught between yet another fight they don’t fully comprehend or care about beyond its impact on their romance.
Shakespeare, of course, has a rare cultural status – taught in school, amply quoted, repeatedly adapted to the screen, staged by amateurs and professionals alike, his plays are both challenging works of art and recognizable enough to transition into popular culture. In comics, The Tempest seems to be a favorite, having been memorably riffed in The Sandman and in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen… and reimagined as an exploitation thriller in Jennifer Blood presents: Giulietta Romeo Hitwoman. There is even a crossover series entirely devoted to the Bard’s sandbox: Kill Shakespeare.
I suppose it was only a matter of time until Juliet shared a stage with Mothra (‘Stay calm, wing’d one’). And Godzilla’s The Odyssey is on the way!
In the spirit of Trevor Noah’s great new special, Joy in the Trenches, I’m ignoring real-world tragedy just for a bit and briefly turning to sci-fi thrills…
Welcome back to this neglected series of posts, now with one of the best (and funniest) films of the Coen brothers.
In 2001, Joel and Ethan Coen returned to their roots with The Man Who Wasn’t There, a straight-up crime thriller about an ordinary barber who bites off way more than he can chew by getting entangled in a web of blackmail and murder. Well, perhaps ‘straight-up crime thriller’ is pushing it… Yes, the picture is set in the 1940s, has a neatly worded voice-over, and is beautifully shot in black & white, so in a way it feels even more like the films noirs that originally inspired the Coens than Blood Simple or Miller’s Crossing did. Yet there are also heavy splashes of dark comedy throughout, somehow spliced with moving melancholia, as if setting the tonal blueprint for what became the acclaimed TV subgenre of men dealing with midlife crisis by venturing into a criminal enterprise with shocking results (like in Breaking Bad, Ozark, or Your Friends & Neighbors). It also contains a new spin on the brothers’ skill for memorable dialogue: this time, the protagonist is unnervingly quiet and self-contained (arguably Billy Bob Thorton’s greatest role, acting with the slightest facial expressions), creating a constantly amusing contrast with all the talkative people around him, once again brought to life by a fantastic cast (ranging from regulars like Frances McDormand and Jon Polito to newcomer James Gandolfini, who fits like a glove into the Coen world). Visually, the motifs of smoke, shadows, and spirals enrich the atmosphere while evoking the themes of deception, ambition, existential angst, and twists of fate.
Of all the noir classics in the DNA of The Man Who Wasn’t There, I’d say the strongest influence is Tay Garnett’s The Postman Always Rings Twice. Suspenseful, twisty, and twisted, this 1946 adaptation of a James M. Cain novel shares much of the mood and a few plot beats in another tale of amateur criminals driven to disgrace by the postwar promises of the American dream. Among other rhymes between the two movies, there are courtroom scenes that do not go as planned and, of course, the ending (here with a more fatalist, religious note, but the closing lines sum up both narratives…). And sure, old Hollywood couldn’t be as explicit about sexual matters, but this film powerfully works around censorship restrictions to convey the sizzling tension between John Garfield and Lana Turner.
Then again, it’s also interesting to see Coen-esque motifs relocated to other cultures and geographies, from Mozambique (2019’s Redemption) to Argentina (2023’s The Delinquents). With his knack for cool compositions, metafictional touches, and perverse sense of humor, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has often given the brothers a run for their money as the master of neo-noir. His Bad Education is an even more sinuous and mesmerizing tale of blackmail, likewise dragging classic genre tropes into the 21st century, albeit arrestingly shot in garish colors and placing homosexuality at the center of the narrative. While The Man Who Wasn’t There kept a straight-faced, non-judgmental distance towards 1940s’ homophobia, Bad Education (whose elaborate chronology stretches from Francoism to the early 1980s) uses taboos and sexual fluidity to add even greater deception to its story.
As for the comic book, this time the choice couldn’t be easier: To Have & to Hold.
Just like The Man Who Wasn’t There, Graham Chaffee’s To Have & to Hold is a brilliant recreation of classic film noir that rises above mere pastiche, capturing the genre’s aesthetics and period feel while cleverly filtering them with a modern perspective. Set in 1962, its largely nocturnal story also revolves around a great cast of flawed, frustrated people dreaming of more satisfying lives, including a cuckolded husband whose best laid plans combine crime and revenge… and who finds himself at the mercy of human whims and ironic coincidences. The expressionist brushstrokes, with a striking style reminiscent of Johnny Craig or David Lapham at their best, are not only highly atmospheric, but they also flow with incredible confidence, communicating much of the (internal and external) action visually. My favorite drawings are of brief moments and revealing poises of characters wrapped in deep thought, usually with a cigarette in their hands and a gaze pointed towards the distance, looking, if not profound, at least intensely concentrated on figuring out a path away from their present condition.
(A couple of years ago, Chaffee followed this with a similar project, Light It, Shoot It, a neo-noir in 1970s’ Hollywood that, suitably, builds up to more of a grindhouse vibe.)
In 2002-2003, the mood got increasingly grimmer in most Batman and Batman-adjacent comics. Blame the George W. Bush administration, 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, or just the franchise’s takeover by fanboys in the form of writers and editors trying to recreate the late ‘80s, with a push for more mature (i.e. downbeat) storytelling, playing up the ties to crime fiction… With a few exceptions, though, the visuals still stayed clear from the realist paradigm, their cartooniness occasionally prompting a kind of dissonance.
The result was hit and miss, as far as I’m concerned, but I appreciate the ambition, including the attempt to weave together the various Gotham City titles into an overarching murder mystery (basically extending the gesture of Officer Down).
BRUCE WAYNE: MURDERER? [The first part of this internal crossover had Bruce charged with murder. It was not the first time this happened (see, for example, Shadow of the Bat #55 or The Batman Adventures #6), but here the premise got an extended treatment across several issues and different series. The story has been collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?, with the first edition leaving out the unrelated subplots from Chuck Dixon’s comics.]
Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure: ‘The Fool’s Errand’
Detective Comics #766: ‘Procedure’
Batgirl #24 [No title.]
Nightwing (v2) #65: ‘Bustout!’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Batman: Gotham Knights #25: ‘No Exit’
Birds of Prey #39: ‘The Gun’
Robin (v4) #98: ‘The Thin Line’ Robin (v4) #99: ‘Where the Road Ends’ [This comes later in the cover’s labelling of the crossover (and in the collected editions) but it obviously belongs here, as it follows directly from the previous issue’s cliffhanger, whose resolution would be spoiled by reading this after Gotham Knights #26...]
Nightwing (v2) #67: ‘Madhouse’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force) [Likewise, it makes much more sense to read this here before carrying on with the main storyline. Nevertheless, the issue isn’t collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #26: ‘Innocent Until’
Birds of Prey #40: ‘Switchback’
BRUCE WAYNE: FUGITIVE [Batman went on the run, alienating those around him. Once again, the project benefitted from the previous years of books building up a strong Gotham cast: as the Dark Knight became more unlikable, it was interesting to follow the reaction of the other (more sympathetic) characters. The new status quo also allowed for some slightly looser continuity, as Batman could have adventures outside of prison and everyone else could deal with parallel stuff, beyond the urgency of trying to get him released. Still, I’m mostly prioritizing comics that tie into the investigation and the fugitive status quo. Again, the first wave of collections (in 2003) streamlined the comics by removing pages with unrelated – and unresolved – subplots. In 2014, DC put together thicker collected editions of Murderer? and Fugitive with much more material.]
Batman #600: ‘The Scene of the Crime’ (main story collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2) [Curiously, Ed Brubaker has written another (much cooler) comic with the same title… Anyway, besides the main story, the issue includes a trio of fun pastiches of previous Batman eras.]
Birds of Prey #41: ‘Felony Matters’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1 and fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batman: Gotham Knights #27: ‘Murderer? Positive I.D.’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1 and in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batman #601-602: ‘Turning the Town Red’ (collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Batgirl #25: ‘I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds’(collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death)
Batgirl #26 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in Point Blank) [No title.]
Birds of Prey #42: ‘Karen’s Story’
Detective Comics #768-70: ‘Purity’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batgirl #27: ‘Tag’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Nightwing (v2) #68: ‘Time & Motion’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1, fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Batman: Gotham Knights #28-29: ‘The Mortician’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Nightwing (v2) #69: ‘Ins & Outs’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1, fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Birds of Prey #43: ‘Deadly Convergence’ (only five pages collected in either edition of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Birds of Prey #44: ‘Blind Spot’ [A trio of awesome issues that follow directly from #43. Since they are centered on Black Canary, they don’t clash too much with the notion that the rest of the cast is mostly focused on clearing Bruce.]
Birds of Prey #45: ‘The Killing Ground’
Birds of Prey #46: ‘Cretaceous Picnic’
Batgirl #28 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in Point Blank) [No title.]
Batman #603: ‘The Turning Point’ (collected in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Batman #604: ‘Reasons’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #771: ‘Access’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batgirl #29(collectedin Batgirl: Point Blank and in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive) [No title.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #85: ‘The Sentinel’ [Let’s catch up with Azrael, whose issues form a relatively tight arc, eventually leading into the ‘Bruce Wayne: Fugitive’ storyline.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #86: ‘Rescues’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #87: ‘Kenny’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #88: ‘Lost and Found’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #89: ‘Sibling Rivalry’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #90: ‘Denial’ [Sets up Gotham Knights #30.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #30: ‘Turnabout’(collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #91: ‘Confession’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #92: ‘New Boss’ (partly collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #93: ‘Reordered’
Detective Comics #772: ‘Principle’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman: Gotham Knights #31: ‘Clean’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman #605: ‘Courage’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2, in the 2014 edition, and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #773: ‘Atonement – part 1’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Detective Comics #774: ‘Atonement – part 2’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman: Gotham Knights #32: ‘24/7’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, in Gotham Knights: Contested, and in 2005’s Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told)
Batman #606-7: ‘Death Wish for Two’(collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #775: ‘Atonement – part 3’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Batgirl #33: ‘Father’s Day’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, and in Batgirl: Point Blank) [The series’ previous three issues were a fill-in written by Dixon, which I’m placing later.]
WORLD WITHOUT YOUNG JUSTICE [A set of tightly connected Robin and Young Justice stories. Robin #100 actually starts in the aftermath of #99 (and certainly before Nightwing #68), but it spans a bit of time, to the point that by the end Stephanie Brown has adopted a new look, with shorter hair. I therefore think the opening works better if read here, as a flashback.]
Robin (v4) #100: ‘The Price of Justice’
Young Justice #44: ‘The World What Once We Knew’ [Kicks off the ‘World Without Young Justice’ crossover]
Impulse #85: ‘Glimpses of You’
Robin (v4) #101: ‘Redone by the Vandal(s) of Time’ [Follows directly from #100 and then joins the crossover.]
Superboy (v3) #99: ‘Doosmboy’
Young Justice #45: ‘Bang Bang Bedlam’s Purple Hammer’
Impulse #86-7: ‘Crisis on Impulse’s Earth’ [Caps off the ‘World Without Young Justice’ crossover]
Robin (v4) #102: ‘Stage Presence’ [Follows from #101 and returns to the series’ main storyline.]
Robin (v4) #103: ‘Down Comes the Sun’
Robin (v4) #104: ‘Kerosene’
Robin (v4) #105 [No title.]
Robin (v4) #106: ‘Joyride’ [Batman and Robin finally have a proper talk about the events of ‘Murderer?’ and ‘Fugitive,’ so this is a sort of coda.]
CATCHING UP [These are various tales published (at least partially) during ‘Fugitive,’ but which did not directly concern the murder mystery angle. In theory, they could take place while Bruce was at large, but that would mean scattering readers’ (and characters’) attention, so I think they work better here. You can read each batch in the order you prefer, so I’m listing them alphabetically.]
Batgirl #30-32 (collected in Batgirl: Point Blank)
Catwoman (v3) #5-11 (collected in Catwoman: Crooked Little Town as well as in Trail of the Catwoman and No Easy Way Down)
Detective Comics #763-772 (backup stories) [‘Lost Voices’ (#763-772) introduces the neat police detective Josie Mac and ‘The Hunt’ (#773-775) introduces the Tracker, yet another vigilante in Gotham City.]
Harley Quinn #20-25 (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis) [The Joker shows up in #25 (the final issue of Karl Kesel’s run), even though he is supposedly locked up in the Slab, a maximum security prison specifically designed for metahumans. Perhaps he escaped, as usual, but in general I assume much of this run was seen through Harley Quinn’s deranged imagination…]
JLA #62-65 (collected in JLA: Golden Perfect)
Nightwing (v2) #70 (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force) [Final issue of Dixon’s amazing original run.]
The Titans #37-44 [Somehow, Nightwing finds the time to go on a bunch of adventures with his buddies… A guest appearance by Oracle in #39.]
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia (collected in Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, v1)
Young Justice #46-51
MOVING ON [As usual after intensive crossover events, the series were given room to develop on their own for a while, many of them shifting creative teams. Again, you can read each batch in the order you prefer.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #94-100 [Wraps up one the worst Batman series.]
Batgirl #34-37 (collected in Batgirl: Point Blank) [Concludes Kelley Puckett’s and Damion Scott’s inaugural run.]
Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne
Birds of Prey #47-49[Dixon was a tough act to follow, so editor Lysa Hawkins brought in a string of indie writers to follow him on this series. This arc was by Terry Moore, of Strangers in Paradise fame.]
Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman + Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle[A couple of specials dealing with the relationship between Barbara Gordon and Selina Kyle.]
Catwoman Secret Files & Origins (collected in Catwoman: Crooked Little Town and in No Easy Way Down)
Detective Comics #776-783[‘Dead Reckoning’ (#777-782) is a great detective yarn that makes ample use of Batman’s supporting cast and rogues’ gallery. The Joker is still imprisoned in the Slab. The backup story of #782 is a nifty little piece called ‘The Mourning After.’ The backup of #783 is a prologue to ‘Death and the Maidens.’]
JLA #66-90 (collected on JLA: The Obsidian Age, Book One,Book Two, Rules of Engagement, and Trial By Fire) [One of the remarkable features of Joe Kelly’s run was the romantic tension between Batman and Wonder Woman.]
JLA Classified #32-36 [Based on the team, it should be set around this time.]
JLA/JSA Secret Files and Origins + JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice [Metamorpho, who had been considered dead since 1997’s JLA #1, is alive again!]
Nightwing (v2) #71-75 [Devin Grayson takes over as writer and hits the ground running.]
