WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS?!? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESSOR!
Title: Element of Surprise
Release Date: May 2001
Writer: Mark WaidPenciller: Bryan HitchInker: Paul NearyJLA Members: Superman,
Batman,
Wonder Woman,
Aquaman,
the Martian Manhunter,
Green Lantern,
the Flash,
Plastic Man.
Guest Stars: Clark Kent,
Bruce Wayne,
John Jones,
Kyle Rayner,
Eel O'Brian, and the
Cathexis.
Bad Guys: Id (though he doesn't actually appear in this issue) and
the undead corpse of Metamorpho.
Special Features: Return of
Metamorpho, and... uh... the death of
Metamorpho, again.
So what happens?Things start out with a little kid who's lost his
father. He innocently
wishes that his dad would come back, raising the possibility that "
The Monkey's Paw" should be required reading in the
DC Universe.
Meanwhile, wishes are still going out-of-control on earth, and the Justice League is still mysteriously separated from their own
alter egos. On the bright side, that means that the JLA can now devote themselves 100% to
fighting evil, without having to worry about secret identities. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be having a hard time functioning without their dual lives...
Among other things, Superman is starting to identify more with his cold
Kryptonian heritage and starts parading around in a more
regal Kryptonian costume, while Clark Kent is developing a strong
fear of heights. Bruce Wayne's various
psychoses, normally controlled by his Batman persona, are starting to run wild. Plastic Man is goofier than ever, and Eel O'Brian is
this close to returning to a life of
crime. The Flash has radically redesigned his
costume to purge it of the
influence of his once-beloved
Uncle Barry. The Martian Manhunter is adopting a more
alien appearance, while John Jones, recovering in a
hospital from his car accident last issue, begs Aquaman not to let him be
rejoined with his superheroic self. Green Lantern is now wearing a heavily-
armored
ring-generated costume that almost entirely
conceals the man within, and Kyle Rayner is locked in his
apartment,
obsessively drawing pictures of the JLA on his walls, his furniture, his clothes... The only Leaguers who seem to be aware of the
strange changes taking place are Aquaman and Wonder Woman, the only heroes who have not been
split into two different people...
And while all this is being revealed, the League has to deal with a mysterious force that's blasting through
Los Angeles. One second, it's a
mudslide; the next, it's a
tidal wave; the next, a
firestorm; the next, a
hurricane. At last, it makes its way to the home of the little boy who'd wished for his daddy--and it turns out that his daddy was
Metamorpho, a shapeshifting superhero who died way back in
JLA #1. He's back from the grave, but he's not exactly alive again, and his
rampage threatens to destroy his surviving family. And then a pair of lizardy
aliens appear, grab the boy,
probe his mind, and reverse the kid's wish, sending Metamorpho back into
the Great Unknown.
Back inside the JLA Watchtower, the aliens explain themselves. They are the Cathexis, visitors from the
Sixth Dimension who created a sentient energy wave called "Id" that warps
reality to fulfill the
desires of others. When Superman asks how they can contact Id, the Cathexis reveal that an errant wish from the JLA is what prompted Id to split them apart...
Cool Moments!The first image of the
massive new Watchtower that Superman is building in his spare time; a
frazzled Kyle Rayner
scrawling pictures of the JLA all over his apartment; the first shocking image of the
horrific zombie Metamorpho.
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