Justice League Task Force

ARTISTS

Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Sal Velluto
Inker: Jeff Albrecht
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Bob Pinaha
Editor: Brian Augustyn

return to top

CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

heroes: Amazing Man II, Bloodwynd II, Blue Beetle II, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Crimson Fox, Doctor Light IV, Elongated Man, Fire, Flash III, Gypsy, Martian Manhunter, Maxima, Metamorpho, Power Girl, Ray II, Tasmanian Devil, Wonder Woman
supportinges: L-Ron, Oberon

Settings: 20th-century Mount Everest, Nepal/Tibet; 20th-century New York, NY, USA

return to top

ISSUE SUMMARY

Cover Description: In an inset panel, Wonder Woman punches Captain Atom while Elongated Man, Flash III, Gypsy, Maxima, Metamorpho, and Tasmanian Devil watch. In the background, Overmaster reaches for Ice. (No Booster Gold.)

Brief Synopsis: The fight against Overmaster reveals a schism in the Justice League.

Costume Worn: MARK III armored power-suit

Issue Notes: This issue's story is part of the "Judgment Day" storyline running throughout the Justice League titles.

return to top

ISSUE ANNOTATIONS

Page 1, panel 2
In Booster Gold's flashback, he is participating in raising the United Nations' flag on Mount Everest in the pose of the flag bearers of Iwo Jima, the subject of "the most reproduced photograph of all time." (Officially, the photograph is titled Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.) Booster plants the flagpole as Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Maxima raise it into position. It took 6 men to raise the flag at Iwo Jima, but then none of those men had super powers.

Page 2, panel 2
In reality, Booster Gold is critically injured, with a deep cut across his chest and a severed right arm. He is attended to by Captain Atom, L-Ron, and Metamorpho, while the Ray II pulls them through the air on a sled of solidified light. Martian Manhunter and Maxima fly nearby.

Page 4, panel 3
Maxima probes Booster's mind, confirming that Booster thought that the Justice League would be victorious in their assault against the Overmaster's Star Citadel atop Mount Everest.

Page 6, panel 3
Captain Atom arrives at the Justice League's New York Headquarters with Booster Gold. Wonder Woman's reserve team of heroes is surprised by the sudden, hectic arrival of Captain Atom's team, who they believed to still be in Asia. Wonder Woman's team includes Amazing Man II, Bloodwynd I, Crimson Fox, Dr. Light IV, Elongated Man, Fire, Flash III, Gypsy, Oberon, Power Girl, and Tasmanian Devil.

Page 10, panel 1
Booster is immediately sent to surgery in an attempt to save his life. Blue Beetle II assists the surgeons, though what manner of aid he can provide is unclear, as he is an inventor and scientist, not a medical doctor.

Page 14, panel 1
The Overmaster destroys Central City. This is the second DC Universe metropolis destroyed in the past year. Previously, in Superman, Vol. 2, #80, the villain Mongul destroyed Coast City.

Page 22, panel 5
Blue Beetle II, obviously distraught, announces to the Justice League that Booster Gold has "flatlined." The term "flatline" usually means that there is no heartbeat registering on an electrocardiogram. Having flatlined, Booster is clinically dead.

return to top

ISSUE REVIEW

Boosterrific Review: This issue achieves something that few other super-hero comics achieve: a strong dramatic sense of danger. The fractured Justice League International begins to disintegrate under the pressure of an impossible situation as Booster Gold faces imminent death. What's not to love?

Boosterrific Rating:

• Currently 5.0/5 Stars.

return to top

return to top