Who'd Like A Cocktail? #2

It was something of a tough week this week to choose which comic to babble about; Booster Gold #2 was a clear front runner for a while, as was Green Lantern #23. The Search For Ray Palmer Wildstorm one-shot almost made it and there was the Ostrander written Suicide Squad to consider among others.

Eventually, though, I went for the Justice League of America Wedding Special which is essentially Dwayne McDuffie's first issue as writer of Justice League of America.

I'll admit I don't really know the guy's work; a quick look through my database shows a couple of one-shots and the dreadful wrap-up he did for the last series of Firestorm. As far as I'm aware, that was a job he was handed and told to finish it as soon as rather than him running it into the ground and that's kind of encouraging. Those last three issues of Firestorm were terrible but this Wedding Special mostly works.

I say mostly as there's a couple of things that niggle - particularly the appearance of Felix Faust in the Hall of Doom (pictured on the right) as well as Major Force in the double splash page showcasing the villains Luthor has assembled. Faust is meant to be imprisoned in Dr Fate's tower as at the end of 52 - a fate which is shown in this week's Black Adam #2 - and Major Force was killed by Captain Atom/Monarch at the end of Battle For Bludhaven. I know Force has died and returned several times, but even so - post-Infinite Crisis, continuity in the DCU is supposed to be a lot smoother.

Those quibbles aside, however, this was an enjoyable story even if, despite the title, it didn't actually focus on the wedding at all. McDuffie seems to have a handle on the characters as shown by the exchange between Red Arrow and Batman and it was nice to read a copy of JLoA without trying to remember which characters' narration boxes were which colour. As much as I enjoyed Brad Meltzer's run on the series (as well as Identity Crisis) trying to work out who was narrating based on the colour of the box was a pain in the arse.

The Wedding Planner leaves me eager for the main run of McDuffie's JLoA; while it wasn't the best comic ever, it was more than enough to whet the appetite.