The Stop Button

So Andy Smith can do a mediocre superhero comic. His faces are a little unfinished, but his figures are fine. Gordon Purcell, on the other hand, is—from what it looks like—regularly working on Archie? Purcell handles the “real” part of the story, which involves the JLA going to Earth-Prime (the “real” Earth, pre-Crisis, where superheroes exist in DC comic books).

Bates does a great job with the script, which gets dense with dialogue, but always moves. I was a little confused over the villain’s plan—it involved Adam Strange and the Zeta Beam—but it’s a good script. And when it’s the Smith art, the flashback story feels like a glossy, somewhat overproduced but still well-done issue. But I couldn’t stop wondering why Purcell during his pages… seventies Justice League didn’t look like Archie.

That problem aside, it’s an excellent issue. Bates does fine work.

CREDITS

Enter Justice League Prime; writer, Cary Bates; pencillers, Gordon Purcell and Andy Smith; inkers, Jose Marzan Jr. and Smith; colorist, Carlos Badilla; letterer, Wes Abbott; editors, Chynna Clugston Flores and Jim Chadwick; publisher, DC Comics.