1. I liked the way I broke the group up. I thought that if Superman and the Flash have the ability to break the time barrier and possibly save everybody, then they obviously would. And I liked that Green Lantern was thinking long-term: he's stuck millions of years ago without his power battery and knows he needs to get it replaced. I thought those two occurrences were spot-on. Then it just made sense that Martian Manhunter would be weaker what with all the volcanic activity (although that plot device never led anywhere) and that Aquaman would dry out, needing a trip to the ocean.
2. I liked how I brought Superman and The Flash into the present. They aren't there "yet" because you can't be be two places at the same time, and then as suddenly as they are "gone" they are "back." I thought that was clever. Plus I liked the idea that the item that the Time Lord was actually looking for was a power battery that wasn't really "there" until the Time Lord sent GL and the JLA back in time to "get" it. Time travel stories are tricky, but I thought I handled those points well.
3. I liked the visuals I used for time travel (pages 22 and 32). Simple but effective, I think.
4. Anyone notice that Batman still hasn't done anything? We're three issues in and all he has done is stood around and plotted. (Well, he's good at that...!) What I'm getting at, though, is that I wanted him THERE but not overshadowing anybody else. The kids who only knew Batman would see him but they would also see the Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, etc hopefully being a bit more "dynamic" then him. He'll get around to actually doing something in the next issue, trust me.
5. I don't know why I had the Time Lord escape. Perhaps I was thinking of bringing him back in another time-weapon story ("The Return of Anakronus!" was definitely on my list of possible stories to adapt). However, re-reading it today it just sounds weak. Batman's "we'll catch him next time" just doesn't work as well as if they had, I don't know, managed to *keep hold* of him! The Flash had already dis-armed him, so how hard would it have been to leave him in custody? Oh, well. They *did* catch him eventually.
6. I didn't like how I featured the Guardians of the Universe. It was a clever idea to introduce them, I don't mean that; but I should have spent more time on/with them. If I had had an editor I think I would have been told to cut the WW-GA vegetarian dinosaur bit and spend more time explaining or showing about Green Lantern and his world. I will give a few more glimpses at the vast GL mythology in a few more issues, but re-reading this now makes me think I should have done more *here.* 
Re-reading these stories years later I see a recurring theme: that if I had trimmed a member or 2 from each story the plots would have worked out better. I was a victim of the "I must use all the members!" mind-set. And often the stories suffer because they are not as good as they could have been if I had used a smaller group. Oh, well....
Re-reading these stories years later I see a recurring theme: that if I had trimmed a member or 2 from each story the plots would have worked out better. I was a victim of the "I must use all the members!" mind-set. And often the stories suffer because they are not as good as they could have been if I had used a smaller group. Oh, well....
7. I liked that whole sequence where Aquaman dives into the ocean and then resurfaces atop a sea serpent. I especially liked the reaction shot of Hawkwoman when he tells her he'll get off here:
I also liked how I drew the dinosaurs, with the one specific exception of the Tyrannosaurus. It just looks too much like Godzilla!
So in general, the little bits were quite good, but the big things (the bad guy gets away, the major dinosaur looks awful) detract from the total.
Be here next time for The Space Olympics!
I love that panel with Superman and Flash, nice design.
ReplyDelete