Number 5 "The Return of Dr. Light!" AFTERWARD

So...what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it. And even if you didn't, I'd like to hear feedback about it. It's not like I can use criticism to improve the product (as I have no intention of making NEW adventures, haha) but it would be nice to hear what you think worked or *didn't* work...

I have a few random thoughts of my own re-reading it almost 20 years (!?) later...

• I *really* liked the way Dr. Light got out of jail. I was very proud of that trick. His lawyer says, "You're screwed. You had way too much confidence to make that video confession" and then he says, "Did you bring me my personal items or not?" and then promptly disappears. Good plotting, I thought. I'm sure I wrote that because I was not a fan of the "revolving door" idea of villains coming back again and again. If you had an escape plan already in place, though...!  (BTW, he eventually did come back, but not right away, so either he did some jail time this time or maybe he planned on getting busted again, haha!)

• Everytime I read the chapter set around the Amazon River I flash-back to inking in all those trees, bushes, leaves, etc while my infant daughter was asleep in her crib. She had just been born recently and I was "watching" her while I was working at home. She'll turn 20 in August. :-)
• The story has the classic JLA format: Find the menace, get contacted about the menace, break up into groups to face the menace, get back together at the end to finish off the menace. Classic JLA writer Gardner Fox used this format in most of his adventures and I copied it because it works! Each chapter allows each character to have one moment or so to "shine" but you also get to see your favorites team-up. As we get into more and more of these you'll see that I returned to this format several times;  while also trying to keep things interesting (for example, the next two stories won't use this format). 

• The ending may strike some as too "Super Friends" everybody-laughs-as-they-walk-off-ish. I admit it was hokey (the whole idea of Dr. Light trying to sell odd Earth items for money was just totally out-there, anyway!) but it had a point: I was trying to establish that Green Arrow was NOT the same type of character as Batman and Superman. You have to remember that this was the first time my readers had ever seen these characters. So I wanted Green Arrow to make some joke about drinking, which I thought most of the other characters never would have. (You may notice he was also visibly concerned about his friends Green Lantern and Black Canary getting injured....) I wanted to establish that he wore his heart on his sleeve, much more so than the others. Whether the "laugh" at the end worked or not, I'm not sure, but he'll be the "butt of the joke" in atleast two more stories coming up soon.

JLA #5 "The Return of Dr. Light!"

Number 5 "The Return of Dr. Light!" FORWARD

I'm going to try this process and see if people like it (or don't give a damn, haha). Before every story arc begins I'm going to make some preliminary comments which I will call my "Forward." Then after each story is over I'll be back with what I will probably call my "Afterward." Sound good? Great!

So..a few words about what you're about to read. After I made four convoluted and badly received comic books featuring some of my favorite characters ever, I basically had decided to stop making them. I happened to mention this to a few people, and they gave me constructive criticism which boiled down to: make them easier to read. When two or three boys in my English As A Second Language classes asked me if any more were coming out, I decided I would give it another chance. I took more time and made more effort on this issue's art and layout than I did on almost any other issue. While there are plenty of places in this story where I wince looking at them 20 years later, the issue as a whole still basically holds up as a classic Gardner Fox type adventure. I hope you agree with me after you read it. 

The Japanese language assistant/check for all these first few issues was Mrs. Mariko Tadokoro. As the mother of two boys in my classes who read bunches and bunches of manga and a student in my adult class herself I prevailed upon her to help me out. She was a godsend at the start-up, giving me plenty of good advice and criticism. Not only could I not have done it without her, she made the translation part of the work fun.

This is a copy of the credit box that appeared on the inside front cover of each issue.

Number 5 Cover in COLOR

So obviously this is an homage (rip-off) of the cover Brian Bolland did for the WHO's WHO notebook back in the early 90s. I really like how I captured his Batman look. Superman, also, looks okay, I think. The poses of Green Lantern and The Flash were almost right. The other members I added on my own and look terrible. :-( I especially hate the chunkiness of Aquaman and the 80s Hair Band look of Wonder Woman. Oh, well. It will get better....well, sometimes.

Number 5 Cover in B&W

The cover to the All-New Sorta-Different JUSTICE LEAGUE, number 5.