WARNING! SPOILERS ZONE! TRAFFIC FINES DOUBLED!
Title: Dying Breath
Release Date: November 2001
Writer: Mark WaidPenciller: Mike MillerInker: Paul NearyJLA Members: Superman,
Batman,
the Martian Manhunter,
Wonder Woman,
Green Lantern,
the Flash, and
Plastic Man.
Guest Stars: The Atom.
Bad Guys: The
White Martians.
Cameos: Firestorm,
Hawkgirl,
Dr. Fate,
Sand,
Huntress,
Blue Beetle,
Argent,
Arsenal,
the Star-Spangled Kid,
Wildcat,
Nightwing,
Mr. Terrific,
the Flash (
Jay Garrick),
Superboy,
Sentinel,
Zatanna, and
the Phantom Stranger.
Special Features: Mark Waid's last issue.
So what happens?With the Justice League safely stored away in the
Phantom Zone, where they can see anything that's happening on Earth but cannot act to prevent it, the evil White Martians have the planet at their mercy, effortlessly
stomping on all the other superheroes. Although the planet's
atmosphere has been altered back to normal again, making it possible to use the aliens' lone
weakness -- open
flame -- against them again, the Martians' abilities of
superspeed,
superstrength,
intangibility,
shapeshifting,
telepathy, and
force blasts mean that they can detect any attempt to strike a match and extinguish it before it becomes a threat.
Now, trapped in
limbo, the Martian Manhunter reveals that he
telepathically encouraged the White Martians to banish the JLA to the Phantom Zone because (A) the bad guys can't read minds across the Phantom Zone and (B) otherwise, the bad guys were going to kill them anyway. Luckily, J'onn has a plan. The first part calls for the JLA's secret ace-in-the-hole, the Atom, hidden in the JLA Watchtower, to activate the Phantom Zone projector and free the heroes. The second part of the plan (which he
whispers so we can't hear it, that
sneaky green alien bastard) meets with protest from the rest of the League -- they point out that the plan is likely to be
fatal for J'onn, plus the telepathic Martians will easily read the non-telepathic heroes minds for details of the plan. J'onn shrugs and temporarily
mindwipes the Leaguers -- they don't
remember the plan now, but they will when the right time comes.
So the JLA get out of the Phantom Zone and quickly broadcast a
message from the Watchtower on the
moon to the White Martians, saying, basically, "
Come get us, you lizard-skinned pansies!" The White Martians get
pissed and immediately charge en masse all the way to the moon and bust into the Watchtower. Flash and Plastic Man quickly bail, leaving Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern behind. The White Martians knock the heroes onto the
lunar surface, where they commence to
kick ass. But just when it looks like
victory is certain, the Martians discover that J'onn J'onzz has telepathically created the
illusion that they were fighting the JLA -- Supes, Wondy, and GL are actually Martians! Even worse, the White Martians realize that they can hear
sounds. Did something give the moon an atmosphere? No--Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern have dragged the moon from its
orbit and into Earth's
atmosphere!
J'onn triggers a flame generator, and all the Martians, including J'onn, are quickly surrounded by an
inferno. Meanwhile, Earth's
magicians and
sorcerors are busy trying to
nullify the potentially disastrous effect of the moon's
gravity on the Earth. J'onn quickly digs up a concealed
Phantom Zone projector and demands that the White Martians choose between
fiery death or
eternal imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. At the last second -- just before Earth starts to fall apart and just before all the Martians burn to death -- the White Martians choose
banishment, and the Martian Manhunter beams them all into the Phantom Zone.
As Supes, Wondy, and GL return the moon to its proper orbit, J'onn,
guilt-ridden because he accidentally made the White Martians a
threat again, is resigned to dying on the moon, but Batman, Flash, and Plastic Man teleport him to
safety. J'onn has been burned to a crisp and is in very bad shape, but the Atom
shrinks down, enters J'onn's body, and finds signs of life -- he'll live, though he'll need treatment to fully
recover. As the Flash, Plas, and the Atom administer
first aid, Batman reminds J'onn that no one blames him for the Martians' re-emergence, and that he doesn't need to feel
lonely as long as he's part of the Justice League.
Cool Quotes!Protex, leader of the White Martians, gloating over the conquered Earth: "Earthlings. What an embarrassingly low tolerance for
pain they have.
Protex,
gloating again and dreaming of breaking bones as the fight moves to the moon's surface: "Do you think us boldly
elated that you chose this as your
battlefield? A flameless
vacuum? Hardly.
Airlessness cheats us of the
music of the sound I have been longing to hear: '
Snap.'"
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