Just Imagine Stan Lee … Secret Files
and Origins*
“The Coming Crisis!”
Plot: Michael Uslan
Dialogue: Stan Lee and Uslan
Pencils: Dan Jurgens
Inks: Bob Layton
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist: Tom McCraw
Cover: Stuart Immonen
Editor: Mike Carlin
Released: Feb. 13, 2002
After five packed origin stories and one massive team-up, Stan Lee's DC universe gets... a fill-in issue.
But it's a fill-in that invokes a classic DC title, Secret Files and Origins, to fill in some blanks about the newly formed JLA and its members. And it's a fill-in issue with art by one of my personal favorites, Dan Jurgens!
The framing sequence finds Maria Mendoza, aka Wonder Woman, assisting her boss, National Exposer editor Mike Willard, in rounding up interviews with the Justice League. Up first is Green Lantern, not because Maria has his alter ego on speed dial but because he happened to be conveniently flying by.**
GL is battling a snake-haired villainess who goes by Star Sapphire, exudes purple energy a la Dominic Darrk and says she's here to prepare Earth for the coming Crisis, perhaps the most loaded word in DC lore. The Lantern blasts the purple baddie... somewhere, then agrees to an interview.***
He tells Willard that because humans are mistreating the Earth and the planet is lashing out, something called a Deathlord has targeted the planet and Darrk is his ally. Yggdrasil, the tree of life that gave GL his powers, set events in motion to raise up defenders of the planet. As Willard discovers through subsequent interviews, which also remind bloggers of details they missed or forgot, Wonder Woman received her Earth-protecting powers in a blast of green and the rocket that brought Superman to Earth was powered by a new green element that spread into the water when he crash-landed. Flash, of course, fell into some green water and mist before overdosing on hummingbird DNA. Batman did not have a close encounter of the green kind, which is fine, because he does not have superpowers and he wishes people would stop thinking that he does, OK?!?
Maria contacts the Flash through Fly-By-Night Comics and their, ahem, Flash Fax. Conducting an interview as she runs across the world at super-speed, Willard questions Flash's origin and youth, suggesting she could be the League's weak link. She responds by running him in circles until he barfs. Also, Maria calls the man we met as Mike Willard in her origin story Bill. Twice.
Before Willard interviews Batman, the vigilante crosses paths with Kevin King, the cop from the Green Lantern On the Street backup. He makes sure King knows that he doesn't have any super-powers, and powers or not, they should all be on the same side. He's less friendly with Willard, who has the audacity to ask the man in the strikingly realistic bat costume that hangs out with superhumans if he has powers.
Willard still isn't satisfied until he gets to interview Wonder Woman. She arrives at the paper, without Maria of course, and tells Willard that, yes, she got her powers from Yggdrasil and, yes, Darrk is bad news. Willard asks if the Tree of Life will draft more superheroes, and when she says she doesn't know, he suggests she use her powers to wish to see future JLA members. So naturally, her staff becomes a crystal ball and she holds an impromptu long-distance séance with her teammates. It's a setup that stretches the limits of believability even in a comic book, but it's almost worth it for the payoff of recreating the cover image, itself an ode to the first JLA/JSA team-up.
Even with extra pages, the solo origin issues often feel rushed so this story fleshes out more than fills in. A few inconsistencies (Bill instead of Mike, Wonder Woman being familiar with Yggdrasil) stand out, but the tying together of the origins doesn't feel forced. I can't say the same for some of the dialogue, like grumpy Superman saying he and the League can help, “but it's you (humans****) who have the real power on Earth … if you wield it wisely.”
Winking references to the original DC material, like the Action Comics homage, “Flash Fax” or Willard's suggestion that Green Lantern conjure up a boxing glove might make some people groan, but it made me laugh. If we're not having fun, what's the point?
* - I'm only focusing on the story reprinted in the Just Imagine Volume 2 trade, not the info pages.
** - Probably spotted some co-eds on the street.
*** - As a journalist myself, I can tell
you this is pretty accurate. People you don't expect to grant
interviews often do,
while those you want to ask fairly pedestrian
questions are often the ones who put you off or never call back.
**** - And don't forget that includes Batman, who is absolutely not a superhuman. How dare you!
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