Retro Review

The recent Wonder Woman storyline set in Hollywood brought back the Queen of Fables, one of the more interesting villains from Mark Waid’s run on JLA. Gail Simome’s take on the character seemed a little different from Mark Waid’s, but the story was entertaining enough. Reading it did make me want to dig out the Queen’s first appearance, in JLA #47-49, and see just how different the writing on the character was.

The Queen of Fables is a great idea for a villain, especially for Wonder Woman. Incredibly powerful and as cruel as Diana is noble, the Queen is firmly rooted in magic and legend. In the original story, freed from centuries of imprisonment, the Queen wreaks havoc on Manhattan and Themyscira, obsessed with revenge against Wonder Woman, who she thinks is actually her step-daughter Snow White. Her arsenal of weapons is every character from every story ever written, even the stories of Krypton, Atlantis and Mars, and it looks like there’s no way to stop her.

These three issues of JLA come right after a big moment in Mark Waid’s tenure on the title: Batman had just been voted off the team due to trust issues, and the team was splintering because of it. Much of the story focuses on how important trust and truth are to the team, and how damaging secrets can be in such situations. The story and dialog are excellent, with action and ideas aplenty, and the characterization is very good. I felt that the character of Batman was a little too cold and unhelpful, which made him seem somewhat petty, but everyone else is spot on.

Most of the art is by Brian Hitch and Paul Neary, and it is detailed and excellent. However, there were apparently some deadline issues, as both #48 and 49 have guest pencillers for some pages. The transition between artists is jarring though, with the detailed cinematic flair of Brian Hitch giving way to rather pedestrian work from J.H. Williams III and Javier Saltares. The non-Hitch artwork is a little boring, angular and lifeless.

JLA #47-49, DC Comics. A for ideas, dialog and characterization, A for Brian Hitch’s art, C for the others’. Available as part of the JLA: Divided We Fall trade paperback. A solidly entertaining story with an excellent villain and high stakes, marred only by the filler art and Batman’s petulance.

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