DC COMICS
WRITER: Dwayne McDuffie
ARTISTS: Mike McKone, Andy Lanning
COVER: Ed Benes

This is not so much a prologue to the big Green Arrow-Black Canary wedding as it is the first issue in a new JLA story arc. Luthor, Joker and the Cheetah are rounding up a new Injustice League and they are planning their first strike against the heroes. Fortunately for them, this coincides with the bachelor/bachelorette parties of Arrow and the Canary so their trap snaps shut just when the team is unprepared.

The tale gives a good sense of how broad and varied the DC universe is, with Firestorm off handling his own affairs, totally independent of the big wedding-event. Despite the large number of characters involved, the story is strangely muted. The dialogue is intimate and concise. The action is violent but brief and confined to small spaces.

The art makes all the characters look good but also makes them look a little too stiff, too posed, whether they are dancing wildly or fighting fiercely. Still, it sets the stage for the coming confrontation rather well even if it makes the whole wedding look trivial. There is also one panel where a dialogue balloon is clearly coming out of the wrong character. DC should do better.

Three out of five stars.