Justice League of America #152
Published and © by DC, March 1978
Title: “2,000 Light-Years to Christmas!”
Synopsis: Three gift-bearing aliens who are following a distant star crash land on Earth, and the Justice League battles Major Macabre.
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Dick Dillin
Inker: Frank McLaughlin
Review: Other than “The Christmas Carol” and the Biblical Christmas story, there seems to be little other source material inspiring Bronze-Age Yuletide offerings. This one starts with an interesting riff on the latter, with gift-bearing aliens following a distant star. Writer Gerry Conway’s story actually feels pretty fresh – at least until the appearance of Major Macabre, a Latin American strongman who is painfully stereotypical (“I am a man of respect – a mucho hombre”) It recovers, but the story would have been stronger without such a lame villain. As for the art, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin’s work is solid, as usual.
Grade: B
Cool factor: The gift-bearing aliens could have been cool.
Not-so-cool factor: Major Macabre? Not so much!
Notable: First appearance of Traya, Red Tornado’s adopted daughter. … The “JLA Mail Room Extra” page includes a “JLA Popularity Poll,” which sees Green Lantern taking the top spot. … Wonder Woman appears on the cover of this issue, but not inside.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “Who dealt this mess, anyway?” – The Batman (Would you want to play poker with the Dark Knight? That just doesn’t seem wise.)
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Dec. 22, 2009.
