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RELAX, DIANA. I'M JUST SPOOKING THE KIDS
justice league task force
The JLA was supposed to send the Task Force on missions, but the
JLA never sent them anywhere. The Task Force was not even
mentioned in the JLA during the entirety of my run. My joke with
Ruben was, "Until the JLA send them on a mission, they won't be
going on any missions." And they didn't. Justice League Task
Force was a book where absolutely nothing happened.
"Relax, Diana.
I'm just spooking the kids."
This line was like the shot heard 'round the world. Or, at least, around Justice League fandom. After a year of J'Onn J'Onzz, The Martian Manhunter, behaving erratically (including giving Triumph a well-deserved butt whupping), fans complained that I'd lost my mind, or that I'd certainly had J'Onn lose his.
Like my take on THE BLACK PANTHER, I see The Martian Manhunter as an
enigmatic stranger among us. A man of many faces and many lives,
there is no reason why J'Onn should be generic or bland or just The Green
Guy Standing In Back of the JLA Eating Oreo Cookies.
Originally begun as a JLA anthology spin off, featuring smaller groups of
JLA'ers going out on missions, Justice League Task Force was re-tooled
under Mark Waid into a kind of JLA Junior. The League's AAA farm
team. I came on board with two requests: I wanted a new logo (the
old one with the globe was, well, not good). And I wanted the team in
matching X-style uniforms. Hence, for a while, The Ray actually had
two distinct costumes: one he wore in his own book, and one he wore in
JLTF.
Also, Damage, the other teen hero of the moment, briefly joined, competing
with Impulse for an open slot on the team. Both were briefly in the TF
training costume around issue #26 or so.
Putting Triumph, the brash, immature know-it-all thrown into limbo around
the time of the JLA's formation, in the TF was a lot like sending John
Rocker to the minor leagues. Triumph's abrasiveness frequently elevated
J'Onn's disciplinarian side, which to me was a logical reaction for the
Martian to have.
Triumph also adopted The Ray as a kind of little brother/mentor thing. Ray
braced against Triumph's constant hovering, but the two of them grew to be
brothers, culminating with their ultimate fight in the alternate future
portrayed in THE RAY #25.
The team was rounded out by Gypsy, a remnant of an awkward time in the
JLA's history, and Despero. Yes, Despero. I remember Ruben and I
plotting issues together, and at some point in the conversation we'd stop
and go, "Oh. Despero." Despero (actually, the friendly robot
L-Ron inhabiting Despero's consciousness) was a tough character to
reconcile into the premise and a hard guy to find stories about, but this
was the hand we were dealt. I used to take criticism online for not having
more "name" heroes on the team, but many fans miss the point
that we didn't make those decisions. This was the crew I was given,
so Roo and I went our merry way, having fun where we could find it.
The basic premise was, the JLA was supposed to send the Task Force on
missions. Surgical strike missions, recon missions, clean-up missions,
follow-up, police action- you get the idea. Thing is: the JLA never
sent them anywhere. The Task Force was not even mentioned in the JLA
during the entirety of my run. My joke with Ruben was, "Until the JLA
send them on a mission, they won't be going on any missions."
And they didn't. JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE was a book where
absolutely nothing happened. Oh, they trained, and the certainly had
adventures, but menaces and villains (like Vandal Savage) surely sought
them out. There was never an issue where thy met with J'Onn and J'Onn
said, "Ok, we got a mission from the League. Saddle up."
JLTF was fun. Lots and lots and lots of fun. From our Dracula
parody ("Chokula," issues #22-4), to Ray's quitting in #25
(inciting a flood of hate mail for my taking Ray out of the book; I never
took Ray out of the book, he was in every issue! How could anyone fall for
that, "I'm quitting the Fantastic Four!" ruse?!). J'Onn
spends the better part of an issue wiping the floor with Triumph, the most
hated man in comics, around issue #28 or so.
We eventually introduced a character named Mystek, but I killed her off
when her miniseries was not approved. Mystek was supposed to be a
creator-owned character, developed under a first-look deal, and I was
instructed to put her into JLTF to introduce her to the fans in
preparation for her miniseries. Then there was no series, so I
shoved her out an airlock in JLTF #32.
The most fun I had was in Skartaris, the Lost/Savage Land of the DC
Universe, where the team hooked up with Travis Morgan, the Warlord, and
went barbaric for an issue or two (#34-36). The series ended, along with
all of the JLA books, including JLA itself, with issue #37, where Triumph
was wiped out of existence by his own arrogance (it's a clever bit of
business, but would take forever to explain).
TASK FORCE was lots of fun, and is still a good read. Like STEEL, you can
doubtless nab the whole run for a few bucks at a comic shop near you.
Christopher J. Priest
September 2000
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