Heaven and the Chandelier

First Look for December 20, 2017

Today, I take a first look at JLA #7 and Letter 44 #6 and remember how much I enjoyed the first t issues of Letter 44. Between the two we’re looking a celestial bodies and alien plans which essentially revolve around heaven and the chandelier.  Sure, JLA is good and I’m having a fun time reading how the League is fighting Angels and Demons, but I really wanted to find out what happened to the baby born in space.

Letter 44 #6

Escape Velocity Chapter 6 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque. Published in 2014 by Oni Press.
In this fast paced story we slow down this issue only to see that Charlotte has given birth on the Clarke and we learn (by deduction) that the father is Major Drum. Baby Astra is healthy and while the crew plans ways to head back to the asteroid to pick up Gabriel at some point, they also decipher information from the fractal creatures.

They call it the Chandelier and it certainly appears to be some kind of large gun – not good when the alien motives are still a mystery. And as motives go, President Blades dragged former President Carroll into custody. After a brief pleasant exchange, the current leader leaves the former a letter basically telling him to stop messing with the country now that he’s no longer in office.

While this ends the first story arc of the series, it lays out some definite plot points for the future and leaves some huge mysteries still to be solved.

JLA #7

Heaven on Earth by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter. Published in 1997 by DC Comics.
Following up on the Armageddon that began last issue, we see the battle of Angels continue. I’m not sure San Francisco will survive and I’m starting to question how the JLA will fare as well. With the Moon shifted out of orbit and falling towards Earth, Superman works quickly to reestablish an equilibrium so he can head down to the planet to help out. With celestial objects heading back to their proper places we soon learn that Lord Neron is the instigating force behind all the events. He’s the one pitting Asmodel against Zauriel and while the League holds its own as best it can, it’s not until Superman shows up that the fight starts tipping in their favor. They fight back Asmodel but in the tussle, the hospital patient we saw in the last issue, who is obviously some kind of Angel or Demon, managed to get outta town. They may have beaten back the King Angel of the Pax Dei but it seems the hospital patient shows up at the end of the issue to teach the League a lesson.