Here is the latest in our year-long look at one cool comic (whether it be a self-contained work, an ongoing comic or a run on a long-running title that featured multiple creative teams on it over the years) a day (in no particular order whatsoever)! Here's the archive of the moments posted so far!

Today we take a look at JLDetroit versus Despero, courtesy of Gerry Conway and Luke McDonnell...

Enjoy!

Discussing the fight between Justice League America and Despero yesterday made me think of the less-heralded earlier fight between Despero and the Justice League (during their Detroit days) that was also a good story.

The storyline began in Justice League of America #251, by Gerry Conway and Luke McDonnell (inked by Bill Wray), with Despero speeding through space in a spaceship and crashing into the Justice League satellite. Dismayed that the League was not there, Despero then JUMPS DOWN TO EARTH!

Pretty badass, huh?



When he lands on Earth, he rips the information of where the Justice League is right from the brain of some guy he encounters...



Also badass.

At this point in the Justice League of America, Batman had just recently re-joined the team, being the first of the really famous earlier Leaguers to re-join the team, and Conway sort of uses this arc to spotlight how awesome Batman is.

Batman is training the younger heroes hard (like Vibe and Vixen), and Vibe is chafing under Batman's strict discipline.

Batman takes Vixen out for dinner to talk about how he can better communicate with people when Despero shows up. Check out the impressive "springing into action" sequence by McDonnell...





So Despero takes them hostage and is throttling the rest of the League. This is when Batman finally figures out Despero's weakness...





In the last issue of the arc, #254, the book opens with an extremely cool shot of Batman ready to face off against Despero...



Batman's goal is to distract Despero long enough for Vixen to rally the rest of the League (who were all unconscious) to destroy the fire that Despero was drawing his power from.

They do so, and the new League gets one of their most significant victories at that point in time (granted, six issues later half of the new Leaguers would be dead and the book would be canceled, but hey, take your victories when you can get them!).

It's interesting seeing Conway write his version of the Justice League Bat-God that Grant Morrison did so well a decade later in JLA.