JUSTICE #10: 'Hour of Corruption'

August, 1987
(22 Pages)

Cover Artists: Tom Grindberg & Josef Rubenstein
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Keith Giffen
Inker: Rick Bryant
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Colorist: Nel Yomtov
Editor: Michael Higgins
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Summary:

Justice ponders his life in general, as Dad brainwashes his love, Becky (see JUSTICE #5). A green beam, the same that sent him to Earth (see JUSTICE #1) strikes him in the back, taking him into the middle of a desert.

There, he meets the Black Justice, an ex-Justice Warrior who began to hunger for the power he was trained to use. A battle ensues, and Black Justice taunts Justice, trying to get him angry enough to lash out. Finally, Justice strikes out in anger, breaking the one rule the Justice Warriors live by: To judge impartially and to never strike out in anger. Black Justice dies triumphantly.

In Farside, a machine is built to draw from Justice every bit of emotion that he feels, collecting it to use against Spring.

As Justice lies nearly out cold, Becky stands over him and taunts him, wishing she had the permission to kill him. Justice sees her aura is completely black and corrupt, making her lost to him and him to her.

Summary written by Rod Myers Jr.

My Thoughts A guilty pleasure indeed, this gem. The best issue before the revamp, this book has everything that started in issue #1 coming together. (Remember when I said the Star Wars parallels get better?) The story introduces the malevolent Malakite as well as the barbaric Klane, a.k.a. "Black Justice" (whose name could be a cry of racial pride -- gee, wouldn't it have been interesting for B.J. to actually be African-American? Hold that thought!). The intro and subsequent death of "Black Justice" served its purpose well as brought through by the truly impressive script by Conway and the most well-done Giffen art I've seen. Playing with making a character's exact opposite is tricky -- some succeed, some fail. Here, Dad uses an evil double to totally discredit Justice, to bring him down to his level, to actually show Justice how far he has fallen -- and it works admirably. Also, there's the terrifically cheesy betrayal of Justice by Becky, with the unbelievable dialogue coming out of her mouth, and yet I believe every word of it. I couldn't wait to read the next piece of this story ... I mean, the mere thought of Justice not only being responsible for his own ruination, but for the destruction of the entire land of Spring as well? Whacked out. One thing this issue makes me wonder about is who Black Justice was before he was warped by Dad, something I would love to have seen. I do wonder about one minor scene in this story, though: what the hell was that which Damon was eating at the end of the story? A Hershey's Kiss with a mouth?

Rating: 4.5 Bolts (out of 5)