The Nuclear Extended Family
I like this cover a lot. The image balances nicely with the text, and although there's a lot going on in the background, it's sized properly to keep it from feeling cluttered. Plus it's just hilarious.
Yeah, so, this issue just picks off where Fury of Firestorm #8, and JLI #9 concurrently left off. This is is needed for JLI, but JLI isn't needed for this AT ALL. Actually I take that back, if you want to know what happens to the JLI after the end of the previous issue, you need this, but for now it seems like that doesn't hamper any bit of the main JLI storyline. This isn't REALLY a crossover. The previous JLI explains why they're here in the last two pages. This issue is simply Fury of Firestorm, guest-starring the JLI. The ongoing storylines of both series make no connection to the other whatsoever, unless Firehawk ends up joining the JLI down the line, and even then the connection is tenuous and missable if you can't stand Firestorm.
Yildiray Cinar's still doing that art he's been doing since the 5th issue, and that's SO MUCH BETTER than the first few issues. I still miss Ethan Van Sciver though.
Basically, a lot's happening in this issue, and the JLI don't feel like they serve a purpose other than making things overly hectic. They're well written for sure, but they still don't really do much to effect the story or the battle. That's actually the main problem with this issue, the JLI do absolutely nothing but make things a mess. The battle is constrained and filled with a lot of far-too-close images. I was never able to tell how many Rogues were there, and I got caught up in this EPIC scene where Jason kisses Firehawk to make an unholy fusion like Fury gone wrong. I was blown away until I reread and realized I had no idea why Jason did that. I think all the Rogues were defeated at that point, so the 'enemy' he was fighting was the JLI who consisted of BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, AND BOOSTER GOLD (Big name heroes) FIGHTING ALONGSIDE HIM ONCE THE ROGUE THING WAS REALIZED. Why did he need to go berserk? Granted, that takes the plot in an amazing unexpected direction that I can't wait to see, but it was set off by a LOT of stupidity.
But alongside that, Jason goes through a surge in character development, and Ronnie is led to a new storyline. This series is doing a fantastic job juggling its two main characters now that they're separated. I actually hope they stay apart for quite some time.
In Conclusion: 3/5
While I LOVE many of the plot developments and I'm really impressed with how this series has handled dividing its cast; this issue was mostly a mess. The JLI really threw a wrench into the quality of this issue, and its a shame because if any JLI readers were considering giving this series a chance, this is NOT the issue to convince them.
