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"Last Call": In Atlantis, Zatanna is trying to use her magic powers to free herself from the quicksand skin of the monster, but her powers have been stolen. The monster is lost in it's own musings, where it promises itself that its future will include inflictin

Quote1 Shut up. You get one. One chance to stop this now. Reverse whatever it is you've done to the Earth's water. Release my friends. Surrender. Quote2
Nightwing

JLA #73 is an issue of the series JLA (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 2002. It was published on October 9, 2002.

Synopsis for "Last Call"

In Atlantis, Zatanna is trying to use her magic powers to free herself from the quicksand skin of the monster, but her powers have been stolen. The monster is lost in it's own musings, where it promises itself that its future will include inflicting "Drowning... and domination" on the world. Through its magic, Atlantis is now surrounded by a circular wall of the world's water.

On a jet above Atlantis, Nightwing has realized something important about Faith: despite her file containing no prior references, the team has accepted her with astonishing speed—even Green Arrow, the team critic. Faith explains that her powers include being a 'walking warm and fuzzy generator', and that this is completely automatic. Batman noticed this about her, and it made him tell her how proud he was of Nightwing. Nightwing also asks why the file includes the nickname "The Fat Lady", and she says she hopes he never finds out.

In the Watchtower, The Atom sends a message to Nightwing. Drought has reached catastrophic levels across the globe. However, the concentration of most of the world's groundwater in the walls around Atlantis is leading to a 'wobble' in the Earth's rotation, throwing off the planet's balance. Unless balance is restored immediately, the Earth is doomed.

Nightwing and Faith land to examine Superman's corpse. They know it is being used as a trap, so Nightwing goes in solo. Deciding that the corpse is real, he starts talking to his hidden foe. Commenting on the gravitational destabilization and the demanding that they show themselves and reveal what they want. The monster rises out of the ground, saying that it wants Atlantis to guide the world as the seat of ultimate power... with herself as queen of the world.

Although he is apprehensive, Nightwing recovers and demands her surrender. The monster refuses, so Nightwing calls in the Justice League. In moments, she is trapped in unbreakable bonds and being assessed by Jason Blood after Hawkgirl and Faith incapacitate her. However, she uses Zatanna's powers to escape, and absorbs Major Disaster. Using powers similar to those of the Whaler, she knocks them back. Green Arrow is critically injured and Firestorm is in shock, but the rest of the team is fine.

Nightwing demands that Jason Blood summon Etrigan, but Blood evades the issue. Enchanting some of Green Arrow's arrows, he casts a spell on the monster, and substitutes himself for Zatanna within it. Shocked, the team is in no fit state to react to an emergency message from the Atom to teleport out—before Atlantis is hit with an experimental weapon called a Muon Wash, which destroys anything organic but leaves buildings standing. From a bunker, President Lex Luthor explains that they warned the Justice League ten seconds beforehand because they had no way of knowing what the monster's sensory abilities were. The Atom starts shouting over the radio, but despite the fact that the monster withstood the Muon Wash, the team had no way of surviving the blast on their own...

The team has, however, survived: at the last minute, a green forcefield shielded them from the explosion. It was apparently cast by the ghost of Green Lantern, who had enough energy for one save. After giving Nightwing the pass-phrase which proves his identity, he introduces them to their ally: the emaciated, 3000-year-old Manitou Raven, holding Green Lantern's heart and clearly impatient to start their plan to destroy the monster.

Appearing in "Last Call"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Notes

  • This issue shipped on October 9, 2002
  • Due to the 'alternating storylines' format of this arc, this roster last appeared in JLA #71. They will next appear in JLA #75, which marks the crossover between the two storylines.



See Also

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