JLA #36

Kicking off a five-part epic, JLA #36 (December 1999) launches "World War Three" with a cover by Howard Porter and John Dell that radiates menace: a calculating bald figure presses his fingertips together at center, flanked by a silver-haired woman leveling a gun and an armored warrior in purple and gold, while an enormous rocky behemoth looms over the cracked JLA logo above them all. Grant Morrison's script promises the kind of grand-scale conflict that banner headline suggests, and Porter's dynamic composition makes it immediately clear that the League is facing a threat assembled with cold, deliberate purpose. A compelling opening chapter for one of the run's most ambitious arcs.