The Justice League marches on from the shock of Black Canary’s new heritage and into a story that serves a few interesting purposes.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl, now Hawkwoman had been the stable married couple in the DCU prior to the Elongated Man and Sue Dibny on the scene, but a story in World’s Finest Comics which was an anthology at the time broke the couple up for a trial separation for a time with Hawkwoman leaving Earth and Hawkman staying behind.

While Hawkwoman was off taking some “me time”, Hawkman grew rather lonely and despondent.  This JLA story reunites the two of them into the team again and resolves Hawkwoman’s feelings for Hawkman.

Firestorm also has a love subplot for he falls for one of the enemies who is a reluctant participant in the goings on, but mayhaps I am skipping ahead.

I’m sorry Reena, the role of Catwoman has already been taken in this Universe.

There is an arena where only the rich of the rich go for entertainment.  Inside this arena, it smells heavy of animals and blood.  Here men geared up like gladiators are forced to fight strange beasts.  All under the guise of Rex Maximus.

Rex and his gang are the Animen.  A group of capitalists that ran the company Repli-Tec, Rex Rogan being the CEO and a woman named Irene, his assistant and lover.  Repli-Tech was going bust, they had to do something radical to sustain their power and that was one of Repli-Tech’s scientists devised a way to turn men into hybrid animal-men.

Seeing no other recourse the group were transformed into these animal/human hybrids, where they still retain some of their humanity but gain all the cunning, strength, and speed of their animal forms.

The games bring them money, but Rex craves power and increasingly dominance over his other Animen.

It is only a matter of time before Rex, who has transformed into a Lion man, begins to truly become King of the Urban Jungle.

However, his assistant Irena, now Reena, defects with the help of another Animan (who Rex dispatches later), and she runs to the Justice League for help.

Reena’s cry for help comes too late because Rex has dispatched Animen around the world to steal valuable equipment for further scientific experimentation.  Hawkman is mortally wounded during the battle with the Scorpion Animan and this causes Hawkwoman to finally come to grips with her true feelings of love with her husband and the two happily reconcile by stories end.  Flash himself is gored by the rhino Animen, but manages to avoid major injury through vibrating his body. Elongated Man gets pecked to unconsciousness by a flock of birds.  It is not a good day to be a Leaguer.

When Rex learns of the victories against the Justice Leaguers, he challenges the League as he declares himself ruler of the world (perhaps this was a clue that he was beginning to lose what little grip of his humanity that was left). He has moved the Animen and his Arena to an island, evoking The Island of Dr. Moreau imagery.

Of course, the JLA defeat the Animen in the end, or they sort of do, with the assistance of Reena, the Panther Woman, Animan.

But for all the Animen, it is too late, their transformation continues past this hybrid stage and they each lose their remaining humanity and become completely animals by stories end.

 

 

The Justice League lets the animals go, as they are no longer a threat to humanity on the new island home.  Firestorm stares off sadly into the distance knowing that Reena is lost to him forever, but the Hawks are reunited and Katar pulls through the surgeries to heal him from his injuries.  Lets just suspend our disbelief on how Human doctors know how to operate on a Thanagarian… heh.  Don’t you hate it when you inject real world logic in your comics?

Next Up:  Paragon, Evil Cults, and the Martians are Coming!!!!