I admit that I was sort of dreading this issue. For one thing, I liked Max a lot back in the JLI days when he was deeply sketchy but ultimately a good guy, and making him unilaterally villainous bores and annoys me. For another, the last time this series tried to seriously tackle a character’s backstory, we got that gawdawful Ice retcon.

Dan Didio has gone on record saying that he doesn’t give a toss about how Max was written during JLI, so I was clinging to the hope that Winnick didn’t share that sentiment. From this issue, I honestly can’t tell…and I’m totally fine with that. This is how Winnick handles the JLI during the flashbacks: In like a page. He lists a few things Max did during that series but doesn’t try to ascribe a motive one way or the other. This is probably the best way he could have handled that part of Max’s life.

The idea that there would be no superpowered crime if it wasn’t for superheroes (or that superheroes are to blame for the actions of supervillains) has always struck me as thuddingly stupid, but Winnick does a pretty good job explaining how an unstable and disillusioned Max would arrive at that conclusion.

Also: Rocket Red. Holy shit, you guys.

I quite liked Bennett’s art this issue. It’s possible that I’ve just gotten used to the weird way all these guys draw Max, but I was surprised by how normal he looked. It was a little bizarre that Mama Lord didn’t appear to age during the flashbacks, but I’m willing to chalk that up to heavy plastic surgery. Unfortunately, the cover wasn’t up to snuff. All the background images were lovely, but the guy in the middle looks so different than Max that if he hadn’t been wearing Max’s “uniform,” I wouldn’t have known who the hell he was.