Justice League Adventures #33 – “Disappearing Act” features a ‘guest appearance’ by Robin, who narrates the story (in much the same way as he does his own title). When Batman disappears, while working on a case, Robin decides he should contact the JL for assistance. Writer Matthew Manning does a nice job, keeping the all the heroes ‘in character’ and consistent with how they are portrayed in the animated series. The art team of Tim Levins and Robin Riggs does a good job, giving the individual heroes & villains their own look. (Aside to Elayne: I’m only used to seeing Robin’s work on the mainstream DC books, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how well he and Levins did with this type of comic. Is he the regular inker?)

While listening to Robin (the character and NOT the inker) detail what he knows about his mentor’s disappearance the JL learn the Dark Knight was looking into a robbery. Needless to say they are really surprised to discover that the perpetrator of the robbery may be their fellow League member, the Martian Manhunter. In short order, the team receives an alert stating that another member, Green Lantern, is also committing a robbery. It seems that both rogue heroes have stolen pieces of a talisman. This item is no ordinary artifact but may enable the person who assembles all three sections to command an ‘army of the undead’.

Before the story ends we discover that while Clayface may be the one impersonating the JL members, it’s yet another arch-criminal who is actually the one behind the scheme. We also find out what happened to Batman. A solid done-in-one story that will interest folks who enjoy the JL series, or for old timers like me who remember that comic creators used to be able to tell such stories in less than four issues. Three & a half stars.